Light of Nations

Good morning. Happy New Year. This is a new beginning. Many want this new year especially. Not so much to see what's going to happen next, but hoping they can say goodbye to what was. Sadly, the troubles that we have do not pay any attention to the calendar. No matter how much effort we might put into wanting to say goodbye Pandemics, troubles, political issues, they all continue even though what we change in our calendar is different. What we've looked at so far in Luke, if you're new with us, we try to walk through a book of the Bible at a time. We're in the Gospel of Luke. We chose this at the beginning of Advent because it is the most detailed presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially in terms of the narrative of his birth. And last week we looked at the actual birth where Mary is, who conceived as a virgin, gives birth to a child in an unusual place. The child is placed in a manger that is a sign. And the theme of that section, the last four sermons, was good news of great joy for all people. But something else we continue to see is God being faithful to promises. Luke continued to pull us back to how God is being faithful to Abraham, to Moses, to David. Well, we're going to keep seeing that. That's something that is constant. That is something we can hope for. God is faithful to keep his promises. Whatever we expect this next year to hold, that is true. That is reliable. Today we get to meditate again on God's faithfulness. I want to walk back and just make sure we can see the faithfulness. And if we go back to chapter one, one to four, that's a summary of what Luke wants to give us regarding Jesus Christ and the gospel. He tells his audience, which is just one man, the excellent Theophilus, that he's writing so that he might have certainty. We're looking for certainty. And the kind of details Luke gives us is quite fascinating. He adds many of the other gospels do not have, and the whole story today is about those details. The story opens in the temple. We're going to be right back in the temple today. The temple is a central place for the gospel of Luke. And that story was about God removing the reproach of Elizabeth. If we just look at the last words of that particular narrative, chapter 1, verse 25, she conceives in her old age and she declares, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people. The angel then appears to Mary, tells her incredible news that is almost impossible to comprehend, and she even says, how is this possible? And we hear that declaration, nothing is impossible with God. We see Mary's song, chapter one, verse 46, after she visits Elizabeth. And notice at the end, chapter one, verse 54, He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. He is being faithful to what he has said. Zechariah's song also declares he's remembered his mercy that he promised. Here this morning we're going to see God is faithful as he continues to remember the mercy. This narrative, as it begins, emphasizes that the Son of the Most High has entered the womb of a virgin. That's essential for the gospel of Jesus Christ. God has come to be with us. God is among us. God has become like us. It declares some of the most important truths that we understand to the point that Jesus is fully God. And he's fully man. Do you see he's fully God? Mary has a child without knowing a man. He's called the Son of the Most High. Elizabeth says maybe the most clarifying statement. She calls Mary the mother of her Lord. And the angels declare Jesus Christ the Lord. This is important this morning as we think about how do we recognize true teaching and false teaching. 1 John 4, 7 tells us that we need to test the spirits. And if we turn there, 1 John chapter 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. That's not the verse I was expecting. I'm sorry, chapter four, verse two. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. That's the key, verse two. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. He didn't begin in the flesh. He came. Jesus is preexistent as the son of God. He added to himself the flesh. The true gospel has to present a fully God, fully man, savior. And thus God has fulfilled his word. Now let's turn to our text. Luke 2. We've seen Jesus born. We've seen Jesus promised and prophesied. How he's fulfilled many other promises in the Old Testament. And it begins with him being circumcised. Then going to the temple, and really I was gonna do this whole section of the end of chapter two in one sermon, I decided to do it in two, but notice the last two scenes are in the temple. And the last two scenes emphasize that Jesus increases in wisdom and favor with God. Here we see a strong, if you look at the big picture, the temple is central to what is happening here, it's central for redemptive history. Very simply chapter 2 verse 21 at the end of the eight days. We have clear time markers when he was circumcised He was called Jesus that is Yahweh saves the name given by the angel before he was conceived of the womb Joseph and Mary do not name Jesus His name comes from God He is the Savior and it happened just as promised We walk