Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Now imagine being there in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph coming from Nazareth all the way down. She's getting ready to have this child. He would become the greatest Savior of the whole world, the one that would die for the sins of the world so that you and I could have eternal life fully and completely.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We are delighted you've joined us this Christmas Eve as Raul guides us in contemplating the wonder of a long-ago night in Bethlehem. You'll see how the world changed forever with the first breath of a baby born in a manger.

Stay with us to consider what qualified Jesus to be the Savior of all people then, now, and for all time. He is the Son of God, the King of kings, and our sinless Redeemer. Let's join Raul Ries in Micah chapter 5, verse 2 with our study, Little Bethlehem.

Raul Ries: Way back in the 70s, 80s, you were able to go across to Bethlehem to the shepherds' fields. I used to go with Pastor Chuck all the time, and we'd get up to the shepherds' fields, and there would be all these little kids with all kinds of sheep running around. Everybody would take bags of candy to give to the kids.

As we would sit around to have a Bible study, all of a sudden Chuck would give us this study concerning Jesus being born in Bethlehem, which was just incredible because the shepherds' field is just an amazing place. I remember sitting there and watching over to the city of Jerusalem. I can just picture in my mind that star that was above Bethlehem.

Jesus and Mary and Joseph were not only in that little stable. They take you to this church that has... as you go into this Catholic church, you go down into the cellar. In the cellar, they have this hole on the wall, and they'll say, "This is the cave where Jesus was born." I don't know how they know that, but they know that, they say.

We really don't know where he was born, what cave or what stable or whatever, but he was born there. Jerusalem will be the place where it all ends. It is interesting that Jesus knew exactly what he came to do, and that is to die for the sins of the world. When you think about Jesus, who he is and what he did, time flies so rapidly.

You're talking about maybe 500 years before Jesus was born in the book of Malachi. Now it's been 2,500 years when we read the prophecy. Time is so rapid that you go, "Where did the time ever go in my life?" Look at your own personal... how old are you today? Are we going to have another Christmas, another New Year's, another Easter?

Where is the world heading to? Where is the church heading to? One thing we have to remember as a church: Jesus did come, and Jesus did die for the sins of the world. This morning is very important for us that the one thing we need to understand is that Jesus is the Son of the living God, that he did come, and he did die for the sins of the world.

It's amazing the way God speaks through his word constantly. Look at verse 2 of chapter 5 of Micah. He says, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among thousands of Judah..." Not big, little among the thousands of Judah. "Yet out of you shall come forth to me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."

Therefore, because of this, he shall give them up until the time that she who is in labor has given birth. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. They shall abide, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this One shall be peace.

Speaking of Jesus, the prophet through the Scriptures gives to us the place of his birth, that it would be the city of Bethlehem, five miles away from Jerusalem. E. Ralph Stockman once phrased it this way. He said, "The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable." I like that. The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable where Jesus was born.

We imagine the silent night that we remember. Remember, the inns were full in the celebrating of that time where Jesus not only was born, but what was Jesus going to do as he came to become the Son of the living God? He was going to be the Savior of the world. Imagine being there in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph coming from Nazareth all the way down.

She's getting ready to have this child. He would become the greatest Savior of the whole world, the one that would die for the sins of the world so that you and I could have eternal life fully and completely. Every time I would go to Bethlehem, it would really touch my life because this is where it all started. Jerusalem will be where everything will end one of these days.

Too many commercial Christmases today. Today they don't want you to say Merry Christmas; they want you to say Happy Holidays, right? It's sad that they have all these rules and regulations when Jesus was the one that came, he died, he rose, he left, and he's coming back again. What's going to happen to the church, to the real church?

We're not afraid of dying; we're not afraid of what's going to happen, but I'm afraid for my kids, for my grandkids, my great-grandkids. What's going to happen to them? That's where my duty and your duty comes in: to teach them the truth, to spend time with them this Christmas, teaching them what Christmas is all about.

It's not about partying; it's about the Savior of the world that came into the world to die for the sins of the world. Let's look at a little background to the city, very important. The name Bethlehem means "the house of bread." Remember Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." Bethlehem means the house of bread.

It was built by Salma. The person Salma means strength, a son of Caleb, son of Hur. First Chronicles 2:51 says, "Salma the father of Bethlehem and Hareph the father of Beth-gader." Father of Boaz, the ancestor of Christ. Ruth 4:20: "Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon." In Ruth 4:21: "Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed." It gives you the background.

It was originally called Ephrathah, the second wife of Caleb. Then it was Rachel's burial place, Bethlehem. Rachel was the younger daughter of Laban, wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin. He says in Genesis 39:19, "So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, 'Your servant did to me after this manner,' that his anger was aroused."

