It’s all about the baby....

 It’s all about the baby....

I put up a small nativity in my front yard...for whatever reason, Mary and Joseph kept falling down...trying several different ways to make them stand, I finally gave up and put them away...only the cradle with the baby stands there now...

As I was looking and thinking this through,,,that was  the message,

“ it’s all about the baby”...it was the stand-alone baby...the whole reason we celebrate this season...we can add all the decorations, presents, lights, tinsel, and whatever ...but it all comes back to that baby...just as it has over time...

I thought of other important babies in scripture...Moses, the baby brought to Solomon...illustrations of saving and persecution...Pharaoh Herod were afraid of a child...Satan ultimately was afraid of a child...a savior, a Ruler with no end...

Without that baby, there would be no cross, redemption..no resurrection...

Thank YOU that You had a plan from the beginning using a tiny baby...it  is “all about the baby...”

Moses, the baby, was saved to grow up to save the Israelites from slavery and lead them to the promised land...

“When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

Exodus 1:16,2:1-3 

One of Solomon’s acts of wisdom, saving the baby...

One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. 

We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us. “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 

The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.” 

The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” 

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king. 

The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’” 

Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 

He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 

The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” 

 But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

1 Kings 3:17-27 

The most important baby....foretold, celebrated, saved...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” 

Then the angel left her. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. 

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 

He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” 

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. 

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 1:28-33,37-38,42,48-55,2:6-12,15-16,20 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. 

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Matthew 2:1-3,8,11,16 

Revelation 12, the woman and the dragon...