1. Irony: A Baby Born… to Die December 22, 2013

2. A Picture of Irony

4. Prophecies of Christ’s Death 1)Zechariah – 30 pieces of silver, shepherd killed, sheep scatter. 2)Psalm 22 – suffering, crucifixion, his garment sold, mocking. 3)Isaiah 53 – despised, rejected, smitten by God, afflicted, wounded, crushed, chastised, oppressed, led like a sheep to be slaughtered.

5. Ironies of a Baby Born… to Die 1) It is ironic that humans are born to live and then die but Jesus was born to die and then live.

6. Ironies of a Baby Born… to Die 2) It is ironic that we are born dead in our sins and need new life but Jesus was born as life itself and needed to die - to give us new life. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked….But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:1,4

7. Ironies of a Baby Born… to Die 3) It is ironic that the birth of God the Son is symbolized by a manger and the death of God the Son is symbolized by a cross.

8. Ironies of a Baby Born… to Die 4) It is ironic that although Christ’s death may look like a tragic end to the Christmas story it is in fact the glorious culmination of the Christmas story. I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. John 10:17-18.

9. Ironies of a Baby Born… to Die 5) It is ironic that God would see our situation as so desperate that he would give his one and only Son as the sacrifice for sin, yet tragically so many people see no need for salvation.

10. Ironies of a Baby Born… to Die 6) It is ironic that Christmas cannot be genuinely celebrated without recognizing Jesus as the Savior for your own sins – yet so many attempt to do so. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24