Then he says, Naomi's house. Remember Naomi's house? When she came back and she was bummed out because her sons had passed away, but the only one that would follow her would be Ruth. In Ruth 1:19 he says, "Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land.

"And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons." And now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. It happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them, and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"

Then he says it was also Boaz's home. Boaz was a Bethlehemite of Judah who became the husband of Ruth and the ancestor of Christ. When I read the book of Ruth, it's pretty interesting because it's a short book, but an interesting book. In chapter 4, verses 9 through 11, he says, "And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, 'You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.

"Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.'" And all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses.

"The Lord Jehovah God make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah, that's Bethlehem, and be famous in Bethlehem." Bethlehem became famous when Jesus Christ was born for the sins of the world. It was David's home too.

Remember Bethlehem. Then we know for sure that as Christ not only was born into this world, as you and I have not only read the Scriptures as you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but you look at the story and the way the Holy Spirit gave them the story. As they took their pen and they wrote it down exactly how God wanted that book to be completed, that's when we read the Scriptures. Why does Mark not mention this, but Matthew mentions this? Because every one of them wrote according to the Holy Spirit as it was given to them.

Guest (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. It's our joy to enrich your life with the hope-filled truth of God's word. Visit us at somebodylovesyou.com for resources. You can also join Raul for Straight Talk every Tuesday on the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: What are some of these characteristics that we should know today, especially if we're going to celebrate Christmas to teach to our kids or to whoever we're going to be sharing with? One thing for sure he starts off with in Scripture, and that is this: that he never, ever sinned. He was holy.

Holy. "Be you holy as he is holy." In Luke 1:35 he says, "And the angel answered and said to Mary, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; and because of this, also, the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'" I mean, gives you the whole gospel right there. The whole gospel of Jesus Christ. He will be called the Son of God.

Secondly, he was righteous. Righteous in each one of our lives. In Isaiah 53:11, he takes you back to the Old Testament. He says, "He shall see the labor of His soul, be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." Now notice, way back in the book of Isaiah 53, he speaks about Jesus coming, dying, and then washing away every one of our sins.

When you talk to the Jews today, when you go to Israel, you talk to a Jew and you ask them, "What about the book of Isaiah, chapter 52 and 53? Isn't that speaking about the Messiah?" And they'll go, "No, that's speaking about our nation of Israel." If you go and you look at chapter 53 of Isaiah, he's speaking of a person, not a nation, not a place.

He's speaking of the Messiah, the anointed One of God, Jesus Christ himself, that he would be born not only in Bethlehem, but that he would become the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and yet they still don't believe that. But he was righteous. In every way, he was righteous.

Then he was just. He says in Zechariah 9:9—I love that prophecy too—"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey." Prophesying way back that the Scripture is real.

God is real in what he says and what he teaches. It's real. And the Holy Spirit was sent to do what? To bring us to a place where the Holy Spirit convicts us and convicts people to come to repentance and to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and our personal Savior. That's why Christmas is so important for people to understand. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world.

Fourthly, he was guileless. First Peter 2:22. He says, "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth." You have to understand what he's saying here. "Who committed no sin." A lot of times these liberals, they'll say, "Well, Jesus was not really 100% human, 100% God. No, he did sin."

But when you look at the Scriptures, he was without sin. Blameless, sinless. He's the King of kings, Lord of lords. He's the Messiah, the anointed One of God that is coming at the second coming to do what? He's bringing us back with himself, and we're going to set up his kingdom forever and ever and ever to be with him.

Then he says in Second Corinthians 5:21, "And He made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for you and for me, for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Through Jesus Christ, we become righteous in the presence of God because of Jesus Christ taking upon himself all my sins, but yet he never sinned in any way.

Then I like what he says here, spotless. Spotless. In First Peter 1:19, I love what he says, "but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ." The blood. Isn't that interesting that when you go back to the Old Testament, everything starts with a sacrifice? When Adam and Eve fell, we see the Lord in chapter 2.

You begin to see what's going on when they fall into sin, that the Lord goes ahead and what he does in chapter 3, when Satan comes along and begins to tempt Adam and Eve and they fall into sin, that he goes and he makes an animal sacrifice and brings back the skins to put over Adam and Eve, making an atonement for them.

Then in the Old Testament again, when Moses comes out of Egypt, they begin by sacrificing animals, lambs. Then by the time you get to the New Testament, John the Baptist says, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world," pointing to who? To Jesus, his cousin.

He's the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Without Jesus, there is no forgiveness. No forgiveness at all. This is why Jesus Christ came. Then he says this, which is very important: he was innocent. Matthew 27:4, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." Judas speaking.

