Over the years, there have been many significant events that have taken place on Christmas Day. On Christmas Day in 1818, Handel's Messiah premiered in the United States in the city of Boston. In 1831, Louisiana and Arkansas were the first states to observe the Christmas holiday, some 39 years before it became a federal holiday. Other significant events took place on December 25th, actually had nothing to do with Christmas. For instance, the War of 1812 ended on Christmas Day 1814 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. And on Christmas Day in 1968, Apollo 8 orbited the moon, which was the first time man had ever seen the dark side of the moon. First time man had ever orbited the moon. And obviously we know that in 1969, the very next year, man set foot on the moon. Though these events are interesting, obviously they don't measure up to the importance of the very first Christmas, even though Jesus probably was not born on December the 25th. The most important thing about Christmas Day is remembering and celebrating God's entrance into the world as a human baby. And I think too often our Christmas celebrations are a little shallow sometimes because we don't spend enough time thinking about and understanding the Christ of Christmas. We get caught up in the presents and the fun and the family and we just forget. Or we grow a little bored with the Christmas story because we've heard it. I mean, how many times have you heard Luke chapter two this holiday season? The best way to have a meaningful Christmas and to celebrate a wonderful Christmas day is to turn our focus back to the baby in the manger, back to Jesus Christ at Christmastime. This morning, my desire is that we would turn our focus to Jesus Christ for a few minutes and have the best Christmas we've ever had because we think about Jesus the most we've ever had on Christmas Day. And the title of my message this morning, as you can see on the screen, is actually taken directly from Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, a prophecy about the coming Messiah. A portion of this verse says this, his name shall be called. And for a few minutes today, I'd like us to look at the different names of Jesus used in the birth narratives, the stories about Jesus's birth. Understanding these names of Jesus used at his birth, I think will really enhance and deepen our celebration of Christmas. These names reveal the unique identity of the Christ child. And there are over 100 names of Jesus in the Bible, but in the four chapters of Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2, there are over 25 different names or titles of Jesus in these four chapters alone. These Christmas names and titles reveal three things about the baby Jesus. First, Jesus' names reveal his messianic office. That's a big fancy word, I know. Messianic. He was the Messiah, the promised one. And through his ancestors and through his titles, we learn more about the office of Messiah. So we're gonna start in Matthew chapter one. If you have your Bibles, would you turn there with me? Matthew chapter one, and we're gonna start by looking at the line of Christ through the fact that Jesus was the Messiah as evidenced by his ancestors. Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy, a recounting of the names and so-and-so was father to so-and-so and on and on and on. And this showed two things. It showed Jesus' family tree, but it also connected Jesus to the promises made to David and Abraham. Look at chapter one of Matthew, verse one. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew calls Jesus the son of David and the son of Abraham. So let's focus in on these two names for a moment, starting with the son of Abraham. Who was Abraham? Abraham was a patriarch. He was the founder of the Jewish nation. God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, out of paganism, and told him to go to a land that he will give him. In Genesis chapter 12, God gives Abraham a set of promises, which God gives to Abraham five different times over the course of his life. I mean, if God promises something once, we know that it's certain. But God told Abraham these promises five different times. And in this covenant, or these promises, this Abrahamic covenant, we see four things that were promised to Abraham. We see that God promised Abraham land. He and his descendants would inherit the physical land of Canaan. They would also have a nation. Abraham would have a nation. His descendants would multiply. They would be like the sand on the seashore. Abraham would be a divine blessing to other nations, but also God would bless Abraham. And then fourth, Abraham would have a seed. This last item is the key in our discussion because Genesis 22, 18 is really influential here. God told Abraham in this verse, Genesis 22, 18, quote, in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. This promised seed would bring blessing to all the peoples of the earth. The catch is that this word seed, translated descendants or offspring in our English Bibles, is a singular noun used in the collective sense. So it's a singular noun used in the collective sense. Why is that important? If we fast forward all the way to Galatians chapter 3, the apostle Paul clearly shows us that this promise made to Abraham In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed was fulfilled in a singular offspring in a single person Jesus Christ Galatians 3 16 says this now to