through this passage further we see that not only did he circumcise, he fulfills the law of Moses. Luke is showing us, if we go back to chapter 1, sorry if you keep turning around here, but notice chapter 1, verse 1, and as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us. The word accomplished also means fulfilled. Luke is telling us how Jesus is fulfilling what the Old Testament has promised. Jesus is circumcised to identify with that promised child of Abraham. Genesis 17 is where the sign of circumcision is given to Abraham. Jesus is being circumcised to demonstrate that he is that one true promised child Abraham longed to see. Judah longed to see. David longed to see. He is, by his parents' obedience, Fulfilling what God said what happened? Chapter 2 verse 22 They take him to the temple for the purification and 22 through 24. There's actually two different things being accomplished First the parents are taking him as the firstborn son to present him as holy Why Because after the as God was giving instruction for the Exodus He says in Exodus chapter 13, every firstborn male will be presented to me as holy. Jesus is being tied down to the Exodus. The Exodus is where Israel was enslaved by the Egyptians and they kept crying out for help and God helped them and helped them and helped them. And after many plagues, the final plague was the firstborn child of Egypt would die. And the only thing that saved the firstborn child, firstborn son of Israel, was that they would slaughter a lamb. And they would take the blood of that lamb and put it over the doorpost, and the judgment of God would pass over. Well, Jesus here is being presented as the one true Son, who's also the Lamb of God, who doesn't just cause God's judgment to pass over us, but is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin, and therefore takes away judgment. Within C, Mary is also fulfilling a requirement as a mother. In Leviticus 12, it gives clear instruction that if a woman gives birth to a male, that after 40 days, they are to go to the temple and give a sacrifice for purification and cleansing. Something that stands out, these parents are obedient. Just to make sure we understand that, chapter two, verse 39. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord. Obedient parents. But most of all, God is using this to fulfill Jesus' that one child we've been waiting for from Abraham. The one child we've been waiting for that would be the Lamb of God. And all that's really setting up this unusual next sequence. Verse 25. There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. Now usually you're gonna get what tribe, what does he do? This is an unusual guy. We get a lot about his character. He's a righteous man, a devout man. That doesn't mean he's sinless. It means he's committed to the Lord his God. He's waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. He is empowered by God's Spirit to do God's will. Simeon, it's an unusual sequence. He's kind of like the Melchizedek of the New Testament. If you're familiar with Genesis, Melchizedek is this guy who just shows up and blesses Abraham out of nowhere. And Hebrew says he's a unique figure because we don't know where he's come from, we don't know his age. The history tells us, or the tradition tells us, he's over 100 years old. He's been waiting for a long time. He's in Israel, he's in the temple. It appears they're approaching the temple. It sounds like what happens is this old man grabs this young baby And then Anna shows up, so it must be on the outer courts where the women of the Gentiles could be. Simeon could be a Gentile. Most say he's a Jew. He seems probably an Israelite. But here he is, a man of character, a man of godliness, a man who's waiting, a man the Holy Spirit is upon, and he just comes and grabs the baby. It's abrupt. Notice there's no preparation for Mary or Joseph. Simeon has had this preparation. The Holy Spirit, verse 24, revealed to him that he would see the Christ child, or just a Christ, before he died. And that day, as Mary and Joseph, God is ordaining all of this, he's organizing all of this, as Mary and Joseph are coming on the day to present Jesus as the holy child to God, the firstborn son, according to the word of God, This godly man who is anointed by the Spirit, who's been revealed, had a special revelation of the Spirit, he comes in the Spirit that day and takes the baby in his arms and blesses God. Now, 29 to 32, that is the central focus of the entire passage. If you want to memorize something from today's passage, that's it. If you want to meditate about something from today's passage, 29 to 32. 