GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY

Luke 2:1-20

Key Verse 2:10

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” This passage indicates that many messages the Lord God designed to convey to us in the Scriptures come in a “hidden” form that it is required of us to search out their meanings through prayers and supplications. Since we have come to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us think about for a moment why the angel says that the birth of the Savior represents the good news of such great joy. 

First, Joseph went up to Bethlehem

The first reason why Jesus’ birth gives us so much comfort and joy is because it reveals God’s absolute faithfulness. God is faithful. He keeps his promises. To know that we have a faithful God who keeps his promises gives us comfort and joy. 

Our day to day experiences indicate that nothing is more embarrassing than having someone or something you relied on turn out to be unreliable. If someone or something you relied upon turns out to be unreliable, and falls apart like a leaning wall or a tottering fence, you will certainly be disappointed, distressed, and even depressed. That experience might even cause you to suffer from mental disorders such as schizophrenia. A couple of months ago I had a really bad experience. At that time my daughter-in-law had surgery. Because of the surgery she became bed-ridden in a small apartment next to a hospital in a remote town. In order to comfort her, I ordered a book for her through the internet- an English novel by C.S. Lewis - for her to read. The bookseller promised to ship the book to her address in two weeks. Then after two weeks I asked my daughter whether or not she received the book. She said no. Two weeks became three weeks, three four weeks, four, five. By that time the surgery was over. She moved out of the apartment.  Then in about six weeks the bookseller sent me an email saying, “Today we shipped the book to the recipient’s address. It will arrive there in two weeks.” I was so embarrassed that I called up the customer service, and asked them to stop shipping, divert the book to my Downey address, or give the money back. But she said, “Sorry. We cannot do that. It is out of our control.” The bookseller’s promise to send the book in two weeks turned out to be unreliable. Their promise was hogwash. 

But it is not so with God’s promise, for unlike that bookseller, God is faithful. He is also in control of all people and events. In regard to his promise to send the Savior, he made the promise from the Day 1 of Adam’s fall. Then around 8 centuries before the Christ, through the Prophet Micah, God promised to send the Savior to a specific location called Bethlehem of Judah, the home town of King David. As promised, the Lord God sent the Savior to Bethlehem. Thank and praise God who always keeps all of his promises, especially the promise to send the Savior. 

Second, she placed him in a manger.

Another reason why the birth of the Savior is deeply comforting and gives us great joy lies in the way in which God sent His one and only son Jesus: She placed the newborn king in a manger, the feeding trough of an animal. Why did the Virgin Mary place her newborn in a manger? Luke explains: “Because there was no room in the inn.” This expression “No room in the inn” indicates that we did not welcome him. Although he was the long awaited Messiah, most people did not know about his arrival. 

But the amazing fact is that despite our great indifferences, God still sent us His Son. Although the world did not make room for him, God still made room for us. And he sent His Son, even to a manger, to fellowship with us. 

You know, fellowship requires two parties. In order for a married couple to have a meaningful fellowship, the two must make room for each other. Husband opens his heart; wife opens her heart, and bingo! Fellowship! But what if a husband or a wife closes his or her heart? It is very difficult to build a relationship. What if both close their hearts? The answer is obvious. Their relationship becomes another divorce statistic. 

But of all the relationships, the relationship between the Creator God and us, the creation, is the most fundamental. The joy of life is totally dependant upon how we do in our relationship with God the Father. 

And we thank and praise God who sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to mend the broken relationship that we had with our Heavenly Father. 

Third, shepherds living out in the fields nearby

The third reason why the Savior’s birth is so comforting and grants us deep joy is because he chose to come to us and have fellowship with us even though we are not worthy. 

In verses 8-9 we see two contrasting phenomena: one is of God, two is of men. Of God, we find the expression “glory of the Lord”, and of men, we find the word “terrified.”  The shepherds were terrified not because of the appearance of the angel but because of the glory of the Lord shining around them. It was not the angel but the glory of the Lord that struck them with terror. The word terrified has to do with terror. And the word terror means a state of intense fear, especially the fear of death. With the glory of the Lord shone around them, the shepherds felt as if they were dead. They were struck with the intense fear of immediate death. 

Why? The Bible passage indicates that the shepherds were good citizens; after all they were watching their flocks at night; they did not neglect their duties as shepherds. They were not a bunch of thugs. Yet, with the glory of the Lord shone around them they felt as if they were dying. Why were they so terrified? What was wrong with them? In view of other instances in the Bible especially the way people (even holy servants of God) responded to experiences similar to what the shepherds had, we can easily understand why they felt so terrified. It is because of incompatibility: fallen men are not compatible with God. It is impossible for an unredeemed sinner to have fellowship with God. God hates sin. God has to punish every hint of sin. God is so holy that fallen men with even the slightest hint of sin are subject to immediate death, for God has to punish any hint of sin. In Exodus 3:20 the Lord God explained this concept by saying to Moses, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." At the particular moment what the shepherds were exposed to was not the Lord himself but merely a “reflection” of the Lord. Yet, they were terrified. Like Isaiah crying out in Isaiah 6:5, “Woe to me, I am ruined”, the shepherds felt as if all of their bodily constitutions like their bones and marrows were instantly decomposing. 

