Christmas Perspectives #1
The Angelic Appreciation of Christmas
Luke 2:7-17
We hear a lot about the results of public opinion polls. Sometimes they’re interesting and informative; then sometimes you wonder, “Where do they find all these misinformed people?” and sometimes you think, “Who really cares?!”
This year’s Christmas series will highlight different perspectives on the birth of our Savior. The opinions and insights we will receive all matter and they’re very well-informed!
The angel who announced the first Christmas offers us a perspective that’s …
• unclouded by sin
• Unimpeded by selfish motives
Read verses 7-12
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Prov. 13:20
The Father was pleased with what the angel had said, but every single angel wanted to have the privilege of announcing their praise over the miracle of Divine condescension! This was, God manifest in the flesh!
“All things were made by Him & without Him was not anything made that was made!”
So, the Father allowed every angel under heaven to join in the chorus of praise !
“… when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
Heb. 1:6
Read verses 13-14
“… in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
Prov. 11:14
The angels of heaven are above any expert opinion or human consensus. So what they tell us about God coming to be with us is extremely important and accurate!
What can we learn from this enthusiastic Hallelujah chorus of glory?
I. The Highest Good is still Done by Communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Vs.10, 11, 14
• If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
• If your greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
• If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
• If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
These are all good things that can be done for people. But they’re only temporarily helpful and they fail to address our permanent need! We need someone to take the punishment for our wicked sins!
A flood of false doctrine has lately broken in upon us. Men are beginning to tell us “that God is too merciful to punish souls for ever...that all mankind, however wicked and ungodly...will sooner or later be saved.” We are to embrace what is called “kinder theology,” and treat hell as a pagan fable...This question lies at the very foundation of the whole Gospel. The moral attributes of God, His justice, His holiness, His purity, are all involved in it. The Scripture has spoken plainly and fully on the subject of hell... If words mean anything, there is such a place as hell. If texts are to be interpreted fairly, there are those who will be cast into it...The same Bible which teaches that God in mercy and compassion sent Christ to die for sinners, does also teach that God hates sin, and must from His very nature punish all who cleave to sin or refuse the salvation He has provided.
God knows that I never speak of hell without pain and sorrow. I would gladly offer the salvation of the Gospel to the very chief of sinners. I would willingly say to the vilest and most profligate of mankind on his deathbed, “Repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” But God forbid that I should ever keep back from mortal man that scripture reveals a hell as well as heaven...that men may be lost as well as saved. J.D. Ryle,
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Heb. 2:9
The wages of sin is death…
Whosoever was not found written in the Lamb’s book of life was cast into the lake of fire… this is the second death.
“Fire is evidently the only word in human language which can suggest the anguish of perdition. It is the only word in the parable of the wheat and the tares which our Lord did not interpret (Matt. 13:36-43)...The only reasonable explanation is that fire is not a symbol. It perfectly describes the reality of the eternal burnings.
As we paid nothing for God’s eternal love and nothing for the Son of His love, and nothing for His Spirit and our grace and faith, and nothing for our eternal rest...What an astonishing thought it will be to think of the immeasurable difference between what we deserve and what we receive.
O, how free was all this love, and how free is this enjoyed glory...So then let “Deserved” be written on the floor of hell but on the door of heaven and life, “The Free Gift”
- Richard Baxter
• Our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
II. The Path of Peace is Still the Narrow Way.
“On earth peace…”
“The way of peace have they not known.”
Is. 9:6 says, “His Name shall be called… the Prince of peace.”
Washington has a large assortment of peace monuments. We build one after every war.
“Peace is the brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading.”
Lloyd Cory
Wars come from lusts that war in our members.
See James 4:1-2
Many cry, “Peace, peace when there is no peace.”
Ill. Old First Church in the Court Square of Springfield is the oldest Church in the City. But, they have long ago departed from the Gospel and the Prince of Peace. For the last several year they have held a vigil to defend a woman’s right to choose to have her growing baby torn from the safety of its mother’s womb. Notwithstanding a profession of Christianity, this Church and its leadership has turned against the one they claim to represent. They have become an example of the Scripture which states that those who hate God’s wisdom, “Love death.” Proverbs 8:36 The dwindling congregation has finally faced the reality that they must disband and forever close their doors in January of 2,008. Better that than to go on misrepresenting the Prince of Peace!
The angel represented the Savior as the one who came to bring peace on earth. Thank God being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace rules the heart when its Prince is welcomed! The only path of peace is still the narrow way.
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:” Matt. 7:13
III. The Purest motivation is still the Love of God.
“Good will toward men”
Jesus came to overcome evil with good.
Ill. In the Whisperer test Mary Ann Bird writes, “I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it; I had a cleft pallet and a speech impediment.
My second grade teacher was a short, round, happy, sparkling lady named Miss Leonard. Each year we had a hearing test and during that test she uttered three words in my ear that changed my life… she whispered, “I wish you were my little girl!”
God says to every person, deformed by sin, “I wish you were my child, and I’ve gone to extravagant lengths to make it possible!”
Romans 5:8
“Love so amazing, so Divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!”
The Father in heaven is the ultimate Good will ambassador, and He commissions everyone who receives His Gift of love to represent Him to others.
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ’s stead be ye reconciled to God.”
• The Highest good comes by sharing Jesus.
• The Path of Peace is still the narrow way.
• The Purest motivation is still the Love of God.
Christian, most people have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