29. Lord, now I can die in peace according to your word. You have kept your word, whatever this private revelation was. And a little side note here, be careful of trying to say you've got some private revelation like Simeon. It was fulfilled as God said. If you have a private revelation, there's a way in which it is publicly and testified and witnessed as being fulfilled. Here Simeon has a private revelation. It is publicly fulfilled. Notice what he says, verse 30. That's it. This is it. My eyes have seen your salvation. Just like Mary, if you remember the Magnificat. My soul rejoices. My spirit magnifies the Lord. It's personal. But then she declares that was for all Israel. Simeon does the same thing. My eyes have now seen your salvation, and it's prepared before in the presence of all peoples. Your light is for all the Gentiles. Now the glory of Israel is revealed. It's not just personal. It's for everybody. This is a high point of revelation. This is a prophecy of the Holy Spirit that Simeon has given to us to help us see who Jesus is. He's salvation. for all people. He then speaks to Joseph and Mary. They're marveling at what he said, verse 33. Simeon blesses them and speaks specifically to Mary. This child will be appointed for the fall and the rise of many. A sign that is opposed. There's a key theme in Luke. God opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble. He fills the poor and makes empty the rich. I believe that's what he's getting at here with that theme of there's a fall and a rising. This child is going to come and change people's stories like he changed Elizabeth's story. He's gonna be a sign that's opposed. Remember the cross? It's a cornerstone that is oftentimes a stumbling block for many. That parentheses section. And a sword will pierce through your own soul also. Remember, Mary is at the cross when Jesus, her son, died. Notice the ultimate purpose of what he's saying. So that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Jesus comes to reveal what is actually in our hearts, not what we present. As we move away from Simeon, I want you to see something. He's got a three-fold declaration of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was upon him. The Holy Spirit revealed to him this special revelation, and he is in the Spirit. There's a focus here of Luke in showing how the Holy Spirit is with Christ, presenting and preparing who Christ is, and that's going to be significant for us as we think about salvation in a little bit. So Simeon is an unusual character. We don't know where he comes from. We don't really know how old he is. He appears to be an older man who's been waiting. He declares his great salvation. And then even maybe a more unusual character, 36. There's a prophetess, Anna. Now, she's in the tribe of Asher. That's a lost tribe of Israel. This is on the outskirts of Israel, an unusual finding of another tribe. She's an older woman. Seven years and then a widow again. Now she's 84. We have a lot more information about her life, but not her character. We see she's a godly woman. She is always in the temple worshiping and fasting, praying night and day. She came up that very hour at the exact same time. She gave thanks to God and spoke of Him. This is who we've been waiting for. And then Luke gives a summary statement. The parents did everything according to the law because Jesus has to fulfill the law. And the child grew and became strong. So think about this passage. There's one main point. Jesus is salvation. Want to walk through the story before we walk through the outline of the sermon? Jesus is salvation. That's the main point. My eyes have seen your salvation. This is the heightened point of the story because it's pretty abrupt. It's spirit-led. It's spirit-appointed. It's spirit-declared. It's in poetry. Whenever you see poetry in a narrative like this, it means it's supposed to stand out. Slow down and read it. Salvation. We see words consolation, verse 25. We see the word salvation. We see redemption. All those three words are about the same thing. If we look at this, I want to emphasize salvation and how important it is that salvation is a hem, H-I-M. Look at verse 28. He took hem and he said, I've seen your salvation. looking at him. Afterwards, his father and his mother marveled at what he said about him. As he said, my eyes have seen your salvation. If there's one thing I want you to walk away from today, is that one thing I think Luke wants us to walk away from today, salvation is a him, H-I-M. Why is that important? Salvation isn't a how. Salvation isn't a list of things we have to do to please God. Salvation is Him who came as God Himself to be like us in every way so that what He does saves us. Salvation isn't in our effort. Salvation isn't in our energy. Salvation isn't in our trying to check off some list somewhere. Salvation is Him, Jesus Christ. If salvation is a how, this is the problem. We either boast, thinking we've got something figured out and accomplished by our own effort, Or we walk around with a burden feeling like we've never done enough and we can never do enough God has accomplished salvation in Him He is our consolation. He is our redemption Now I want us to see how salvation is Him first salvation in His obedience We have salvation in Jesus's obedience. I mentioned earlier, the Holy Spirit is mentioned three times. When you see repeated words, they're important. Notice what Luke has said, even more repeated, the law, verse 22. They went to do purification according to the law of Moses. They did what was according to the law of the Lord, verse 24. They took Jesus into the temple, verse 27, according to the custom of the