Luke 2:1-7 – The Hand of God

These verses tell the story of a birth – the most important birth that ever takes place, the birth of the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Throughout all the circumstances around His birth, we see the hand of God ordering the smallest details according to His plan for this incredibly important event.

Christ is born at a time when the Jews are coming under the control of a foreign power. The whole civilised earth is governed by one nation – the Roman Empire. What this has produced is a time of relative peace and stability, a time when men can journey from place to place in safety. In other words, an ideal time for the spreading of the Gospel to Gentile nations.

By a string of seemingly mundane coincidences, Christ is born in a place prophesied about in Micah 5:2, Bethlehem, the home town of David. He is born in poverty, in a barn, and laid in a feeding trough. This humiliation is part of the life He takes upon Himself, a life He lives perfectly for our sakes. And every detail of this life has been carefully brought about by the hand of God.

We must always keep before us the plain and simple fact that God knows what He is doing just as much today as He did then. The God who miraculously impregnated a virgin of the house of David, living in obscure Nazareth, caused the rulers of the world to call for a census at the exact time her nine months were almost up, and brought this girl and her fiancee to the birthplace of David, filling up all the inns with people, so that every detail of His own prophecies and promises would be fulfiled, is the same God who controls every circumstance of our lives today.

Questions
1. How was the Roman Empire used by God in the spread of the Gospel?
2. Why was it important that Jesus be born at Bethlehem?

Prayer Points
1. Give thanks that God is in control of all things.
2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
3. Pray for family matters.