Pathway to Victory

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Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress.

And right now your generous gift will have twice the impact thanks to the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge, active now through December 31st. To give a special year-end gift, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm.

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Glad to study Word with you every.

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Day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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The Apostle Paul gives the clearest explanation for the meaning of Christmas found anywhere in literature.

And today we're going to look at that one sentence that explains what Christmas is really all about.

If you have your Bibles, turn to the book of Galatians in the New Testament. Galatians chapter 4.

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Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. What sort of traditions do you enjoy at Christmas time? Maybe you make a treasured family recipe or gather for a special Christmas Eve celebration.

Well, today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress helps us set aside all the glitter and lights to reflect upon why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

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Thanks David and welcome again to Pathway to victory. Today is December 2nd and known across our country as Giving Tuesday.

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We're inviting you to give generously to.

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This nonprofit ministry on this special occasion. Knowing that you're providing a trustworthy Bible-centered program for millions in our country and around the world who rely on Pathway to Victory for their daily dose of spiritual encouragement.

And when you give a generous gift today, I'm pleased to send you a brand new resource for you and your family. It's ready just in time for Christmas. I'm referring, of course, to the tanned leather-bound Pathway to Victory daily devotional for 2026. You won't find this devotional anywhere other than right here at Pathway to Victory. I'll be happy to send a copy to your home today when you give a generous year-end gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

But that's not all, because we've prepared a special set of ministry resources you can request when you give your generous Giving Tuesday donation. Just go directly to our website to give your gift at ptv.org.

Well, I have a special treat for you today. I want you to enjoy this uplifting performance by the First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra. It's Christmas time, and this is a season for good news. So let's lean back and enjoy this old-time favorite, a toe-tapping rendition of "Go Tell it on the Mountain."

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Go tell it on the mountain. Yeah. Do it for over the hills and everywhere.

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Yeah.

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Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere. Don't tell it on the mountain now that Jesus Christ is born.

While shepherds kept there watching over solid fox by night, behold throughout the heavens that shone a holy light. Shepherd spirit and tremble went low above the earth.

Bring out the angel chorus. Let our Savior oh tell it all with my mountain over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain.

How about this, man?

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Come on.

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Come. Well, when I was a sinner I sinned both night and day. I asked the Lord to help me. He showed me the way.

So I'm gonna go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere that I go and tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.

I'm gonna go tell it on the mountain over the hills and go to that only mountain that Jesus Christ is born. Jesus Christ is born.

Turn it on the mountain. You gotta go. Turn it on the mountain.

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Turn it on the mountain.

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Over the hills and everywhere you gotta go. Turn it on the mountain.

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Turn it on the mountain.

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Turn on a mountain, you got to turn on the mountain. Turn on the mountain.

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My thanks to the talented and devoted First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra for today's performance, and our soloist was Gordon Moat.

And now it's time to get started with today's message from the December teaching series. I'm calling it "Celebrate the Savior." Today's message is titled simply "Christmas."

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If you've ever taken a journalism class before, you're taught that in the opening paragraph of a story, you're supposed to answer six key questions: who, what, when, how, where, and why. Paul answers all six of those questions in this one single sentence about the coming of Christ into the world. Notice how he answers them.

First of all, the question of who. Who is the subject of this sentence? Who is the subject of Christmas? If you have your Bibles, turn to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 through 5. Look at it with me. "But when the fullness of time came, God." God is the subject of Christmas. God is the one who initiated all of the events that led to the coming of Christ.

Now, secondly, what? What is it that God did? Well, it says he sent forth his Son. And when did it occur? When did it happen? It happened in the fullness of time. I want you to think about that phrase, "in the fullness of time." Did you know the plan of salvation was not some afterthought God had? God didn't look down at humanity and say, "Oh my, look at the way those human beings have screwed things up. I better do something quickly. I better have a rescue plan." It didn't happen that way. Ephesians 1 tells us that the plan of salvation was established before the foundation of the world. In the fullness of time, at just the right time, God sent forth his Son.

How? How did he do it? Well, it tells us here again, he was born of a woman. What's the big deal? Everybody's born of a woman, aren't they? How many of you were born of a woman? Now, this is why this is unique. First of all, this is a reference to Jesus' virgin birth. Let me show you what I mean. Jesus was born of a woman, but he was unique in that he was born only of a woman. His father was God himself.

I think this phrase "born of a woman" first of all relates to Jesus' virgin birth, but secondly, it is a reference to the humanity of Jesus. Jesus didn't come into the world as some otherworldly alien. No, he came as a human being. Jesus was 100% God, but he was 100% man as well. And because of that, not only was he qualified to be our sin substitute, but he also is able to understand you and understand me.

