Christmas Song Series

Christmas Song

Luke 2:8-20

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” - Luke 2:13-14

The two most used words in the month of December without question are the words, "Christmas" and “Gift". From eBay to Amazon, from the internet to the mall, everybody is searching for Christmas gifts. Why do we do this? It is the only time in the year when people all over the world give gifts.

It all goes back to the very first Christmas gift ever given that God gave to you and to me at the very first Christmas. Today, God has a Christmas gift for you. A live, real, eternal gift and that gift is a person called Jesus Christ.

The reason we celebrate Christmas is perfectly captured in the song, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." This song has a fascinating history. Charles Wesley was the youngest of eighteen children. Many of you have heard of his older brother, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church. In 1737, Charles Wesley wrote more than 3000 hymns. He began working on a new Christmas song and the words he wrote began, "Hark, how all the welkin rings. Glory to the King of kings."

Another famous preacher, named George Whitfield. Whitfield published this song and changed the words to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Whitfield took his title from Luke 2:13 which speaks of "a heavenly host."

This song describes the message that we read about in Luke Chapter 2 that tells us exactly what we have in the Christmas gift called, Jesus Christ. When you receive Jesus the Messiah, you not only receive Him, but also you receive the things that will make an eternal difference in your life and make every day, including Christmas day - if you will only receive these three gifts.

I. Receive Happiness In A Hurting World

"8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” (Luke 2: 8-10, NKJV)

Immediately we see that the birth of Jesus Christ was to make everyone happy. God wants you to be happy in the right way for the right reason. God wants to give you joy, not judgment. God wants to give you heaven, not hell. God wants to give you happiness, not suffering.

God is a loving father who wants to bring majesty into your life. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10)

God sent His son Jesus Christ to give you the one thing that most people never find which is happiness. The average person is not happy. You would think that as a culture becomes more prosperous and wealthier that people would become happier. So are we happier today? There was a prisoner who was standing before a judge. And the judge said, "I noticed that in addition to stealing money, you also took rings, watches, diamonds, and pearls." The prisoner said, "Yes sir, I was always taught that money alone doesn't bring happiness."

The truth is you cannot be truly or completely happy without God. You were created by God to have a relationship with God. You cannot have a relationship with God except through Jesus Christ. Therefore, without Jesus Christ you can never be truly and completely happy.

That phrase, "I have good news" gives us the word “evangelize" which simply means to tell people good news. C.S. Lewis once said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven." That is exactly what Christmas and Christianity is all about – bringing real joy to this world. You can have a joy that will last from here to heaven in a painful world when you receive Jesus Christ.

II. Receive Hope For A Heavenly World

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11, NKJV)

The angel goes on to say, "This very day in King David’s hometown a Savior was born for you." (Luke 2:11, CEV)

Now a Savior was not what the world wanted, but it is what the world needed. That raises a question. Why did then and why now does the world need a Savior? The number one need for this world since the beginning of time is salvation. The reason why salvation is the world's number one need is because sin is the world's number one problem.