Christmas: A Real Savior Bringing Real Salvation
Pastor Dan Little - 12-04-11
The Landmark Church - Binghamton, NY
adfontes.djl@gmail.com
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SCRIPTURE READING
Luke 2:1-38
2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. ESV
The Word Of The Lord
I. GOD’S SALVATION
I want to draw you attention to two verses from our reading.
The first is verse 11 where the angel says to the shepherds, 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
This angel is saying that Jesus was born UNTO them, that he was not conceived by the action of men and then groomed for the Messiah job. He was God clothed in the flesh of humanity, planted in the virgin’s womb, who by His life, death and resurrection reconciles us to God. All God’s plan, and it came to us complete in Jesus.
The second is verse 30 where Simeon praises God saying; “for my eyes have seen YOUR salvation”
Simeon is a humble and faithful old man. Our reading tells us that he has been holding fast to a promise given to him by the Spirit of God that he would live to see Israel’s true Messiah.
Think of all the kinds of salvation claims Simeon had seen come and go in his life time. He has seen salvation attempted by keeping religious laws, by the idolatrous worship of power and wealth, and certainly in his life time he saw salvation claims reaching over into the bizarre.
But Simeon takes one look at Jesus and breaks into joyful praise to God saying; Now I can die in peace because, “my eyes have seen YOUR salvation.”
Years later Jesus stated His identity with a shocking Gospel-truth claim that was in perfect keeping with what the angel announced to the shepherds and what Simeon saw;
John 14:6 … "I am THE way , and THE truth, and THE life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ESV
This was not spoken in arrogance. Jesus was simply saying what He knew. He had not come to SHOW us what salvation looked like. He actually WAS (and is) our salvation. He is God’s plan A and there is no plan B.
And yet in our natural selves we prefer to try almost any form of self-salvation over God’s plan A. So let’s talk about self-salvation for a few minutes.
II. ATTEMPTS AT SELF-SALVATION
Jesus told a story (a parable) about a young man who tried a form of self-salvation using the well worn path of self-discovery. That’s the one that says, I must be completely free from restraint, free from God in order to find my own identity. It’s a very short story found in Luke 15. Let me take 95 seconds and read the first part of it to you.
Luke 15:11 And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 "But when he came to himself, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ’Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. ESV
What is this young man saying? Isn’t he saying, “I will never know who I am until I am free from the influence of my father, his hovering love and this farm. I need to cut loose from all that is familiar to me and head off into new territory.
So he says to his father, Give me my inheritance (in cash please) and then stand by and watch me leave.
Which is just what the father in this story does. He watches as his son goes off to find himself—one of the hardest things any parent can do.
So he breaks away and leaves the influence of both father and farm and, as the story goes, immediately comes under the powerful new influences, new notions about the pleasure of sexual freedom and the joys of drinking and partying with good friends—good friends as long as the cash and wine flow.
Finally his circumstances slow him down to where he actually takes stock of what he has found on the road to self-discovery.
The story says He came to himself. He wakes up to three realities:
1) Now that the money is gone his only companions are
pigs.
2) They are eating and he is starving.
3) He envies them.
And then and there he comes up with another plan for self-salvation.” I will go back home, apologize and then work as a hired hand and MAYBE earn back my father’s love. And immediately he acts on this new plan and turns for home.
III. COMPARE AND BE SAVED
Think about the salvation that angels announced to the shepherds. This savior is not born from you, but to you. He was not conceived by the effort of men.
And think about the salvation that Simeon saw when he looked upon Jesus. He said that at last he had seen God’s salvation.
What makes God’s salvation so radically different is the absence of human effort. But human effort isn’t just missing, God refuses to allow human effort to have any part.
This is the very salvation that the Paul and Silas gave witness to before a Philippian jailor. They had been preaching in Philippi that Jesus was born of a virgin, died as a sacrifice for our sins, rose from the dead, ascended back to the heavens, and now rules as king and priest forever, offering salvation to all who call upon His name. They have been beaten and jailed for their witness to Christ. They are singing praise to God at midnight when God opens all the prison doors and their chains fall off.
The jailor, knowing he will pay with his life for the escape of the prisoners, is preparing to kill himself. Paul and Silas tell him not to harm himself because, “We are all here.” The jailor, knows why they are in jail, knows the message they preach suddenly blurts out.