I think about that six-year-old boy who was in the backyard shooting baskets. He kept trying to put the ball in the hoop, but he kept falling short. His father came out, saw what was happening, and said, "Son, let me show you..."

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You how to do this.

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Took the ball and right through the hoop, did it a second time, through the hoop a third time. Finally, the boy was so frustrated, he looked up at his father and said, "Dad, it's easy for you up there, but you don't know how hard it is for those of us down here."

You know, the same thing can never be said about God. We can never say, "God, it's easy for you up there, but you have no idea how hard it is for us down here." He knows how hard it is because he came in human flesh in the person of Jesus. And there is nothing you experience, no heartache, no temptation, no disappointment that Jesus hasn't already experienced.

He knows what it's like to be deserted by family and friends. He knows what it's like to be betrayed by the person closest to you. He knows what many of you have faced, even this past year of standing at the grave of somebody you love dearly. He knows all of that. He's been there. He understands the minor irritations of everyday life—having a sore throat, crawling out of bed early in the morning when you don't feel like it to go to work. He's been there before.

And that's why the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:15-16, talking about Jesus: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, and yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

No matter what you're going through, you can talk to Jesus about it, knowing he understands.

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Isn't that a great truth?

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He was born of a woman. Where? Where did this happen? Look again at verse four. He was born under the law. Born of a woman, but born under the law. What does that mean? It means that, as Jesus said, he didn't come to abolish the Old Testament law, but to fulfill it. You see, the Bible says, cursed is every man who does not obey all things written in the law. You may obey more things than I obey in the law, but it really doesn't matter. If we break one of the laws, we're guilty of breaking all of the laws. That's why we need a savior. Jesus came and he met all of God's requirements. If Jesus had broken any of the laws when he died, he would have been dying for his own sins. But the fact that he obeyed God, completely fulfilled the requirements of the law, again makes him the only adequate substitute for our sin. He was born under the law.

And then, finally, why? This is the most important. Why did God go to all of this trouble and make this elaborate plan to send Jesus into the world? Well, he answers the why question this way. First of all, he said, in order to redeem us. To redeem us. That word redeem is a beautiful word. In the Greek language, it's the word ex agerazo. Ex is a prefix that means out of. Agorazo comes from the word agora, which refers to the marketplace in both the Greek and the Roman cultures. In Paul's day, if you wanted to buy a slave, you would go to the agora, the marketplace. There, the slaves would be placed in shackles upon a block and sold to the highest bidder. Once you paid the required price, that slave was yours to do whatever you wanted to with the slave. You could torture the slave. You could slit the slave's throat. You could work the slave to death. He belonged to you because you had paid the necessary price.

Now that's the word picture of redeem. Ex agerazo means to pay the price, to take the slave out of the marketplace. Ladies and gentlemen, you and I are born into this world shackled to Satan himself. We are slaves of Satan. We are born alienated from God. Satan absolutely hates us and has nothing good planned for us in this life and nothing good in the next life. We are born as slaves of sin and Satan. But the Bible says that God, for no other reason than the great love with which he loved you, sent his son Jesus to pay the necessary price to redeem us, to free us, to break Satan's death hold on us.

And why did he do that? What was his motivation for doing that? He was motivated by love. But what was his purpose? And I couldn't believe it. This week I heard perhaps the finest Bible teacher in America talking about why God redeemed us. He said he paid the price. He redeemed us to set us free. This pastor said to set us free? No, no. A thousand times no. If you paid a price in Paul's day to redeem a slave, you didn't set the slave free. That slave became your slave, your servant. Ladies and gentlemen, when we trust in the payment Christ made for us, it doesn't mean that we no longer have a master. It doesn't mean we have no master. Redemption means we have a new master. Our new master is God himself, who loves us and has nothing but our good in mind. But we do belong to him. That's why First Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know you are not your own? You've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body."

Why did he do this? First of all, to redeem us, to free us. But there's a second reason he gives in Galatians 4:5, and that is that we might receive the adoption as sons. He did this in order to adopt us into his family. Now stay with me for just a second. This may seem contradictory. It's true we become servants of God. We have an obligation to Him. But once we become a part of God's family, we are no longer slaves who have no rights. We don't even enter his family as children with limited rights. God places us into his family as sons and daughters with full rights.

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An adult child of God.

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It's against that background that Paul says, when we enter into God's family, we do so adopted as sons, meaning we have the same rights and privileges as God's beloved son, Jesus Christ, the co-regent of the universe. You know what that means specifically? When you become a part of God's family, first of all, you have the same position with God that Jesus has—the same position. That is, in God's eyes, you're sinless. He views you just as he does his son, Jesus Christ. Because you are in Jesus, he sees you as sinless no matter what your flaws are.