Let us combine this truth with another truth, that is, the truth about Jesus’ identity: Jesus is God. The Apostle John plainly says that through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:3) According to 1Timothy 6:16 God alone is immortal. He lives in unapproachable light. No one has or can see Him. The Bible also says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23.  Again both God and men are not compatible. They are enemies. It is impossible for the two to fellowship with one another. 

But God made the impossible possible; and he did it by sending Jesus in the flesh. The baby lying in a manger is the Word which became flesh. Later the Apostle John understood this and said, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 The baby Jesus lying in a manger is God made compatible—in order to have a fellowship with us! We call this grace, the grace of incarnation. It is thanks to his grace that we came to have the hope of getting into a relationship with our Heavenly Father! Thank and praise God that although we do not deserve it, God still chose to send His one and only son Jesus to fellowship with us. This gives us a great hope, a powerful hope, a lasting hope, the only life-giving hope, the true hope for us to overcome our fallen state and rise to the glorious state of sonship. We thank and praise God for Him who visited us in our own places, to lead us out of the pit into His majestic Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. 

Fourth, He is Christ the Lord!

The fourth reason why the birth of Jesus gives us so much joy comes from the fact that the hope for perfect redemption became a “reality” not just a “dream.” Thanks to the birth of the Savior, the possibility for us to be saved from our lowly state into the glorious state, the hope for us to finally graduate from the life that struggles in the mud of sin, the dream to take off our old self and put on an entirely new self from God, and thereafter the daring vision to check into the glorious fellowship with the glorious God, suddenly became realistic. It is no longer just wishful thinking; it has become a reality for those who receive Him. 

And this transaction goes to the very meaning and purpose of our existence. What is the meaning and purpose of our existence? Genesis 1 answers the question: it is to grow in the image of God. According to Genesis 1, God created man in God’s image. But not all of us are putting on the full image of God as fully as we are created. Rather all of us wear beastly images, although in differing degrees. For example, Americans wear the image of an eagle and are in fact even proud to use the eagle as a national symbol. Of course an eagle is brave and bold. It is swift and ferocious. But it is a savage. Lately a man named Michael Savage found the condition of America to be so pathetic that he started out a radio program called “The Savage Nation Radio Show” from Monday to Friday 7 – 10 p.m. But I am not saying this to make us feel guilty—to make people loaded up with guilt feel even guiltier. This is not my purpose. In the first place it is not God’s intention for sending Jesus. God already knows that we are all guilty of cardinal crimes. My intention is to say that deeply seated within every soul is the desire to become a better person; we homo sapience long for change. We have a God-given desire to become gentle, kind, and loving. Once upon a time George Bush Sr. even used the phrase, “A gentler, a kinder nation” as the catch phrase for his election campaign, but was not able to fulfill that image as the leader of this nation. The same is true, if not more true, for George Bush Jr.  Nevertheless, at a fundamental level, each person has the desire to be a good person; if you go out to the street, stop anyone and talk to them for a sufficiently long time, you will find that they long for change, to become a better person. This desire is innate. 

In order to practically accommodate the need for change, the Lord God sent Jesus Christ. Meaning business (to save us), the Lord God sent one of his angels on a business trip on the night of the Savior’s birth. And through him, a powerful announcement on the meaning and purpose of the Savior’s birth was made. Let us read verses 10-12. 

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” Here three titles draw our attention: Savior, Christ, and Lord. These titles (or offices) are powerful frameworks for the blessed work that the Lord is going to fulfill among those who receive Him.

(1) Savior: Here Savior means the one who saves men from their sins. This mission to save men from their sins is written in the name of Jesus, which means, the one who saves his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21. Let us the not lose our attention to the little expression, “In the town of David” for the title Savior comes with a qualifying language: in the town of David. This qualifying expression indicates that the Savior lying in a manger is not like any other self-appointed saviors. Unlike all the self-appointed saviors, this Savior is the Savior who alone is appointed by God. As we saw earlier, He is the one the Prophet Micah prophesied about: the Savior who is to come to a place called Bethlehem. Other Bible passages testify that indeed Jesus is the Savior qualified to save us from our sins. First of all, he is sinless. As a perfect man and God, he lived a perfect life. Then he died on a tree for our sins. There on Golgotha he offered himself as an atoning sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. Speaking of this, John the Baptist looked at Jesus coming to him and said in John 1:29, “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the Lord.” Indeed, at God’s right time, Jesus died on a tree for our sins. Then he rose again for our justification. As the book of Hebrews 7-10 testify, Jesus is still serving as the High Priest representing the interests of all who put trust in Him before God.  