And they said, "What is that to us? You see to it." A lot of times we don't really see the importance of the blood of Jesus Christ, that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Even though we can't see that blood, in our hearts as we read the Scriptures, I could just picture Jesus on the cross, not only being already beaten, a crown of thorns on his head, nails through his hands, through his feet, and then they take the spear and they put it through his side, and it goes between his heart, and the water and the blood come forth, and he dies of a broken heart for you and for me. A broken heart. Innocent, and yet died for the sins of the world.

Then he was meek. In Matthew 11:29 he says, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." You see, when we come to him, what happens? We come to him, he forgives us for our sins, he cleanses us, he washes us, but then he gives me rest, rest for my soul to know that I am going to heaven.

I have no worries about that, that I am going to heaven. He has paid for my life through his blood. Then he was merciful. Has he been merciful to you? Merciful to me? Hebrews 2:17 says, "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful, faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

He came to die for the whole world, not just for Calvary Chapel. To die for the whole world, but the whole world doesn't receive him. But those that receive him, those that are born again of the Holy Spirit, are the ones that are washed away from every sin. The Bible says they are as white as snow, and their names are written in the book of life forever and ever and ever.

I like this, that he was also humble. Totally humble. In Philippians 2:8, he says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." The cross of Jesus Christ. Everywhere you look is the cross of Jesus Christ, over and over and over.

Then he was forgiving. Look what he's done for you, what he's done for me. In Luke 23:34, then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing." And they divided his garments and cast lots for his garments. Here he says, "Father, forgive them. They don't even know what they're doing. They don't know that I am the living God. They don't know I'm the Messiah, the anointed One of God.

"They don't know that I am the Savior. Father, forgive them, please forgive them." And he died for the sins of the world. Even though people will never come to know him, he died for the sins of the world. In Luke 19:10, I love this: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Who was lost? You and me were lost.

We have to remember that Jesus did come. From the beginning of Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, all the way to the present time, we come here to the book of Micah, and the prophecy is given because the prophet already exactly knew this is what's going to take in the future. Remember, every one of those prophets in the Old Testament never got to experience the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

They spoke about it. But we have read about it, and we have seen it happen in our time. 1,900 years ago, it happened. To much is given, much more is required in the kingdom of God. Much more. I don't know what you want to do this morning, but I really pray this morning that every one of us here would really spend time asking God, "God, how do you want me to deal with my life, with the life of my neighbor, the life of my loved ones and friends?"

Because as Jesus not only has come to die for the sins of the world... when I go to Jerusalem, I always think about this, that that blood poured down that cross to the ground. As they stood there and they looked at him, they forgot Micah chapter 5, verse 2, that it was prophetically that he would come.

Here's the prophecy now hanging on a cross, the promise of life, eternal life given to us. It's not just 60 years, 100 years, but it's eternity and eternity and eternity forever and ever and ever. Maybe you don't feel that in your heart. Maybe you feel you've been too bad, that you don't deserve heaven. We don't deserve heaven. It's a gift of God given to you and given to me.

Phillips Brooks shared a remarkable insight when in his Christmas hymn... he wrote this Christmas hymn. He said, "O little town of Bethlehem," he wrote. "How still we see thee lie, above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.

"The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Father, I pray in your name, Jesus. Lord, that you help us, Lord. Lord, that you help us to just really to spend time with you, Lord, in our lives. Lord, here even this morning, just a little early here, Father, to pray for these wonderful people, Jesus, their families, their friends, their enemies, Lord.

And Lord, for this church, everything that's going on in the church here, Lord, we pray. Lord, that in every way we would submit, we would surrender, and that we would wait for you to use our lives, Lord. To work in our lives, to work through our lives, Lord, that you would have your way, not our way, Lord God, your way.

Guest (Male): If you've never received God's gift of redemption through Jesus, we encourage you to make this the most meaningful Christmas of your life by putting your faith solely in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries.

If you'd like to hear today's program, Little Bethlehem, in its unedited form, we'll be happy to send a copy to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165. We'd also like to offer you Raul's four-part series titled The Birth of Jesus Christ.

Whether you've walked with the Lord for many years or you're just starting your journey today, this Christmas collection will fill your heart with wonder when Jesus chose to trade heaven's glory for a stable. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's four-lesson series, The Birth of Jesus Christ.

We'll send your thumb drive for nine dollars or the CD set for eighteen dollars. That number again is 800-634-9165 or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. We've archived all of our radio programs so that you can enjoy podcasts of Raul's teaching anytime, anywhere.

You'll find these podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, and the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel. You'll also want to download our app for access to digital Bible studies and live-streamed Bible teaching. We are grateful for the many partners who support this ministry and enable us to keep sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Thanks again for including us in your Christmas Eve celebration. We pray that you will be abundantly blessed by Jesus' peace and joy, and we encourage you to tune in next time. Together, we'll quiet our hearts and minds to learn more about God's gracious, unconditional love. This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.