Abraham and his seed where the promise is made He does not say into your seeds as of many but as of one and to your seed Who is Christ? So Paul's point is that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham's singular offspring, Jesus Christ. And in the Christmas story, we actually see this promise in action. Gentile wise men or Gentile magi came to worship the Christ child, the son of Abraham. Even at Jesus' birth, he was blessing other nations. But Matthew didn't only call Jesus the son of Abraham, he also called Jesus the son of David, the son of David. And we're gonna go back to the Old Testament to understand this one also. In 2 Samuel 7, God extended to David a series of promises that we call the Davidic Covenant. And this is the key part of those promises. A descendant of David will have the throne of the kingdom forever. So David would have someone come after him that would sit on his throne that would be his descendant and his kingdom would last forever. Other Old Testament passages talk about this as well. Psalm 132.11, Isaiah 9.6 and 7, Jeremiah 23.5, they all reemphasize the promise of a coming king from the line of David whose kingdom would be everlasting. Well, who could these passages be describing? The New Testament gives us a very clear answer. Jesus Christ boldly claims, I am the root and the offspring of David. In Luke 1, 32 and 33, the angel Gabriel tells Mary this, quote, the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. What a way to start off a book here. That verse is loaded. when we understand the promises given in the Old Testament. To say that Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David is about as bold as you could be to a Jewish reader. Matthew quickly and firmly established that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the promised one, the rightful heir of the Davidic throne, and the one in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Jesus is the son of David and the son of Abraham. There's a third name that refers to Jesus' ancestry, and this one's actually found in Luke's genealogy. In Luke chapter 3, verse 38, Luke connected Jesus not just to Abraham, the founder of the Jewish nation, but he connects him all the way back to Adam, the very first man. And he calls Jesus the son of Adam. This fits into Luke's purpose for writing. Luke wrote his gospel to emphasize that Jesus provides salvation for all people. And so by connecting Jesus all the way back to the first man, Adam, what Luke is telling us is that if you're a descendant of Adam, then Jesus is for you. then Jesus can be yours. So Jesus is the son of Adam, the son of Abraham, and the son of David. All three of these ancestors underscore the legitimacy of Jesus as the Messiah. He was who the Bible says he was. But the accounts of Jesus' birth also use titles to further point to Jesus the Messiah. There are three titles, and the first title is Christ. And in fact, this title is so often used with the name Jesus, we say Jesus Christ frequently, and it's recorded in scripture frequently, that we sometimes forget that it's a title and not a name. Well, what does Christ mean? It means anointed one. It's the Greek word Messiah. Messiah is a Hebrew word, and so Christ is simply the Greek translation of that. This title is used by the angel's famous declaration to the shepherds, that there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord. It's the verse that we quoted earlier. By calling Jesus the Christ, the angel made clear that this was the Old Testament Messiah, the one promised and longed for in which all the promises of the Old Testament would be fulfilled. The second title is King of the Jews, incidentally used only one time at Jesus' birth. It's in Matthew chapter 2. Ironically enough, this title is used by Gentiles of Jesus. So the gentile magi, the wise men who came, came to Jerusalem and they asked around and said, where is the king of the Jews born? This wasn't the Jewish people, this wasn't Herod the king, it was the gentiles, the people who had No revelation in the Old Testament. The people to whom many of the promises were not made, and yet they're the ones that correctly identify that this is Jesus. Of all the people in Jerusalem, Herod the King, the religious leaders, the scribes, all the multitude of people, this is the most populous city in Israel at that point in time. Of all the people in Jerusalem, it was foreigners who traveled hundreds of miles that identified Jesus as the King of the Jews. Jesus is the King of Kings, the blessed and only potentate. 1 Timothy 6.15. In Matthew chapter 2 verse 6 uses a synonym for King when it quotes Micah 5.2. Turn over to Matthew chapter 2, if you're there, and look at verse 6. