Christmas Sunday 2012

We have gathered to think of Christ, the risen Savior that we worship every Sunday, but particularly this Sunday, we're going to be looking at the Christ who was born. We're going to be looking at the beginning of the gospel. God, when he came down and took upon flesh, we're thinking about what Christmas is. And before we can really think about what Christmas is, I need to give a warning about what it's not. We need to talk about what it is not. We need to talk about the lies that surround Christmas so we can get to the truth of Christmas. Because there's one enticing, simple lie that can distract us from Christmas. And this is it. Christmas is about giving. That's the lie. Christmas is about giving. Christmas is indeed not about giving. It is not about what we give. Rather, Christmas is about what we receive. Christmas is about God giving us his son. That lie is enticing because it sounds virtuous. And here's the logic of the lie. We have made Christmas about our consumerism. We worship our stuff. We worship our consumer society. And here's the logic of the lie. Since we have made Christmas all about the consumer holiday, we need to give it a virtue. And so we say it's about giving to others. Friends, it's not about what we give to others. Christmas is about what God has given to us. The Father has sent His Son, and now we praise Him because of it. Christmas is all about what we receive. It's about what God gives us in Christ. Life, forgiveness, peace, righteousness, joy, eternity. All in Christ. We'll be looking at the birth of Christ, the greatest gift God has given us, God's great gift of grace this morning. But first, let's go back and I want to I want to give some recap of what we talked about last week and well, some of what Sam and Jim read earlier and want to look at chapter one. God came and told Mary that she would have a child that the angel Gabriel came and reported to her that God would give her a son. And what's startling about this is that it's She'll conceive without having known a man. First, hear what Gabriel says in verse 31 of chapter 1 in Luke. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. You'll be great will be called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to 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. The first thing we hear is his name is going to be Jesus. If we break that name down, it means Yahweh, the covenant name of God that he gave to Israel in the Exodus. Yahweh saves. He will be great. He is the one great God. He is the son of the Most High. He will be the king forever. His reign will know no end. What the angel is telling Mary is you're going to give birth to God and this God who has taken on flesh, you'll be the savior of all people. Mary asked, well, how? How could this be? Because I have not known a man. And the angel says in verse thirty five. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. The spirit will come into our womb. And the spirit will take her flesh, her blood, her body, and will add it to the son of God who was descended into her womb so that he is like us in every way. He's perfectly human and he's just like us in every way, except one significant way. He knew no sin. The spirit took all of her body, all of her humanity and gave it to the son, but kept out the sin. so that he could be the sinless savior, so that he could die in the place of sinners. This is the beauty of the birth of Christ. This is the gospel. Elizabeth goes and she meets with Mary, who's also Elizabeth, also with child, and she declares that the mother of my Lord has come to me. And Mary responds in a song, the song that Sam read, and the song is significant. Because in this song, Mary is recognizing God is doing something different. God is changing everything. Just like the Israelites, after they passed the Red Sea, they stopped and they sang a new song. That's what it means to sing a new song in Scripture. You recognize God is doing something new. You recognize a new deliverance, a new mighty salvation. God is doing something new. The final chapter of the gospel has begun. God himself has come down to be the Messiah. Mary's song praises God for this. This is what we see in Luke one. We see that this is capturing the bigger picture of the Gospel of Luke, which the thesis, the message of all of the Gospel of Luke is this. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That message is more precise here in that Jesus came down to seek and save those who reject him. God left behind his glory to become like us in our humanity, more so He did this so that he could take upon our sin to save us. Let's begin our text this morning. Chapter 2 of Luke. If you don't have a Bible, there's Bibles at the end of the pews. Feel free to take one if you like. I begin in chapter 2, verse 1. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be registered with Mary and betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." Of the four Gospels, Luke is a historian. All the Gospels give us the history of Jesus Christ, but Luke is a professionally trained historian. And he gives us these historical little nuggets to help us know when these events took place. He connects this gospel message with what's happening in the greater world. When Caesar Augustus called a registration, the census took place at just the right time so that Joseph and Mary could go back to the city of David. God organized this registration without Caesar Augustus knowing. so that the mother and the father of Jesus would be in the right city to fulfill the prophecy spoken of in Micah 5.2. But you, O Bethlehem, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days. God had promised David that a son would come from his lineage, from his line, and that son would reign forever. And this couple, Joseph being of a great, great, great grandson of David, and being born of Bethlehem, this is all connecting us to Jesus being that King who will reign forever. As we look at the Gospels, it's interesting that Joseph just falls out of the story. I kind of feel bad for Joseph sometimes because he just drops out. After Jesus is born, we know Mary had other children, so he's still going on there in the family. But what happens to Joseph? Well, I think he's left out of the story because Jesus' purpose was to magnify his heavenly father, not his earthly father. Joseph is here in this part of the story because he's very significant. Well, he disappears in the story. He's very significant. He's the head of the household. He is the one that connects Jesus to the line of David. While he is not the physical