Theme: May the glory of the Lord be unto you
Text: Is. 60:1-6; Eph. 3:1-12; Matt. 2:1-12
On the first Sunday of the year 2015 I will like to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. Today is also known in the Church calendar as Epiphany. Epiphany simply means a revelation and refers to the revelation of glory of God revealed in Christ as the light of the world to all people and all nations. Just as the sun rises on every nation and people, so also does the Son of righteousness, the light of the world. No matter who you are, you too, can welcome the Light of the world. There are various people, however, who prefer the darkness to the light. Instead of welcoming the Light of the world they are either indifferent to Christ or are even hostile to Him. The way we treat Christ does not change the truth about who He is since truth is not subject to the opinions of men. The truth remains the truth no matter how we view it. Christ is the light to all men and how we respond to this truth affects our eternal destiny. Christ came to reveal the glory of God and restore that glory in our lives. May the glory of the Lord be upon you in 2015?
God created man to manifest His glory. He made man “a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor”. (Psalm 8:5) Sin robbed man of God’s glory and God went to great lengths to restore it. God has been revealing His glory to man throughout the ages. His glory is seen in Creation. It is seen wherever His presence is. It was seen by Moses and the Israelites and it was present in the Holy of Holies. It was present at the dedication of the Temple by Solomon and it was revealed in Jesus Christ. At Christmas we celebrated the birth of Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”. (John 1:14)
Christ came to reveal the glory of God and restore His glory in our lives. Epiphany reminds us that the glory of God has been restored to us and that after the celebrations of the season we cannot afford to go back to the routine of our normal way of life. The presence of God’s glory compels us to arise and shine. The Scriptures record the response of different people to the light of God’s glory. The religious leaders were indifferent and Herod was hostile. The religious leaders were filled with pride and only concerned about maintaining their power and authority. They knew from the Scriptures where the Messiah was to be born and although they were informed of His birth made no effort to travel the short distance to Bethlehem to worship Him. What is our response as believers to the revelation of God’s glory? Are we partakers of God’s glory? Is God’s glory still visible in our lives or did it end with the celebrations of the Christmas season?
Different people responded in different ways to the manifestation of God’s glory. The religious leaders who should have embraced the light of the world were indifferent. The ruler of the Jews, Herod the King, was hostile. Herod was hostile because he was evil, so evil that his aim was to kill the Messiah. Since the pronouncement of God that the seed of the woman would destroy the devil he, the devil, had sought to destroy whoever he believed was the chosen one. He killed Abel, tried to destroy Joseph and Moses and again tried to kill the Messiah through Herod. When the wise men did not return to report on the whereabouts of the Messiah, Herod went on a killing spree and killed all male infants in Bethlehem under the age of 2, believing that the Messiah would be among them. The only acceptable response to the manifestation of God’s glory is seen in the response of the shepherds and the wise men. When the shepherds heard the good news of the birth of Christ they immediately went to Bethlehem and worshipped the Messiah. When the wise men saw the star, they rejoiced and travelled to worship Him because He was also their Lord. The good news of the grace of God is to all people.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world. He is the only light that can deal with the darkness of sin. We can still see the evidence of spiritual darkness just by looking at ourselves and around us. The feeling of guilt and the committing of sin after sin and trying to make things right with God in our own strength points us to the darkness that is still around us. Jesus Christ came to do what we could not do. He came to bring us out of darkness into His light. God has ordained Christ to be Lord and King. Our response to Him should be that of wise men and women who seek and find Him.
The glory of God was revealed for our benefit. Christ not only revealed the glory of God but restored to us the glory we lost though sin. Jesus Christ took our sin and gave us His glory and righteousness. The only way to respond to the grace of God is to worship Him. Worship and thanksgiving go together. Giving is an act of worship that acknowledges our thankfulness and the wise men brought the best they had to offer, gold, frankincense and myrrh. The transformation that takes place in our lives due to the presence of God’s glory is such good news that we cannot keep it to ourselves. This good news is the gospel of grace that “we are saved by grace through faith”. (Eph. 2:8)
Presenting gifts to the Lord is an act of worship and thanksgiving. Christ revealed the glory of God and also paid the price for us to partake of His glory. As believers and partakers of the glory of God we can make this first Sunday of the year 2015 a memorable one by worshipping and thanking the lord and also presenting Him with our precious gifts. What we give today, at the beginning of the year, is an act of worship and thanksgiving. There is a custom most of us observe that relates to the first salary we earn. We believe it does not belong to us but is to be distributed among members of the family. We do this to show our appreciation for their help in getting us to the stage where we can earn a salary. They do not need the money but when they receive it the result is a blessing from them. If we find nothing wrong with giving the family the first of our salary then it must be normal to give the first gifts of the year to the Lord who has made us partakers of His glory. This offering always ensures a blessing from the Lord as it is an indication that we value what He has done for us and that He comes first in our lives. Christ must be sought with the same sort of seriousness that characterised the search by the wise men from the east. They were prepared to undertake a long difficult journey across the desert on camels to find Jesus in order to worship Him and present their gifts. We should also be prepared to seek Christ at all costs and not allow any perceived difficulties to prevent or hinder our search for Him.
The Scriptures reveal God’s plan of redemption to save the human race by sending a Saviour into the world. Satan sought to abort this plan and he used his agents to carry out his plan. Herod was evil and responsible for many deaths including that of a wife and several of his children. Jewish history records that to make sure people mourned his death, Herod gave orders that prominent people are murdered at his death so that the mourning of their families and friends would be seen as if it were the people mourning for his death. Christ came to defeat evil and deliver us out of darkness. He was revealed to the Jews in Israel and to the Gentiles in a faraway land. God has placed within each one of us a place that only Christ can fill. Without Him we are empty inside. It is an emptiness that is caused by God in order to bring us to Christ. Just as the wise men needed to fill the emptiness in their lives by seeking Christ so wise men and women today also need to fill the emptiness in their lives by seeking Him. The glory of God was revealed in Christ to deliver us from darkness and translate us into the light of His glory. Let us begin the year 2015 with the glory of the Lord upon us to the praise and glory of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!
