When God'€™s Enemies React

When God’s Enemies React

Matthew 2:16-18

Two weeks ago, we started a series that should take us right up to Christmas.  One question posed in this series was, what exactly are we celebrating at this time of year?  Is it family, decorated trees and holiday cheer?  (Whatever that might mean?). We said last time that In church Christmas takes on an altogether different meaning.  Here we celebrate Jesus; whom the angel said would be called Emmanuel - or God is with us.  And again, I ask you what exactly does THAT look like?  What does it mean to have God draw near to you?  Or add to that, to have God WITH you?  What is that all about?

So far, we have seen the backstory to the Christmas story and discovered that God had been silent towards Israel for 400 years.  We saw that when God draws near to us, it’s because God has remembered His people and His promises.  And whenever God has made a promise; He intends to keep it. 

Last week we learned another aspect of Emmanuel - or God with us.  When God draws near, not only is it because He has heard the prayers of His people and remembered them, He draws near to speak to them; to redirect them and change their lives to match His plan for them.   We saw how this worked out in the Christmas story of Jesus’ parents.  Mary and Joseph heard the voice of God’s messenger and their lives were forever changed.  

Today we will look at another part of the Christmas story and see that whenever God is moving; whenever His plan is advancing, God’s enemies react.  They take notice and make attempts to thwart His plan.  We will be looking at Matthew’s account of the wise men and what happened when they sought after Jesus, but before we get there, we would do well to position this story within the larger narrative of the Bible.

1. Body
1. The Beginning of the Conflict  (Genesis 3:15 - The Serpent is cursed)
1. Who is this Serpent?
1. Ezekiel 28:14-16 — “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
   I established you;
   You were on the holy mountain of God;
   You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
   You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
   Till iniquity was found in you.
   “By the abundance of your trading
   You became filled with violence within,
   And you sinned;
   Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
   Out of the mountain of God;
   And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
   From the midst of the fiery stones.
2. Isaiah 14:12-15 — “How you are fallen from heaven,
   O Lucifer, son of the morning!
   How you are cut down to the ground,
   You who weakened the nations!
   For you have said in your heart:
   ‘I will ascend into heaven,
   I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
   I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
   On the farthest sides of the north;
   I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
   I will be like the Most High.’
   Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
   To the lowest depths of the Pit.
2. The Lie.  
1. (Gen. 3:1-6) — Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
   And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
   Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
   So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
3. The Curse. 
1. War between the woman and the serpent
1. Gen. 3:15a — And I will put enmity
   Between you and the woman,
   And between your seed and her Seed;
2. (Ephesians 6:12). For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”.
2. War between sinful man and God
1. Col. 1:21-22a — And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works…
4. The Promise.
1. Gen. 3:15b — He shall bruise your head,
   And you shall bruise His heel.”
2. Gen. 22:18 — (to Abraham) — In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
3. 2 Samuel 7:12:13 — (to David) — When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2. The Conflict Echoes Through the Ages. (Matt. 2:13-18)
1. Echoes of Pharaoh.  
1. Out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1) — Joseph was that son of Israel who called the people into Egypt to escape certain death by famine.
2. Murder of children — Over time, the Pharaoh set himself against God’s plan by murdering all of the male Israelite children.
2. Promise of deliverance.  Hosea 11:10-11
1. “They shall walk after the Lord.
2. He will roar like a lion.
3. When He roars,
4. Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
5. They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,
6. Like a dove from the land of Assyria.
7. And I will let them dwell in their houses,”
8. Says the Lord.
3. Echoes of captivity
1. Rachel weeping - Jeremiah 31:15
1. As nation goes into exile. 
2. As these innocents are murdered.
4. Promise of return. Jeremiah 31:17-18 
1. There is hope in your future, says the Lord,
2. That your children shall come back to their own border.
3. “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:
4. ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
5. Like an untrained bull;
6. Restore me, and I will return,
7. For You are the Lord my God.
3. The Beginning of the End
1. 1 John 3:8 “The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil's works.
2. Rev. 12:4b-12 —  And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
   And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they [a]did not prevail, nor was a place found for [b]them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
   Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
3. 1 Peter 5:8-9a — Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…
4. Col. 1:21-22a — And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death…
5. The Two Plans
1. God’s plan for you
1. Jeremiah 29:11 — …of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
2. Satan’s plan for you
1. In 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, Paul reminds believers to forgive those who have wronged them, "in order that Satan might not outwit (take advantage of) us. For we are not unaware (ignorant, uninformed) of his schemes (evil purpose, thoughts, plans).”
2. God has a plan for our lives. The enemy has a plan for us too. We have to determine which voice we’re going to listen to, and who we will choose to follow. Conclusion
4. James Martin told about traveling to the Holy Land. While there, he bought a nativity set. It was carved out of olive wood in the town of Bethlehem and had all the traditional figures: sheep and oxen; wise men and the shepherds; Mary, Joseph, and, of course, the baby Jesus.
1. As he began the return trip home, he had to go through the very strict security at Tel Aviv airport. He didn’t figure that the nativity set would attract any attention, but he was wrong. Each figure was carefully scrutinized and even X-rayed.
2. Martin asked why they were being so diligent. The security officer explained it this way: “You see, we must make sure there is nothing explosive in them.”
3. Listen to me, the Christmas story IS explosive! It’s part of the dynamite of God’s story of defeating His enemies, redeeming the curse and restoring His creation.  And it all begins with Jesus’ birth.  Emmanuel — God with us.
5. What does it look like when Emmanuel happens?  When God draws near?
6. It looks like God’s enemies being roused into action.
7. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians — “… we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (4:7-9)
8. James 4:7-8 — Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…