Secondly, you have the same privileges as Jesus the Son. That means you can ask God for anything. Is Jesus bashful about asking God for something? Oh, I better not ask that. That's too big for God. He asked him for anything, and you and I can as well. Now, that doesn't mean God answers our every prayer request with a positive reply. Did you know God didn't even answer every one of Jesus' prayers? Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane said, "God, let this experience of the cross pass from me." God said, "No." Jesus acquiesced and said, "Okay, not my will, but your will be done." But we can ask him for anything.

1 John 5:14 says, "And this is the confidence we have before him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." We have the same position. We have the same privilege.

Thirdly, we have the same power that operated in Jesus. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in your life if you're a Christian, giving you power over temptation, over stress, over worry, and ultimately...

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Power over the grave.

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We are adopted as sons into the family of God. That's why he sent Jesus. How many of you remember the late radio commentator Paul Harvey? Every Christmas, Paul Harvey would tell the same story that illustrates what the coming of Christ into the world is really all about.

He told the story of a farmer who had become jaded in his faith. Skeptical, the farmer chose to isolate himself from others and to live out his days without the hassles connected with being involved with people. One raw winter night, the farmer heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went out to watch and saw these tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beating in vain against the glass.

The hardened farmer bundled up and trudged through the fresh snow to open the barn for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights, tossed some hay in the corner, and sprinkled a trail of salting crackers to direct them to him. But the sparrows, which had scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, still hid in the darkness, afraid of the farmer. The farmer tried various tactics, circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn, tossing cracker crumbs in the air toward them, and retreating to his house to see if they'd flutter into the barn on their own. Nothing worked. He, a huge alien creature, had terrified them. The birds could not understand that he actually desired to help them.

The farmer withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like a lightning bolt from the clear blue sky. If only I could become a bird, one of them, for just a moment. Then I wouldn't frighten them, so I could show them the way to warmth and safety. At the same moment, another thought dawned on him. He had grasped the whole meaning of the Incarnation. A man becoming a bird is incomprehensible, but it pales in comparison to God becoming a man.

Why did he do it? But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those who were under the law and that we might receive the adoption as sons. God be praised for what he has done for us through Jesus.

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Galatians 4 tells the story we proclaim every day at Pathway to Victory. Jesus' birth not only fulfilled God's promise for a coming Messiah, but he opened the doors so that all who follow him would be adopted as sons of God. Now that's a promise worth celebrating at Christmas, and it's quite a contrast to the darkness of our times.

Do we need any more convincing that our days are running out to spread the good news of Jesus? Sure, we've seen some encouraging signs, like a national resurgence of interest in spiritual matters. But our nation remains deeply divided, and Scripture clearly affirms that the obvious signs of Christ's return are all around us.

That's why I'm boldly asking you to respond today to our Now is the Time matching Challenge. Today's the day to respond. Every dollar you give will be doubled up to $1.7 million to push back against the forces of evil in 2026. Please don't wait. This is our moment to advance the gospel when it matters most.

Remember, when you choose to give to Pathway to Victory on this Giving Tuesday, we'll say thanks by providing the exclusive Pathway to Victory Daily devotional. Copies are moving fast, but we still have one waiting for you. I've written a devotional to guide you through every season of the new year. It's going to be a great journey together, so please respond today so that I can send your 2026 Pathway to Victory Daily devotional in plenty of time for the New Year.

Plus, we've prepared a special set of ministry resources you can request when you give your generous Giving Tuesday donation. This is available today only on Giving Tuesday, so be sure to get in touch right away.

Here's David to tell you more today.

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When you give a generous year-end gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new 2026 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. Call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org now. When your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you "Celebrate the Savior," a DVD, video, and MP3 format audio disc set featuring the best Christmas teaching messages from Dr. Robert Jeffress.

Now, today is Giving Tuesday, and people all around the world are responding with an extra measure of generosity. So I'm pleased to tell you that your gift to Pathway to Victory today will have twice the impact because of the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge.

Contact us right now with your special Giving Tuesday gift and know that your generosity will make an eternal difference for God's Kingdom. You can give by calling 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. When you call or go online, be sure to check out the special set of ministry resources available just for today in honor of Giving Tuesday.

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Now.

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If you'd like to send your gift by mail, write to P.O. Box 223, 23609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222. I'm David J. Mullins.

Join us again Wednesday for another Christmas message called "The Cradle, the Cross and the Crown" right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible, and right now your special year-end gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact thanks to the Now Is the Time Matching Challenge.

Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on December 31st. To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.