December 22, 2019

SING NOEL: JOY TO THE WORLD
December 22, 2019
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Christmas week! What are some special Christmas memories that you have stored in your mind? Can you share with the group?

Open: Today we are going to look at the most published song of all time, “Joy to the World!” We call it a Christmas Carol, and you seldom hear it outside of the Christmas season, but this song has far more to do with God’s plan of salvation to mankind than it does the tinsel, gifts and glitter of Christmas Day. Isaac Watt’s wrote a glorious hymn of God’s redeeming love as the lyrics of “Joy to the World,”—no matter what time of the year it is sung.

Key Verse: Luke 2:11: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Focal Passages: Luke 2:13-14; Matthew 1:18-23.

It was certainly from God

  • Read Matthew 1:20. What were some thoughts undoubtedly going through Joseph’s mind upon learning Mary was pregnant? What would you have done in a similar situation?
  • What were some of the miracles surrounding this birth? Who was the only human who knew the truth that there had been no sin in connection with the pregnancy?
  • How was this a test of faith for Joseph? What enormous task had God prepared Joseph for? What are some phrases in verse 20 that show he was already the type of man to raise God’s Son?

It was exactly what was needed

  • Read Matthew 1:21. What does the word “will” in God’s word mean? Has there been any of God’s promises that have been broken? How do you know we can trust God to honor all His promises?
  • Read Romans 3:23 and 6:23a. Who has sinned? Is there any hope for the forgiveness of sin, other than to have sin’s penalty paid for by the death of the sinner—or someone acting on their behalf?
  • Read Galatians 2:15-17. Can we be good enough by obeying the law, (the 10 Commandments), that we can earn our way to heaven? Why or why not?
  • Who needed to have God send someone to earth to pay the sin debt for sinners?

It was always God’s plan

  • Read verses 22-23. Does anyone recall how long before the birth of Jesus that the prophet Isaiah was prophesying?
  • Read Gen. 3:15. Adam and Eve were probably sent out of the Garden of Eden not long after creation, apparently. Had God already made provision for redemption before this happened?
  • If the OT from creation to the end of Malachi was approximately 4,000 years, and 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, when was the plan put in place for God to send Jesus to pay the price for man’s redemption? 
  • What does this tell you about God’s plan for sinners, from the foundation of the world?

It was God’s plan from the beginning for all of us

  • Read verse 21b again. Who are His people?
  • Read 1 Peter 2:9,10 and Acts 15:14. Who do these passages say His people are?
  • Read Isa. 53:5. This was what God was willing to do in order to save us. What was the effect for mankind when Jesus died on the cross? How does the agony He went through affect you?
  • Had God not sent Jesus to pay for our sins, what are some adjectives that could have described our future?
  • God knew we would never achieve righteousness on our own, so His plan was always to give us the promise of heaven by sending Jesus. What must WE do to be saved?

Close:

Joy to the world! The Lord has come to the earth! He came in flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory—-the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” Let earth receive her King! Joy to the world, now we sing!

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Let every heart prepare Him room!

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the light of His righteousness!

Don’t let another Christmas go by without asking Him to save you if you have never done so .

Close: John 1 excerpts, NKJV.

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