law. We see law repeated over and over again. The parents did everything according to the law of the Lord, verse 39. Jesus come to redeem God's people, but I want you to hear something that's very important. God does not save us from the law. God doesn't save us from the law. The law is good. The law is not a problem. God gave us the law as a good instrument to help deter our sin, so we would not be as sinful as we would be, and to help us see our sin. The law was never meant to save us. The law was never meant to be a burden. According to Romans 7, the law is good. It helps us see sin. It keeps us from more sin. No, Jesus came to save us from our sin, not God's law. The law is good when used according to God's purpose. The problem that we have, the problem we need salvation from, isn't God's law. It's the sin that the law reveals. I lie. I steal. I murder. I commit adultery. Here we see Jesus. The law isn't a problem, but he is coming to fulfill what the law has said. First, again, with circumcision. 400 years before the law, God gave Israel circumcision. It was meant to be a sign for all the children of that nation that they're waiting on one child who would come to be salvation. And after Mary gives birth to Jesus, and as the witness of the shepherds and as the witness of the angels they take the child like every Israelite so that he would be circumcised so that he would identify with his people most importantly he would fulfill and be ready to be the one child who's going to save all of Israel but it begins with the obedience that he's circumcised. Holy verses 22 and 23 He is the Holy Child who is going to be that one Son who is going to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is a baby, but it's very important, parents, that the salvation God is bringing is instrumentally using the parents' obedience to fulfill these things for Jesus, for His Word. We step back and we see how God is using properly all things for his plan. God is in complete control of what is happening here so that Jesus would be the clear fulfillment of all the law that we cannot keep. As we think about our own salvation, it's not a checklist. It's not a list of what we do and do not do. Our salvation depends upon Jesus, who is the perfect fulfillment of the entire law. Not just the sacrifices, but the commands and expectations of thou shalt not have false idols, graven images. Thou shalt not hate one another's neighbor. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment. He is the perfect human being who does everything according to God's will. It's his obedience to every law that gives us salvation. He lived the perfect life so that when he died on the cross, his perfect righteousness is given to us while all of our sin and rebellion and the wrath of God that we justly deserve is given to him. He is our salvation because of what He does in our place being fully obedient. If you're not a Christian this morning, what do you think the end will be? Do we think God's going to just look past every sin? Is He a good God if He doesn't punish sin? Is this a good world? Is this a right world if there isn't a just punishment for wrongdoing? We all know. This is not a sane world. This world makes less sense if there's not a good God who's going to actually be just and punish wrongdoing. What we have to realize is that we've not worshipped God the way We've not treated others the way we ought. We've lived a life disregarding God, and God will punish us. His just wrath is upon us and will be upon us. The only salvation isn't to do better. The only salvation is that Jesus came to do what we cannot do, and that is live a perfect life that's worthy of being in God's presence. if you're not a Christian this morning. It calls to believe. It's not figure out how to clean up that one thing that bothers you, that heart that's constantly disturbing you, the behavior, the habit you can't fix or control. It's not clean something up, it's believe in Jesus. That's it. Don't believe the lie that there's something you need to clean up to come to Christ. The whole reason you come to Christ is that you cannot clean it yourself. Jesus is our salvation. It's a hymn. It's done according to God's word. The next thing I want us to see is salvation is for all people. All people. I wonder if this is why this is included here with Luke, Simeon and Anna, this is unique to Luke's gospel alone. If we ask, what is even added here? We know Jesus is Savior. He's the light from other passages. This is added, I believe, as confirmation for us. Confirmation for Mary. Mary is most likely, again, the eyewitness that's telling us these important details. And Luke, when he's editing all the things God has given him, as the Holy Spirit leads him, these things are included. There's nothing unique that we learn from Simeon or Anna other than the fact that God chose to reveal himself with such clarity and purpose with unusual characters. God saves all people. Notice the hymn again, the song, the poem, verse 31. my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel now we make sure we understand the historical background every human being is a child