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. The word used here is ruler. It's a synonym for king. A king has rule. A ruler is in charge. And this further emphasizes the kingship of Jesus. Interestingly enough, other kings have been crowned on Christmas Day. In 1066, in England, William the Conqueror was crowned king. Charlemagne, the father of Europe, was crowned king on December the 25th, all the way back in 800 AD. I mean, this is like 1,200 years ago. But Charlemagne was crowned king. And actually, this story is a little bit unusual. It happened while he was observing the Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, and according to the story, he's bowing before the altar and he's praying, and all of a sudden, the Pope just puts the crown on his head. You're going, wait a minute, how did that happen? I think the two of them had a meeting beforehand, they worked out a little dealio, and, alright, I'm going to bow, and then you put it on, and we'll be good. Regardless of how it happened, Charlemagne was crowned king on Christmas Day. But both William the Conqueror and Charlemagne, Charles the Great, died. And their kingdoms split up and dissolved. Their rule in the grand scheme of history was short and small. As we just discovered from scripture, there is another king at Christmas and his rule has no end. The king is Jesus and his reign will stretch over every land and nation and tongue and kingdom. Jesus Christ reigns as the Messiah. And since he is king, what should our attitude be toward him? How do we treat a king? We honor him. We reverence him. We submit to him. We obey him. We show loyalty to him. One day every knee will bow to King Jesus, but we have the opportunity to bow every day in our own hearts, to submit our will to the King's will. As you think about your relationship with the Messiah King, can you rejoice today that He is your King and that you're in full submission to Him? I mean, how ironic would it be that on the day that we celebrate the king coming into the world, we have areas of our life that we aren't fully submitting to him? Be a little ironic. Jesus Christ is the king, and he demands, and lovingly demands, total rule of our lives. He is the one through whom all nations will be blessed. So the first group of Jesus's Christmas names teach us about his identity as the Messiah. The second group further explains Jesus's identity, and this is a mouthful, by revealing the uniqueness of his being. Let me explain. Jesus had two natures in one person. This is what we call the hypostatic union. He was fully God and fully man. at the same time. And a number of the names used for him and a number of the titles that reference him in the Christmas story reveal to us that he was indeed fully God and fully man. So there are two sets of names and titles here. There are names that emphasize his deity, that he is God, and there are names that emphasize his humanity, that he is man. So let's look at these. Names that emphasize his deity. The wonder of Christmas certainly lies in the truth that God became a man. Four names teach us about the deity of Jesus, and we'll start by looking at a couple of the names in Luke chapter 1, verse 32 and 35. In Luke chapter one, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, and amongst other things, he says this in verse 32, quote, Jesus will be great and will be called the son of the highest. Three verses later, as you notice in your scriptures, in verse 35, he went on a little further to say, the holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God. So the two names that he uses here is Son of the Highest and Son of God. The Highest was a name for God, first used in Genesis 14. This is the name El Elyon, God Most High. Both of these names essentially mean son of God. And this expression, son of, doesn't talk about descendants. You know, Zane is son of me, Zach. It doesn't talk about that. It talks about the same class or the same group. The Old Testament refers to the son of the prophets. They're not talking about the literal descendants of the prophets, but the company of prophets, we could say. It puts someone in the same category as another. So you're making the connection to call Jesus the son of the highest and the son of God is to equate him, is to tell everyone in the world that Jesus is the same substance as the father. He is God. But if that wasn't enough, in Luke chapter one, verse 76, Jesus is called directly the highest. This little baby, born in a manger in Bethlehem, is God Most High. Jesus is El Elyon. A third name that ascribes deity to Jesus is repeated a couple of times in the book of Luke. It is the title, Lord. This is the most common title for Jesus in the New Testament. And although it is common, it is very significant. This is the Greek word for the Old Testament covenant name for God. It's our English word Jehovah or Yahweh. The word Lord in Luke 1.43 and then again in 2.11 equates Jesus with God by giving Jesus the same title as Lord or Jehovah. Jesus is Lord. The fourth name, emphasizing Jesus' deity, is the name Immanuel. And a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to preach a whole sermon on this one, so there's tons of material here. I have to condense, obviously. Immanuel means God with us. God with us. God in human flesh. And it highlights the nearness of God to men and vividly illustrates the presence of God dwelling among men. At Christmas time, God took on human skin and became one of us. And all four of these names, Son of the Highest, The Highest, Lord, Emmanuel, all four of them show that Jesus is God. He is God Most High who has taken on flesh. That's Christmas, folks. But there is a matching set of names that emphasize the other side of it, that emphasize Jesus' humanity. And these names are simple enough that if we aren't paying attention, we might miss them. We might miss them. How so? Well, the most common name for Jesus in the story of his birth is repeated 17 times. And it's the name baby or child. Obviously, we use these words to refer to a newly born human being. There are some members of our church that have had recent births. But folks, that's exactly