... Laid Him in a Manger

Luke 2:7 — There is a vast difference between the good news of the eternal Son of God taking on flesh to rescue sinners and the vague commercialized cultural Christmas message of good cheer. The authoritative word of God does not present a Christmas message about the brotherhood of humanity and vague encouragement to have the Christmas spirit. In contrast are the facts about the Son of God and the significance of those facts. In this Christmas sermon on Luke 2:7 titled “…Laid Him in a Manger,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones calls the church to hold firmly to the historicity of the babe, born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, in a stable, and in the manger. Christians must rid themselves of false sentimentality about what Christmas is truly about and tell the truth about the world . The world, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is blinded to their real need. The world is cold and full of selfishness. The Son of God is humble and was born in the lowliest of situations. Even with the facts, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, all should be amazed that God the Son would come at all for such a dark world. Moreover, when one has the facts, they see the love of God which led to the Son of God coming so that sinners might be reconciled to God. Listeners are encouraged to leave behind the philosophy of Christmas spirit and embrace the historical facts of God taking on human flesh.