of Adam and Eve we're one humanity and there was such rebellion God destroyed the earth began a new humanity with Noah, and things just got worse. The Tower of Babel, and that's where God decided because of our rebellion, he's gonna separate us into different languages and peoples and nations. And then he spoke to one pagan named Avron. You might know him better as Abram, or Abraham. Chapter 12, Genesis. He said, I will bless you. I am going to choose you and I'm going to make you a nation. I'm going to make you a people and through you all peoples will be blessed. God starts focusing in his promised people Israel as the people who will have the oracles of God and the people through whom the child Savior will be born. We constantly see this friction between Israel and the nations and Israel and the peoples and the nations and God. It's important to look back at Genesis 12, the whole focus is I will make you a people and through you all peoples will be blessed. God's plan has always been for all people. It says that you've prepared in the presence of all peoples. God has revealed himself over and over again to all peoples. Exodus chapter 14. After all those plagues we talked about earlier, Israel goes out, they plunder the Egyptians, and then they get stuck in a river, the sea. And then God says, I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart one more time. I'm going to send him out so I get glory over him. I'm going to destroy him. And then he gives a purpose. Why? So that the Egyptians will know that I am God. That's significant. the Israelites, they're still complaining that he's not God and then they're going to worship another God just a few days later. But God is showing the Egyptians he's the one and only God. He's a God who wants all peoples that he created in his image to worship him. We go to Gen 4, the whole reason Israel is going to go into the promised land is so that they would set up cities that reflect the wisdom and glory and goodness of God, so that when the nations come, they say, oh, what people these are. What a good God they must know. Who is he? Isaiah 60 tells us, arise, your light has come, and all nations will bring their greatest gifts and they will come to Israel, and there will be a whole new people, and God himself will be their son. Church, we're still waiting for that to be fulfilled finally. But in the meantime, we need to realize that we are of all kinds of peoples, but we're now a new people, the church of Christ, and we should be longing to be like Israel, where the peoples would come and see, wow, they love one another in a unique way. Wow, these people must know the true God. God's light has been prepared in the presence of all peoples. Israel is a special people. The goal of Israel has been fulfilled in that Christ was born through the line of Israel and now all kinds of people can be saved. God's light shines for all people. There's two lives we must avoid. My birth, my position, my circumstances, my good, God must like me. Children of the church, please hear this. Being born to a Christian family has the benefit and privilege of you hearing the gospel early, I pray. But it does not save you. There's only one salvation, and to Him is Jesus Christ. You must believe in Jesus Christ. The other danger is this, my birth, my position, my circumstances, my good, God could never like me. Look at the family I was born in, look at the things I've done, look where I've come from, look at my life. The cross reveals God's salvation for all people. At the cross we see how much God hates sin. He crushed his own son and judgment of sin. We see the holy, righteous judgment of God against sin. We also see his love and that he so loved the world he sent his son to be crushed for us. He loves, he has sent salvation for all peoples and now we as a church are supposed to be growing up to be just the people of God according to his word. Salvation in his obedience, salvation for all people, plus salvation by his spirit. Luke has highlighted the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christ before he's born and now in his early years. And what's interesting is you don't get a lot about the Holy Spirit while Jesus is teaching and doing miracles. Luke wrote Luke in Acts. See the activity of the Holy Spirit pick up significantly in Acts as the Holy Spirit then continues the ministry of Jesus. Let's look back at how the Holy Spirit's been presented so far. The Holy Spirit is promised to Zechariah that he will fill John the Baptist in the womb. That's obviously unique. The Holy Spirit will overshadow the womb of Mary. That's how Jesus has a virgin conception. So Mary has a virgin conception how God enters her womb. The Holy Spirit leads Mary to Elizabeth, and there Mary declares, you are the mother of my Lord, as her son does some kind of leaping that's unusual. The Spirit assumed leads Zechariah into his song, and now the Holy Spirit is giving this final confirmation. He's anointed by the Spirit, he's been revealed, a new revelation has been given him in the Holy Spirit, and he's coming in the Spirit. There's a horrible lie out there that presents the Holy