father of Jesus, he is the head of him as his father. He is the king who will reign forever. The real significance of the verse is found in verse 7 of this chapter It's interesting how much was spoken of Jesus being birthed, but here in verse 7, it's just stated she gives birth. Mary gives birth to the Son. Mary gives birth to Jesus. Mary gives birth to God. The one who created the world, he created it in such a way that he would one day join it. The one who created the womb, he created it in such a way that it would one day be his home. The Almighty Creator, He comes down to be part of creation. This is God's free choice. He is the Creator. This is the creation. He does not have to become part of it. He could have rejected it because we have led a rebellion against Him. But He came to seek and save the lost, not leave them in their own sin, not leave us in our own sin. He came down. He left the trappings of all of his glory and took upon our flesh. He left the surrounding of being praised and glorified by angels to being surrounded by filth, dirt. He came from being praised to being insulted by men, to being hated and harassed and eventually murdered. The setting of Jesus birth is very significant. Luke points this out so that we can see a few things. She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end. There's some important symbolism here. There's two aspects of the setting. There's the manger and there's the end or the lack of room for Jesus. First, the king of glory is lying in a manger. The one who is worthy of all praise and glory. The one to whom every knee shall bow one day. He's lying in a manger. This is amazing. The one who created everything in six days and then chose to rest. He has now put himself in creation, taken upon humanity so that he needs to rest. This baby needs to sleep. The one who rested from creating all things has now become part of creation and physically needs rest. The one who created the world with a simple decree, with the power of his very word, now is dependent upon that creation. The first thing we see here in the King of Glory lying in a manger is that he has come humbly. He has come with humility. He has come lowly. He identifies with creation, but it's important. He's born from a family from Nazareth, a lowly, nobody family from Nazareth. He's born in Bethlehem, a city that's barely counted. The humility will mark his ministry as it marks his birth. Secondly, the king of glory cannot find a suitable place to be born. He's not born in a nice hospital. He's not born in a worn room or in a bed. He's not born in a home. He's born in a stable or maybe possibly a cave where the animals were kept. This foreshadows his ministry. He's not going to be welcome. Christ was not welcome. The creator of all was not welcomed by his creation. He was rejected by those he came to save. This is the beauty of the gospel, friends. He came to seek and save them even though they were rejecting him. Jesus Christ was not welcome. If you're here and you're not a Christian. This is why you need saving. This is why we all come to worship the Savior, because we rejected him and he came to seek and save us anyway. Christ came to heal the sick. Christ came to save the sinner. What we must first see is that we need him. We have rebelled against God. We have refused to worship him. And he has come to save us from that sin. As the great hymn says, all you need is to see your need of him. You don't need to clean your life up to become a Christian. No, you need to recognize how filthy it is and how much Christ can clean your life up, how much he will forgive you of the filth of your sin. And now his word can begin to direct your steps. Friends, see your sin and see that Christ alone can forgive your sin. He came to save those who reject him. Our second section here begins in verse 8, and here we're introduced to the first worshippers. And this is also a bit of a paradox. Read with me, beginning in verse 8. In the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you was born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest. and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angel went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the thing that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them." Now here we have two different parties introduced. We have the choir of angels and we have a group of shepherds. The glory of the Lord is shown all around the shepherds and they were fearful because this choir of angels has appeared to them to speak, to preach the good news to them. Verse 10, the angels begin the message, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you was born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. Notice how this greeting begins. It's a typical greeting. Fear not. The first response when you see the glory of the Lord is fear. You're overwhelmed with awe and wonder of the glory and the holiness of God. They give them comfort. Fear not. Behold. Pay attention. Behold. Good news. This is where we get the word gospel from. It's good news. Behold, I'm coming to give you good news. It's the gospel that Jesus is Lord. Jesus, who is Yahweh, who saves. He has come, the Messiah, God Himself has come to save sinners. He will reign supremely. He will reign righteously. He will reign with grace. He will reign for the good of the people. This is the good news. Israel now has a king who will lead them with righteousness and with mercy. The good news is that he is the risen Savior who died for sinners. Notice that they declare it will be great joy for all people. The joy, the rejoicing that we should have because Christ is coming is great and it's for all people. This is what is part of the new aspect of the gospel of Christ coming. Israel was the main focus. It was one people, one nation that was the main focus of all the Old Covenant. But now it's for all people. I can have you raise your hand. Who's of Jewish descent? I assume there will be few hands raised. And that's because now the gospel is for all people. It's not just primarily focused on the Jewish people. We are the new Israel, but it's all people groups, all nations, all tribes, all tongues. coming together to worship him. We rejoice because it is now for all people. They declare today a child is born in the city of David, a Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. They point out the setting as the sign. There's a baby in a manger. They already showed this is somewhat unusual. He's already having a lower birth than the typical Israelite child. Suddenly, there was that with the angel and most