The Message of the Angels
Luke 2:8-14
Every Christmas season we hear the familiar words of the message of the angels to the shepherds read in church services or recited by children in Christmas programs. But how many of us have ever thought about the depth and riches of truth revealed in the angels’ message? Do we really understand all that was said? Take a moment to consider the message of the angels.
I. It was a message of Good News
A. It was a message from a holy and righteous God, sent by a mighty angel; and it was a message of the gospel.
B. Verse 10 – “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings (Gr. evangelisto or good news) of great joy which will be to all people.”
C. The great announcement which the angels of heaven were about to utter was characterized by the angels as a message which will bring ‘great joy’ to ‘all people.”
D. The message is one of good tidings of great joy "which will be to ALL PEOPLE". It’s not good news will bring joy only to the shepherds alone or only to the house of Israel. It's good news to all people of all nations who will hear and by faith receive its message.
E. Concerning the One of Whom the message speaks, God said in Isaiah 49:6 “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
II. It was a message of a Savior
A. Verse 11a – “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior.”
B. Because of Adam man stands in need of a Savior. We were alienated from God and were alone, living under the curse of sin, until the light of Jesus broke into our world and offered redemption for those who dwelt in darkness.
C. Matthew 1:20-21 “...Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him (Joseph) in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
D. If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our 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; But our greatest need was forgiveness and reconciliation, so God sent us a Savior. - copied
E. John MacArthur speaking one Christmas day said that “The church needs to get back to remembering that God sent His Son into the world to save His people from their...what?...their sins. That's the issue and a proper presentation of the gospel is to talk about that. That is precisely what is bound up in the announcement of the angel that the one who is born today and is lying there in a feed trough in Bethlehem one-day old is a Savior. And as the angel told Joseph, "Who will save His people from their sins." That's why you must name Him Jesus. The real destroyer is sin and the guilt for sin is a real guilt, not a psychological, artificial guilt, not a self-imposed guilt but God-imposed guilt that damns to eternal hell. It is from that that people need to be saved, rescued and delivered. And that is precisely what we must understand in understanding the gospel.”
F. Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
III. It was the message of the Christ
A. Verse 11b “Who is Christ”
B. The angel calls Him "Christ"; meaning "the anointed One". He is the Jewish Messiah; the Savior that God promised long ago in the prophecies of the Old Testament. He was the literal fulfillment of God's promise made in Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”.
C. Not only is He the king of the Jews as declared by the wise men in Matthew 2:2 “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him”; He is Messiah anointed by God as King of kings, the eternal Sovereign King, Ruler of all creation.
D. He is Messiah the anointed great high priest, mediator between God and man.
E. 1 Timothy 2:5 “...there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”
F. He is Messiah the anointed prophet declaring God’s message to mankind.
G. Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
IV. It was the message of the Lord
A. Verse 11 “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”
B. The Lord - Kurios - God robed in flesh.
C. His office is that of Savior, coming to provide salvation to those who would receive His message. His authority and legitimacy is that of Christ, divinely commissioned to be our Redeemer. His sufficiency is that of Lord, for only God could effect that which was necessary to provide redemption.
D. Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
E. John 1:1, 14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
F. Had the person of whom the angel spoke been a mere human, he incapable of meeting the requirements necessary to carry out the mission to save the lost.
G. The substitutionary sacrifice of the incarnate Son of God on the cross of Calvary is the one and only, all-sufficient ground of redemption from the guilt and power of sin, and from God’s wrath and condemnation.
V. Glory to God
A. Verse 14 “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!”
B. They were praising God because Jesus was born. They were praising God because the Savior had come. They were praising God for the Savior who is Christ the Lord. They were exalting God for this unfathomable act of His love for His fallen creation.
C. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of the angelic chorus: they “had been present on many august occasions, and they had joined in many a solemn chorus to the praise of their Almighty Creator. They were present at the creation: "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." They had seen many a planet fashioned between the palms of Jehovah, and wheeled by his eternal hands through the infinitude of space They had sung solemn songs over many a world which the Great One had created. We doubt not, they had often chanted "Blessing and honour, and glory, and majesty, and power, and dominion, and might, be unto him that sitteth on the throne," manifesting himself in the work of creation. I doubt not, too, that their songs had gathered force through ages. As when first created, their first breath was song, so when they saw God create new worlds then their song received another note; they rose a little higher in the gamut of adoration. But this time, when they saw God stoop from his throne, and become a babe, hanging upon a woman's breast, they lifted their notes higher still; and reaching to the uttermost stretch of angelic music, they gained the highest notes of the divine scale of praise, and they sung, "Glory to God in the highest," for higher in goodness they felt God could not go. Thus their highest praise they gave to him in the highest act of his godhead.” – Spurgeon, The first Christmas Carol.
D. Redemption’s story is all about God at work in accomplishing that which He and He alone could do.
E. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19a (HCSB) “Now everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us”
F. The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners so that through His grace we can join angels in giving glory to God.