Consistent with this truth, Apostle Peter declared in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 

(2) Christ: The second title Christ which means in Hebrew Messiah means the anointed. The meaning of the word anointed is imbedded in the history of the Israelites. Unlike the history of any nations, the history of Israel is the history of God’s will to save people from their sins. 

As part of his plan, the Lord God anointed three offices (prophets, priests, and kings) in the history of Israel. A prophet comes from God to men. A priest comes from men to God. A king works like a nanny taking care of babies.  

But the Scriptures testify that all of them were imperfect. Abraham, Elijah, and David were all imperfect. 

But it is not so with Jesus who holds all three offices, and yet he is all perfect: he is a perfect prophet, priest, and king. He has perfect messages for us to listen to, obey, and be saved. He is a perfect priest, capable of putting both us and God to be at perfect peace with one another. And he is a perfect ruler who can rule us in perfect peace and harmony.

(3) The Lord: of all the meanings of the word Lord, one of the chief meanings of it is that he is an object of our true worship. He is the source of our true inspiration. And he is the only one worthy of our full devotion for we owe him our salvation. He gave his life to us, so we give our life to him. And as our Lord, he deserves our full devotion, for as much as we serve Him, he comes back with more blessings than we can possibly imagine. 

Fifth, Glory to God, peace to men

What will eventually happen to us as we maintain in our fellowship with him? Look at verses 13-14. “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Two things will surely happen: Glory to God; and peace to men.

(1) Glory to God in the highest:  Here the word “glory” means “essential qualities”. Glory of God refers to the qualities which are unique to God. “In the highest” has the meaning of the highest in its dimension, degree, or level. The ones who uttered the expression, “Glory to God in the highest” are all “heavenly” beings. Day in and day out they are in constant service to God, so they know what they are talking about. And they said what they said to describe the nature of the birth of a baby lying in a manger and the work he has come to fulfill in men. So let us stop for a moment and think about what it means. 

From a human standpoint, the baby born in a smelly place is just another sad story. But in the eyes of God, it reveals God’s glory in the highest degree possible. And it represents the first move towards the glorious life in the Lord, the life of a holy pilgrimage, the life that is constantly moving upward, the life that reflects the goodness of God, and the life that renders glory to God.

The life which is to be made glorious in its infinite degree is made visual in a number of places in the Scriptures. For example in Genesis 28, we see a man named Jacob lying down and falling asleep on a roadside at night. As he fell asleep, he had a dream in which he saw a stairway, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending. There above it stood the Lord, and he heard a message from the Lord. Remember that this stairway was going UP, not DOWN. And it went up to the right person, the LORD, the God of all glory! In addition, in the Bible there are 15 songs of ascent (namely Psalms 121-134) which point to the life of those who are invited to fellowship with the Lord, going up continuously, from glory to glory, and persisting like this until one reaches God’s glory in its infinite level. Speaking of the same progress of the life that is in the Lord, we even have one hymnal entitled, “We are marching to Zion.” The lyrics go like this [may we sing together] “Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known. Join in a song with sweet accord, join in a song with sweet accord. And thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne. We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we’re marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God!” 

Prior to the birth of the Savior, this vision was not a reality. But since the birth of Jesus Christ, this is going to be a reality in an increasing measure, for Jesus, the baby lying in a manger, his words and actions here while on earth, and his ministry thereafter, reveals God’s glorious nature in its fullest, prompting us to praise the name of God the Father from the bottom of our hearts!. And today you and I are so privileged as to be invited to fellowship with the glorious son of God the Father! 

(2) Peace to men on whom his favor rests. [Here ‘on whom his favor rests’ means that God grants peace to those who have faith in the Lord Jesus.] Interestingly enough the heavenly host finished their first Christmas carol with the word peace. They started out with joy and finished with peace. So there is a link between peace and joy. What is the connection? By the [great] joy, the angel meant the joy that comes from God the Father, not the kind of joy that comes from men or material world. No. This joy is far greater than that. This joy then hinges upon a peaceful relationship between God and men. Jesus came to build a bridge between God and men. For those who put trust in Jesus, God forgives them of all of their sins, and adopts them as his children. Then, as you ask God for his blessings, the Lord God blesses you with all the blessings, especially the blessing of the Holy Spirit who in turn pours into your heart bundles of joy. As many of us already know this joy is independent of external circumstances. It is independent of people or events. No matter what the circumstances, this joy is always there, so that we can always give thanks to God, praising His name. 

Sixth, let’s go and see!

Verses 15-20 are an epilogue of the Christmas story by the Apostle Luke. After the angels returned to their heavenly abode, the shepherds in the fields said to one another: Let us go and see! They then went to Bethlehem, found the Savior, worshiped him, and spread the good news of the Savior’s birth. They were then so filled with the joy of salvation, that they returned praising and glorifying God who sent the Savior to this world! 

One word: Good news of great joy

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