Hello all! I am not exactly doing a book review today, more of a book recommendation. :-) Since today is Christmas, I wanted to make you aware of a really good book to read that reminds us what Christmas is all about! (well, obviously the Bible would also be a good book to read :-) ) I read this myself a couple of years ago, and as a family we have gone through it for family devotions, I think it was last year. I'm having trouble remembering now. :-) I didn't re-read it this year, which is why I'm not going into much depth. But I still wanted to have at least one book mentioned for the month of December! :-)
Title: "God in the Manger: The Miraculous Birth of Christ"
Author: John MacArthur
Publisher: by W Publishing Group in 2001
Background Information: First of all, I feel a little strange commenting much on this, since it seems like everyone knows who John MacArthur is! :-) Quoting from the back of the book: "He is the Pastor-Teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and President of the Master's College and Seminary. The author of numerous best-selling books, his popular expository style of teaching can be heard daily on his internationally syndicated radio broadcast, Grace to You. He edited the MacArthur Study Bible, which won the Gold Medallion Award and has sold more than 312,000 copies."
On a more personal note, of most of the solid radio preachers out there, I am most familiar with John MacArthur's teaching. Dad has been getting his tapes and cds for years. I have lots of memories on going on vacations and listening to John MacArthur. :-) (not that I've always appreciated that when I was young, but I enjoy him much more now than I did when I was twelve! :)) I've also have read the most by him than any other pastoral author. So, he is kind of a favorite of mine. :-) One of these days I hope to do some more reviews of John MacArthur's books, but today it is this one. :-) So, if you've never read or listed to John MacArthur, I highly recommend him! You can learn more at: http://www.gty.org/
God in the Manger: The Miraculous Birth of Christ...(emphasis my own)
The book has 11 chapters and a total of 155 pages, which does not include the study guide in the back. The book delves into some of these topics: the virgin birth, Jesus' family Tree, a humble birth in Bethlehem, the testimony of the Shepherds, Simeon's eyes of faith, and the superiority of Jesus Christ, and more.
MacArthur has about three pages in the introduction, and I decided to include part of it for you:
"Most people celebrate Christmas; but so few men and women understand what and whom it really commemorates. They probably have heard that it marks the birth of a great teacher from centuries ago; that they should emulate Him by promoting peace, good will, and charity during the Christmas season; and that they should strive to make the holiday less materialistic and more family oriented. But so many people, even Christians never pause to fully consider the One who is at the center of the holiday. And so few ever truly grasp the historical and theological significance of what occurred that first Christmas.
Christmas commemorates a divine event and a divine person--the miraculous birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Unlike most of our holidays, Christmas is not a celebration of an event strictly from human history that commemorates a human achievement or recognizes a national milestone. An authentic celebration of Christmas honors the most wonderful of divine accomplishments. It recognizes that the eternal, sovereign God came to earth as a human being to live a righteous life among His people and then to die as a perfect sacrifice to deliver from the wrath of God all who repent and believe." (p. vii-viii)
Moving on, I am going to mention a few things that I find interesting or think you might interesting from the book. Again, I'm not going into a lot of depth here and I won't really be doing the book the justice it deserves, hopefully it will still be helpful and informative though!
Chapter two is about Jesus' family tree, MacArthur does a great job explaining genealogies and the differences between Luke's genealogy and Matthew's. He explains how Luke's account starts from the present to the past and Matthew's goes from the past to the present. MacArthur thinks that Luke's account is more dramatic and Matthew's is more predictable. He says about Luke's:
"By starting at the present and working back to the past, the beloved physician turned historian and theologian offers us a sense of wonder and excitement as we try to anticipate how far back his genealogy of Jesus will take us." (p. 19) On Matthew's genealogy he writes:
"Matthew's goal in his list was to satisfy the Jew's concern about Messiah's legality. Judaism began with Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. Therefore, it was only necessary to prove Messiah's credentials to the Jews by tracing His line from Abraham, through David, right down to Jesus." (p. 19) MacArthur also explains some of the differences between the two lists, he writes:
"In Matthew, the genealogy is paternal, going through Jesus' earthly father, Joseph; and Joseph's father, Jacob; back to David. In Luke, the genealogy is maternal, going through Jesus' mother, Mary; and Mary's father, Heli; back to David." (p 20) MacArthur writes several more interesting things, and concludes the chapter by saying:
"The family tree of Jesus Christ consists of far more than two lists of ancient Hebrew names. It is also much more than boring paternal and maternal lists of Jesus' earthly ancestors. It is a wonderful testimony to God's grace and to His Son's earthly ministry. Jesus was born the friend of sinners, as He stated in his admonishment to the Jewish leaders: " 'I have not come call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance' " (Luke 5:32). The Messiah presented in the genealogies is truly the Lord of grace." (p. 24)
In chapter eight, MacArthur titles the chapter: "The News Travels Fast" He goes into some length about the wise men/Magi in some depth and explains some of the various myths about them. MacArthur writes:
"However, the only credible facts we know about those men are the few details Matthew provided. He did not choose to tell us their precise number, names, means of transportation, or the specific areas they were from. Matthew's original audience would have known the wise men were from the East, because people generally knew such Magi made up the priestly-political class of the Parthians--who resided east of Palestine." (p. 101)
MacArthur writes much more in the chapter, about Herod's response, more about the Star, etc. He concludes the chapter by saying:
"The Magi believed in God's Son, the King of kings, when they heard about Him. Such people today might have little divine light initially, but because they realize it is His light, they respond to the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6), repent, believe, obey, worship, and live." (p. 108)
Finally, in chapter 11, titled "The Superiority of Jesus Christ" MacArthur goes into some depth about Hebrews 1. He concludes the chapter, and the book by writing:
"I believe an analysis of Hebrews 1:1-14 is a fitting capstone to a book on the birth of Christ. It ensures that when you consider the baby in the Bethlehem shelter, you don't merely see an adorable child who grew up to be a good teacher an compassionate healer. The passage points you beyond that and to an accurate understanding of the person and work of Christ. The writer, through careful, Spirit-inspired argumentation, declares irrefutably that the Child born to Mary was indeed God in the manger. He truly was the Son of God, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit yet born naturally to a woman in Israel. And without doubt He was the Lord and Savior who lived a perfect life and died as a perfect sacrifice so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life." (p. 155)
If you haven't read the book, make it a 2009 goal to do so, if you know of someone who would benefit from it, consider buying it for them, and if you have read it, I'd love to hear some of YOUR favorite parts of the book!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
~Amanda~
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