Acts 16: 30 "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And Paul and Silas say, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." ESV
What could be more simple than that? Nothing to do but believe, trust, invest all your hope and faith in Jesus and you will be saved.
Wouldn’t you think we would embrace faith in Christ as soon as we hear this GOOD NEWS? Most of us do not! Why not
Let me give you two reasons.
1) The first is what the Bible calls "the offense of the cross". We don’t like the idea of an absolutely innocent person dying as a blood sacrifice for our sin. We don’t think our sin is that bad, so we would rather find a way to earn salvation, a way to deserve it, a way to save ourselves. It’s a matter of pride.
In this way we are like the younger son in Jesus’ parable—constantly thinking up ways to save our own lives. We go off into self-discovery, and when we see that its promises are empty, we sit down to think up a new way to save ourselves.
But God is like the father in that story. He allowed his son to leave on his own terms and has never ceased loving him. But when the son returns the father will have nothing to do with His young son’s new plan. He must return on the father’s terms. He will not be allowed to work his way back to the family table by being very good and working very hard. He will not be allowed to earn anything. He will be totally forgiven and restored and made to sit and feast all that the father’s expense. And from that point onward he can work as hard as he wants for the simple fact that he loves his father, but the father will never allow him to think he has earned that love.
2) Here is the second reason we don’t respond God’s salvation. We say, “It can’t be fair. There has to be another way (or maybe many other ways) to be saved.” That idea only makes sense unto you discover the absolute love and forgiveness in Christ. Once that happens when you hear someone say it isn’t fair, it is like hearing someone say, “It isn’t fair that each person has only one head. Under my plan everyone could any head and as many heads as they liked.”
And so we have our reasons for preferring our own salvation. But did you ever hear what Jesus said about trying to save yourself?
Luke 9:24 For whoever tries to
save his own life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my
sake will save it. 25 For what
does it profit a man if he gains
the whole world and loses or
forfeits himself? ESV
Peterson translates it this way;
Luke 9:24 Self-help is no help at
all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my
way, to finding yourself, your
true self. 25 What good would it
do to get everything you want
and lose you, the real you?
(MsgB)
Self-sacrifice is the way.
Self-sacrifice here means
surrender and that brings us to
the last point.
IV. FROM SELF-SALVATION TO SELF-SACRIFICE
Remember how in the father/son story the young son surrendered his body and his fortune to his self-discovery, self-salvation effort, and in the new plan was going to surrender all his strength to a new plan where he would work and earn his way back to having a place at his father’s farm?
What he finally ended up doing was quite different. He was limping his way home, but when he came within sight of the house his father ran to meet him. He confessed his sin, and attempted to lay out his plan. His father paid no attention to his plan and the son ended up melting into his father’s wide open arms and surrendering to his dad’s fathomless forgiveness and redeeming love.
That is what Jesus says we must do when it comes to this salvation that comes from God. We must make a complete surrender to the fathomless love and grace of Jesus the Savior.
His sacrificial blood pays the price for our sin and makes us totally right with God and immediately gives us a place at God’s table of fellowship. And when that happens there is nothing more to do EXCEPT to live in that surrendered place, to joyful serve our Savior, and help others to find and serve Him as well. When don’t serve Him so He will love us. He loves us and that is why we serve Him. His life in me makes me good.
John 3:16-20
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ESV.
If you wish to find your way back home the God the Father what you can expect is not a dark and glowering look, but one of forgiving mercy and gracious restoring love.
Has God ever allowed you to have one of those experiences where come to your wits, shake the cobwebs from your brain and say; “What am I doing living like this and dining on this kind of food?”
Maybe that is happening to you right now simply because you are hearing the gospel. If so you must see it as the Father’s open arms.
Don’t waste another day of your precious life. Make a total self-surrender so that you might at long last come to know that you are your Heavenly Father’s truly forgiven and fully accepted and restored child.
Why the utter simplicity of Jesus?
So that might know that …
“…Everything that we have — right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start — comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. 31 That’s why we have the saying, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:29-31)
If you will surrender to Christ this Christmas, O what a gift you will receive. You can’t earn it, but you can believe and receive it. It’s that simple.