Spirit doing something apart from Jesus. Christian, the Holy Spirit and Jesus are doing the same work. The Holy Spirit here is preparing the one Savior, and when Jesus dies, rises again, ascends, He sends this very same Spirit to continue the exact same work He has accomplished. The Spirit is not saving some people apart from Christ. The Holy Spirit that is preparing the way for Jesus, that is prophesying and empowering this message to give certainty, is going to eventually, as we see in Acts, but now today, enter into the hearts of believers, indwell us, seal us. As we look at how the Spirit is testifying in this story, I want to encourage us. The Holy Spirit is the revelation of God. The Spirit of Christ has the same power. The Spirit of Christ has the same revelation. The Spirit today is at work. As we face the daunting task of persevering in pandemic, persevering in personal problems, Persevering as a church, praying for those open doors for evangelism, praying that we would grow in Christ, praying that our children grow in Christ. Here's one great hope you have. The same spirit that brings about the impossible virgin conception. The same spirit that came down with flaming tongues on the apostles in Acts 2. He indwells us. He empowers us. He gives us illumination to understand what God has said. He gives us the very words and then He gives us insight and illumination to believe and to trust and obey. God is still at work. Are you going to get a private revelation like Simeon? I'm doubtful of that. But what He's given us, what the Spirit will lead us into. But here's a challenge. in the New Testament, walk in the Spirit. There's a warning, do not quench the Spirit. There's a way in which we can walk in the Spirit by obedience to Christ, to enjoy the power, to enjoy the benefits and privileges of being a spirit-indwelled people, and then there's sin. We cannot expect God to bless our disobedience. Just as the Spirit is powerfully preparing the way for Christ, the Spirit is still at work to Help us and be with us as we are meant to be his witnesses. As we conclude, I want us to see this as the beginning point of the gospel. Jesus has come. He's going to live that life of perfect obedience. He's going to die on the cross as a righteous man, but treated as if us, the sinner. He satisfies the wrath of God. He rises again three days later. And where's Jesus now? He's ascended. He's seated. He's right under the father. And he tells us that when he is seated at the right hand of the father, he will send the spirit and he will come again. Jesus is our salvation and it's not over yet. The spirit is continuing his work of salvation. We're waiting now for the final redemption. That's one other word that has been repeated so far. Look at chapter 2, verse 25. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Anna is among a group that's waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. We can look back to the cross and we can see that we are justified. It has been accomplished. We can have great confidence that we can know the true forgiveness of God. There's been a great accomplishment in what Christ has done. But he's going to come back. And when he comes back, there's going to be a great judgment. A Christian, there's going to be an account giving for what we've done and not done in this life. A Christian, there's going to be a way in which he removes all the pain of life and removes all the sting of death. And he removes, most importantly, presence of sin in our hearts. That is what we should be waiting for. You see, today we know we can live a life where we will not be judged for the sin that's in our hearts. We still have to live a life where we're battling against that sin that dwells in our hearts. We're waiting for the real consolation where sin isn't just atoned for, but sin is removed. We're waiting for that redemption where we're truly set free, not just from the power of sin, but from the presence of sin. There's an action for us. It's repeated in the New Testament commandments to the church. Wait. And we usually think of waiting as this horrible passive thing we've got to do when we want something. There's an active waiting. There's a watchful waiting. There's an expectant waiting. There's a way in which we wait with absolute obedience for the coming of the Lord because we are sure He will keep His word. He will restore all things, especially our hearts. Christian, this morning, just like every Sunday, There's a moment to make resolutions. We don't make resolutions once a year as a church. We make resolutions every Sunday, especially the Lord's Supper. Resolved, I will trust the power of God's word to save me and those whom I proclaim. Resolved, I will take the Lord's Supper Knowing I'm not worthy, but knowing that his death for me is what cleanses me and washes me. Resolved, I will live a life that's worthy of that Lord's Supper, the worthy of the lamb who poured out his blood for me. Resolved, I want to say, come Lord Jesus, quickly. I don't want to figure out how to finish my bucket list first. I want Christ to come back. I want Christ to come back. I'm going to wait expectantly.