Joy to the World –The Message of Christmas
By Rev. Greg Schermerhorn
Luke 2:8–20 (NLT)
That
night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks
of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord
appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured
them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great
joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the
Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips
of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly,
the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God
and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with
whom God is pleased.” When the angels
had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to
Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has
happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and
Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in
the manger. After seeing him, the
shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them
about this child. All who heard the
shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart
and thought about them often. The
shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they
had heard and seen. It was just as the
angel had told them.
We have a lot to celebrate this
time of year. The commemoration of the
birth of our Savior Jesus is a reason for great joy. Joy is the message of the third week of Advent.
Can you imagine being a shepherd
sitting in a field watching over your sheep when all of a sudden an angel
appears before you and declares, "Don't be afraid!"? Is there anyone here who wouldn’t be startled
by that? Terrified? But this angel was on a special mission from
God the Father. This angel was sent to
the shepherds to declare the birth of God's one and only Son, Jesus, the long
anticipated Savior of the world. This
very special birth announcement burst the very seams of Heaven with God's joy. God the Father had finally revealed His plan
for man's salvation to the world in the form of a newborn babe.
Jesus, the very son of God,
had been revealed in flesh, on Earth. The angel declared, "I bring you good
news that will bring great joy to all people." Yes, there was excitement in Heaven, God the
Father's joy spread to the angels, and the angels declared God's good pleasure
to the shepherds. The birth announcement
of the King of kings and Lord of lords was made to the lowest class of society,
lowly shepherds sitting under the stars keeping watching over their sheep. The angel brought “Good news that will bring
great joy to all people!” Indeed, Jesus not only brought salvation to the Jews
but to all people.
People of every class and of every background. God's gift, His joy was to be shared with all
people everywhere and for all time! Can
I get an "AMEN?"
To further emphasize the point,
the angel was joined by a great Heavenly host. Legions of angels joined with the announcing
angel and began singing praise to God for sending His son, Jesus, to earth. It was a truly joyous occasion in Heaven and
on earth. What a startling, terrifying,
overwhelming, and reassuring moment it must have been for those shepherds. They were witnesses to something wonderful that
had never happened before and it moved them to action.
After the angels departed and
returned to Heaven, the shepherds talked amongst themselves and said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which
the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and
found Mary and Joseph. And there was the
baby, lying in the manger.”
Everything the angel had told
them was true. This event changed their
lives. It so impacted them that they
told others about their encounter with the angel and about the legions of
angels that also appeared glorifying God and singing praises to Him. They told others about God's one and only Son
who'd been born in Bethlehem as their Savior. They told all the folks they met that
everything was just as the angel said it would be.
The shepherds shared in the
joy of Heaven when they sought out and found the Christ child, when they
glorified God, and when they told others what God had done. We too can share the joy of Heaven. We can and should do the same things that the
shepherds did that night long ago in Bethlehem. God has revealed His Son, Jesus, His special Christmas
gift to us! He has done this through His
Word.
John 1:1–3 (NKJV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was
made.
He has done this through
nature.
Psalm 19:1 (NASB95)
The
heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the
work of His hands.
He has done this though the
circumstances of our lives. Jesus wants
to know us in a real and personal way.
Luke 19:10 (NKJV)
for
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost
The first thing we should do
upon hearing the good news, just like the shepherds did, is to seek out and
find Christ. What I am really talking
about here is developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Why? Jesus
loved us so much that He left the comforts of Heaven and set aside His divine
prerogatives to die for our sins.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus being fully God and
fully man specifically came to Earth to restore the relationship between man
and God that had been broken apart by sin. Jesus, by His sinless life, by His
substitutionary death on the cross for us, by His burial, and by His
resurrection from the dead; has become the final atoning sacrifice for sin, for
all time, for all mankind. The joy in Heaven
at Jesus' birth was because God's plan of grace for mankind was finally
revealed.
Jesus is the name that is
above all names. Jesus, as God's only
Son and as the second member of the Godhead, is worthy of all honor, all glory,
and all praise in His own right. But,
because of His atoning sacrifice to make our salvation from sin and eternal
death possible, God the Father has elevated Jesus to the place of highest
honor.
Philippians 2:9–11 (NKJV)
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
All of creation will bow to
Jesus and confess Him as the Lord of lords and King of kings, in this life or
the one to come. The difference is will
you be staying in Heaven with Him afterwards, or will you be departing in shame
for the eternal torment of Hell for rejecting Jesus' free gift of eternal life?
Receiving God's gift of
salvation is as easy as A...B...C!
A-Admit Admit you are a sinner. Repent
and turn away from your sin.
Acts 3:19 (NKJV)
Repent
therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of
refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord
B-Believe Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and receive
God’s gift of forgiveness from sin.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
C-Confess Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. This is an 18-inch decision. You have made the mental acknowledgement, now
you transfer that knowledge to your heart and confess it with your mouth.
Romans 10:9–10, 13 (NKJV)
that
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For “whoever calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.”
This is not about praying a "sinners
prayer." It is about developing a real
and lasting relationship with Jesus, the Creator of the universe and Savior of
the world. It is about repenting of your
sins, receiving forgiveness from God, and confessing Jesus as your Savior with
heartfelt knowledge and conviction. This
is about opening the gift of joy that God the Father has given to you for
Christmas. How will you respond? Don't leave here without receiving God's
Christmas gift to you, the joy of Heaven, Jesus Christ.