of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom God is pleased. The angels break out in song. They give God what he deserves, glory. They're glorifying God and they're declaring what we need. peace on earth. Now, this isn't a universal peace. This isn't a universal peace that would end all wars and so that we can continue to live happily ever after here on earth. No, this is a unique and special peace that comes in Christ. So, the peace that God provides is a peace with Him. It's not just a lateral peace. It's a vertical peace. What we look at here in the gospel is that Christ has come to give us peace with God. We have all lacked peace since the fall. We strive for peace, we long for peace, but we strive for it and never attain it. It's because the peace that the gospel speaks of, the peace that we were made for and created for, is a peace with God and it must come from above. Now, this is the this is the difficult part of the good news that we have to understand and truly appreciate and celebrate Christmas. We need peace with our enemy. And God is our enemy. Without Christ, God is our enemy. Now, let me clarify some things. We usually think of someone who's our enemy as someone who's a bad guy. God is good. God is righteous. God is perfect. So what does that make us? The bad guys. We're the ones that fought against God. We're the ones that resist Him. We're the ones that reject Him. We're the ones that say, we have no room for you, God. And God comes to make peace with us. the one who is righteous, he comes down to us so that we can have peace with him. He comes down to take away our sin, to take away the wrath we deserve. If we want forgiveness, if we want peace, we must find it in Christ, the one who dies in our place. And then we're called friends of God. were even called sons of God. Let's look at these two parties, the angels came down to the shepherds, there's two parties here, there's the choir of angels, there's the group of shepherds, the glorious ones, they have come down and the shepherds, they're in the field of flocks as usual. The shepherds, the angels, they represent the glory. of the event. They represent the height of the event. The one who is being born is the glorious God of all. The shepherds, they represent the lowliness and the despised nature of Christ and his humanity. You see, shepherds were despised by the citizens. Most of Israel would look at the shepherds and they look down upon them. They saw them as second class. They did not like the shepherds. They considered them unclean and wanted them out of the city. It's amazing that they are called to be the first worshipers of the newborn Savior, just as the angels and the shepherds represent the two natures of Christ here, the glory and the highness and the lowliness and the humility. Here, the shepherds are called to be the first worshipers. Now kings, throughout the Old Testament, were called shepherds. I think there's another aspect of the shepherds being the first worshippers, and it's this. The one who is being born is the eternal, righteous, good king. And he himself calls, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd. He is the one who is going to reign with righteousness. He is going to rule his people with goodness. In order to believe this, we first have to believe that there's such thing as a generous rule. Christ rules over his people generously. And we have a hard time understanding that because we typically think of those who rule as being abusive. Because as sinners, anyone who has power abuses it for their own well-being. Christ, who is omnipotent, is also perfectly good and his power is used for his people. As a king, he provides for us and he protects us. He protects us from the wrath that our sins should bring upon us. He provides for us in himself. He has given us his own life. Finally, let's look at how the shepherds respond. They say, let us go over to Bethlehem in verse 15. and see this thing that has happened, that the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. The shepherds, when they heard of Christ, they went with haste. They wanted to quickly see. They could not believe what they had heard, but since they had been given a sign, they had been given direction, they had seen the glory of the Lord and heard the glorious song of the angels, they had to go quickly. My friend, if you're not a Christian this morning, what is your delay in coming to Christ? What is your delay? Is it that you do not see your sin or that you don't see that he is the ultimate and most powerful savior? All you need is to see your need of him. If you seek him, you will find him. If you trust him, you will be satisfied. Christians. Let's look at Mary, verse 19. She treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. So I began by talking about how we're not supposed to be giving gifts to one another. We are called to give. We're called to give God all our praise. Because of the great gift He has given to us, we are called to give Him our praise. We are called to give Him our life. We are called to think and contemplate and meditate upon the greatness of God's Gospel. We are called to treasure these things up in our hearts. Do you treasure the Gospel? Is it just this one time of year that you come and you want to hear some good news so that you can treasure it for a little while and then go about your day? That's not the Christian life. The Christian seeks to know and continue to grow in knowledge of God so they can continue to treasure the truth of the gospel more and more. We are to give praise to the one who has come to seek and save us. We are called to give worship to the one who has died for us and risen again. We're called to give of our lives. What we do, how we do it and when we do it. For the call of Christmas is to give Christ worship. Let us go to the Lord in prayer and worship him. Father, we praise you for your good gift. While words could never begin to describe the glory that took on humanity, The God who became flesh. Lord, help us to ponder upon these things. Help us to wonder at this truth. Help us to treasure it. Even more so, help us to treasure and think about how the one who was born, he died. He died for sinners. He died to give us peace with you. He died so that we can know you. He died and He rose again. And He now stands at your right hand. Help us to seek you where He is and worship you. Lord, take us. Cleanse us. Make us more pure so that we can see your glory more clearly and treasure you. Lord, we lift up your name. And we come to praise you. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.