the point. Seventeen times Jesus is called a human baby. Why is that important? Well, if you had never heard the Christmas story before and someone came to you and told you that the almighty God of the universe, who spans eternity and is infinite, decided to take a human body, you'd have a little trouble believing it. It's a little hard to believe. So what are the writers doing for us then? They're emphasizing over and over and over again, very subtly, that this was a human baby. It wasn't that God looked like a human and acted like a human, but wasn't really a human. Jesus was a human. And the Bible says that he retains his body, his glorified body, and one day we will join him with a glorified body. Jesus was a real human child. And the second name that refers to Jesus' humanity is son. It's very similar to child. Mary gave birth to a son, a baby boy. Mary brought forth her firstborn son, Luke chapter 2 tells us. Jesus was a human baby with the gender given to him by God. And the third name that emphasizes Jesus' humanity is at the end of Matthew's account in Matthew 2, verse 23. Matthew 2, 23. This verse says, quote, So the third name is Nazarene. Well, what's so significant about that? Nothing. That's why it's so significant. He had a hometown. He had somewhere that he was from. If he wasn't really a human, could he claim that he was from somewhere? All told, these three very normal names are things that we use today. I mean, we refer to infants as babies. We refer to our children as sons or daughters, boys or girls. We tend to introduce ourselves by telling where we are from, what our hometown is. And that's what Jesus had. He was a child, a baby boy that had a hometown. Christmas is the reflection and celebration of the giant step that God took in becoming a man. One person, fully God and fully man. The example of George Washington in the dreadful winter of Valley Forge illustrates the incarnation to a very small degree. Obviously, George Washington was not God. He was a human being. But his example does illustrate, I think, for us this truth that God became flesh. Washington, who crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776, faced the hardest point in his military leadership in the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. His troops were depleted, many of their enlistments were running out, supplies were very low, Though he was a general, he decided to face the winter as one of his troops would. He didn't retreat to his mansion in Virginia. He stayed right with his men. In his general orders from December 17, 1777, Washington defended his decision to winter at Valley Forge. He wrote about how they would make camp, why they needed to spend the winter at Valley Forge, not going further inland, how they would get through the winter, and then he wrote the following, listen to this, quote, these cogent reasons have determined the general to take post in the neighborhood of this camp. He himself will share in the hardship and partake of every inconvenience. The book of Hebrews records almost exact words to refer to Jesus Christ and his incarnation. Jesus took on flesh and blood to partake of the same hardships that we face. So on this wonderful Christmas morning, worship him. Worship Emmanuel, the son of the highest. Adore and exalt Christ the Lord. And then run to the child. Come to the baby, the Nazarene, who lived perfectly, who understands your struggles, who feels the emotional burden that you feel. Worship and wonder at the miracle of God being a man. So understanding that these names for Jesus reveal, first, his messianic office, and then second, the uniqueness of his being, helps to enhance our celebration of Christmas because we understand more about what we're celebrating. It gives us things to think about on this Christmas day. The Messiah, the perfect God-man, came for the purpose of saving his people from their sins. And that's exactly what Jesus did. The third set of names for Jesus reveal his saving work. His saving work. And the first name that reveals his saving work is his given name. It's Jesus. In fact, the name Jesus means the Lord is salvation. It's the Hebrew Old Testament name Yeshua or Joshua. Some of you have that name. My brother has that name. The birth narratives use the name of Jesus eight different times, and Matthew 1.21 explains why Jesus was given this name. Look at that verse if you're in Matthew chapter 1 with me. Chapter 1, verse 21. Listen to what the angel tells Joseph. And she, Mary, will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. That's the reason. For he will save his people from their sins. In nine English words, that's why Jesus came. That's the reason for Christmas. That's why we celebrate. We don't celebrate because it's fun or there's music and gifts. That's great, but we celebrate because Jesus came to save us. That's the reason for Christmas. In Luke chapter 2, the angel comes and appears to the shepherds and tells of a Savior, tells of salvation that has come. Luke chapter 2, 11, we recited it together earlier. There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Could you imagine being at that first Noel the angel said? Could you imagine being there, bored out of your mind again on that dark, cold hill, and then all of a sudden you can't see a thing because it's so bright in the sky, and then the angel says some things, and then the angel starts talking about, there's born to you a