The Savior is Born

And we saw that he was declared this morning again, the song of Mary. We're going to conclude this evening by looking at the birth of Jesus, but we're going to be looking at something very specific because it's going to be short, because there's no nursery. I want to draw our attention to verse 10 from what Shannon read earlier in Luke 2. It can be found on page 857 of your Pew Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please take that with you. Continue reading in the Gospel of Luke. But Luke 10 says this, the angels, they come to the shepherds and they say, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all people. Good news of great joy. As I think about this past year, it seems like it's been full of bad news of great sorrow or fake news of great confusion. But here we get to end the year. We get to come together and sing joyfully because God has spoken into this world that's full of lies, destruction, and sin. He has shone a light into the darkness. And here we get to see again angels proclaiming the truth of God. And this time to shepherds. So if you think about the narrative here, an angel appeared to Elizabeth. You're going to have a child, even in your old age when you're barren. That child will prepare the way for the Lord. Mary, a teenage girl who has not yet known a man, a virgin, you're going to have a child. The Holy Spirit's going to come upon you. You'll have a miraculous conception. God himself will be in your womb. You will give birth to God so that he can save us. And here, what's interesting in verses one through seven, God orchestrated that the government would make a decision that would put Mary in Bethlehem. He holds the nations and the kings in his hand. He ordained that Caesar Augustus would have a registry that Joseph and Mary, they would have to go to Bethlehem, the city of David, so that the Christ child, the savior the world's been anticipating, would be born where God said he would be born, not in Nazareth, where they were living, but in Bethlehem. And then we see there in verse 7, she gave birth to her son, wrapped him in swaddling claws, and laid him in a manger. And there was no place for them in the end. And then we see verse 8. The next characters, we've seen Mary, we've hardly even heard a mention of Joseph, we see that in Matthew. But now we have these shepherds. And notice the shepherds, they're out in the field, they're not in the city. Shepherds were considered kind of outcasts of society. They weren't clean, they smelled like sheep. They weren't really welcomed into the city and rejoiced with. They were not scandalous. They were just kind of dirty folks that lived out in the fields with the sheep. They weren't considered highly in the culture. And it's just like God to have an angel go to those shepherds and say, I've got good news of great joy. Let's consider just that declaration. What is the good news and why is it of great joy? Well, the most important thing we can see there from verse 10, there is good news of great joy. Verse 11 fills out what that good news is. There's been a birth. Now when there's a birth, there's always rejoicing. When a child is born, this is always good news, that's of great rejoicing, but obviously this is a very special, unique birth. For unto you this day is born in the city of David a Savior, who's Christ the Lord. The good news is that a Savior has been born. Now, having a Savior is only really good news if you know you need saving from something. Right? If you have a debt to pay, you rejoice that a Savior comes to pay that debt. If you have a toilet overflowing, you rejoice that the Savior comes to plumb that line, to unclog. If you lose power in a storm, that pike truck that appears is a Savior, brings back the power to the refrigerator. This morning, we're going to consider a Savior, but we have to recognize there's a very specific problem implied. And I want to just point out the problem is this, to keep it very simple. We sin, therefore we die, therefore we face judgment. Our problem is that we sin, therefore we die, therefore we will face judgment. Let's just define sin very clearly. Sin is what the Bible calls any lie we've ever said. The moments of anger that are like murder in the heart. The moments of lust, looking at pornography, looking at someone with a lustful intent. These are things that the Bible calls sin. Now, you may not be convinced those things are sin, but you know you've done them. It's what the Bible calls sin. It's what God says causes your death. There's something else that we all know. We will all die. Death is the consequence for our rebelling against God and not living in the way he has taught us to live. But death isn't the worst thing that's gonna happen to us. We sin Therefore we die, and then we will face the judgment. That's when we come face to face with a God, and that's where we truly need a Savior. When all of the things that we've done, and we don't recognize no matter how theologically accurate we are today, we do not realize how bad they are until they come face to face with a holy and righteous God. And we stare at the judgment that is to be, and then the Savior steps in. This child born, this child born fully human yet without sin, this child born so that he would live the life that we have not lived, he is without sin. Yet he died. He died not as a sinner, but as if a sinner in the place of sinners. So that at that moment of judgment, when our sin coming face to face with the righteousness of God, it should be crushed in judgment. Jesus says, Father, I'm Christ the Lord. I died on behalf of this person's sin. They're forgiven. They're free. That's the good news of Christmas. The child who takes away the curse, the child that takes away our death, the child that takes away our guilt by taking away, by taking on himself our sin, he's come. This is what you must believe to be saved. This is what you must believe to have the next part, great joy. That is only good news of great joy if you believe. So you think about your life, your reflections, your joy. Where is it? You see, the Christian, we can always look and we can see not just that God Himself came to be born in this miraculous way, but He came to free us and to forgive us on the cross and the resurrection. There's an opportunity for great joy at all times in every circumstance for the Christian. Not for anxiety. Not for success and wealth and riches. Not so that we could enjoy sin and not feel guilty. No. The good news is for great joy that we could truly delight in God. We could truly rejoice. Christ is born today to take away our sin and to give us new life. As we conclude, I want to look at the last little phrase of verse 10. There's great, there's good news of great joy that will be for all people. Now, you're people today. That's good news. This good news could be for you. It's good news of great joy for all people. You don't have to be a clean kind of person who's righteous enough for God to love you. No, no, you don't have to be a wealthy person to purchase your way into heaven. You have to be a strong person. It's for all kinds of people. There's not a single kind of person excluded. For rich, for poor, for strong, for weak, God does not discriminate with age, race, gender, or position. There is one thing you must do to receive this good news for great joy, is believe. There's nothing about you except for your unbelief that would keep you from rejoicing in this good news So yes, how do we respond to this message? I believe it's the same way the shepherds and Mary did look at verse 18 and 19 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them Those angels, they came down, they sang a song, and we found that baby just as they said we would. That they wondered at it. But even verse 19, but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Christmas is a time to rejoice and really to reflect. There's a lot of busyness, all right? I've preached on this. Many of you may have cut down on your activities and whatnot. Reflect. Ponder what it means that God himself had to come down to become like us. Ponder what it means in his love that he would go to such lengths to save us. Treasure up that Christ the child was born. to save us so that we can live without guilt and without the domineering power of sin over us. Let's wonder, ponder, and treasure. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you have given us this good word. You've shone your light into a dark world so that we are not left with confusion, with sorrow, with despair, with nothing but our own destruction as our future? We thank you that we can ponder and wonder and treasure at how you have loved us, sent your son to save us, help us to rejoice. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.