Savior. How life-altering and exciting beyond comparison to have been there, to hear about the long-awaited Savior. And folks, that's why Jesus came. In fact, that's why Jesus explained his own mission. That's how he explained his own mission. In Luke chapter 19, verse 10, Jesus said, I have come to seek and to save that which was lost. That's why he came. And later on in Luke 2, the second reference up there on the screen, Luke 2.30, a man named Simeon calls Jesus God's salvation. Simeon understood full well that the Messiah would save him from his sins, and Simeon got to hold God's salvation in his arms. This account of the man Simeon actually is a very rich account. It's a beautiful account, 11 verses long, and in this account we have three names of Jesus that refer to his saving work. Salvation is the first one, light is the second one. At the end of his statement in Luke 2.32, Simeon calls Jesus the light. Look at Luke 2, 32. He calls him light for the Gentiles. He's quoting and referencing Isaiah 9, 2, which says this, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Jesus brings the light of salvation into the world of sin. And the third name for Jesus found in Simeon's story is at the very beginning of his account in Luke 2.25. The Bible says this, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. The consolation of Israel, that's a mouthful. That's a messianic title drawn from verses like Isaiah 40 verse 1 which says, Comfort, comfort ye my people. Consolation is the same word that's also translated comfort. And the ministry of Messiah would comfort people by saving them from their sin. This title emphasized the gentleness of the Messiah's saving ministry. The fifth and final name of Jesus that points to his saving work is found in Luke chapter 1. Luke 1 verse 69. And it's the horn of salvation. This is part of a psalm of praise that the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, spoke. So he spoke this after his tongue was loosed and he got his voice back. And he came and he called the coming Messiah a horn of salvation. Why did he do that? Well the horn was a symbol of strength and power and he was poetically using this metaphor to describe the security of salvation in this Messiah. The salvation Jesus brings is strong. Strong enough to save you from your sins. Strong enough to save me from my sins. Jesus' coming was the very beginning of His saving work because one day He would die on a cross, atone for our sins, be buried in a tomb for three days, then rise again to defeat sin and death forever. And Christmas is the beginning of that. The greatest way a person can celebrate Christmas is to accept the gift of salvation. Have you ever been saved? Have you ever been redeemed from your sins? I'm guessing that all of you have or will have at some point presence today or yesterday, sometime this week. The reason we give presence is because 2,000 years ago God gave us a present, Jesus Christ, far greater in value than a new sweater or a new tablet or even a new car. God sent us Jesus, the Savior of the world. He is a light and wants to bring you out of darkness into his marvelous light. His salvation brings comfort to you and Jesus is mighty to save. He's mighty to save. Accept the gift of Christmas by accepting the salvation that he brings. And if you've already trusted in Jesus as Savior, then let Christmas be an extra special day of remembering the salvation that he has given to you. Praise God for the gift of salvation through Christ. Don't leave here in a few minutes and forget about what Jesus has done to make today a day of celebration. remember his salvation, and spend some time, maybe it's around the dinner table in a few minutes, spend some time thanking and praising God for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Hopefully this morning you've come to a better understanding of the names of Jesus used at his birth. By focusing and meditating on Jesus, our Savior, our celebration of Christmas is enhanced, it's deepened, it's more meaningful now. And as we go from here in a few minutes, let's not allow the wrappings of the day to blind our eyes to the greatest gift we could ever receive. For behold, we have good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you so much for Jesus. And our feeble words really lack the ability and the strength to praise Christ enough for what he's done for us. I pray that as each one goes from here, that their Christmas today would be just so rich and so deep as they celebrate our Savior's birth. If there are some here that don't know you, that need Jesus' work of salvation in their life, that you would convict them and draw them to yourself and show them how they can have the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life to save them from their sins. Lord, we'd love nothing more than to celebrate the redemption of another fellow sinner on this Christmas day. We pray that you would receive glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. We do have a few things coming up next week. Next week is New Year's Day. We do have Sunday school next week, I was told. But there is no evening service next week. There's no evening service today. Enjoy your time with friends and family. There are a couple of new ministries and series starting up in January, so if you're interested in those, just reference your bulletin to do that. Otherwise, have a Merry Christmas. God bless you. You are dismissed.