Come and Behold Him

Welcome, please open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 4.

O Come All Ye Faithful- possibly written by John Francis Wade in the 18th Century.

A hymn that beckons.

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem! Come and behold him, born the King of angels.”

Bids us to come, tells us how to come, tells us what to do once we come.

Christmas is a time for the faithful, for those who are filled with faith.

The faithful ought to be filled with joy and victorious.

The faithful come to see the One who has been born. To look, to adore, to behold.

Fascinated by the lyrics of this song- Come and see, come and look. Come triumphantly to behold the birth of Jesus.

Why is this all that we are told to do? Nothing about obedience, nothing about loving, nothing about worship. Come and see.

Seinfeld episode- Come and see the baby.

Something more must be happening here. Are we just celebrating a birth?

Advent is the celebration of the incarnation.

Answer can be found in v. 4.

“Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to thee be all glory giv’n! Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.”

The author recognizes the magnitude of what is found there in the manger.

Athanasian creed- “We believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and man, equally. He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is man from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely man, with a rational soul and human flesh.”

Nicene creed- “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made.”

We are meant to approach the manger scene with a sense of awe, taking in what it is exactly we are beholding, or perhaps, who it is that we are beholding.

One of the most important truths in Scripture- we must behold before we can obey.

Stated just a bit differently, the faith that drives our obedience will only be as strong as our understanding of the object of our faith.

For us to grow in faith, especially as we consider the incarnation of Jesus, we must look to examples of great faith. Let’s turn our attention to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4.

Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-6- Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Pray.

Paul talking about his ministry.

Going to discuss what makes a successful ministry and what makes an unsuccessful one.

Hidden in the messaging- unsuccessful can look successful and vice versa.

What we find at the core of Paul’s message to the church in Corinth- Behold Jesus and Proclaim Jesus.

“What we proclaim is not of ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.”

Consider what it is that Paul has experienced in his life. Jesus appeared to him. Jesus made himself known. Before Paul (then Saul) could ever obey, he had to wrestle with this person Jesus.

What is it that Paul knows of Christ that we are meant to behold?

Jesus Christ is the image of God.

v. 4.

We are created in the image of God, but we know the limitations of such imaging, right?

Adam had the capacity to sin. Ability to be tempted. God, in His holiness, has no room for sin.

Beholding Jesus, adoring Jesus, is not merely adoring a man who has set a great example.

Adoring Jesus involves the adoration of God.

Consider all the Psalms that were written in adoration of God. When they gave praise to God for all that He had done on their behalf, for who He is, we do the same when we give Jesus praise.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

v. 5.

Paul knew Jesus not only as Savior but perhaps more specifically as Lord.

Acts 9- Refers to Jesus as Lord, and immediately receives commands and immediately is obeying those commands.

Yes, He knew Jesus as the one who had saved him from death to life, but his experience on the road centered on the obedience that so soon followed and the lordship of Jesus.

This baby in the manger is our Lord.

Joseph Mohr- “Silent night, holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light; radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.”

The face of Jesus Christ is the light that defeats the darkness of our hearts.

v. 6.

Reference to creation. Consider your re-creation.

Oscar Joseph- “There is one point, indeed, in which the miracle of grace is more wonderful than that of creation. God only commanded the light to shine out of darkness when time began; but He shone Himself in the apostle’s heart.”

Jesus Christ is greater than man.

v. 5.

We do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ.

If everything else said was true, then this is easy to comprehend.

We are not the perfect image of the Father, we are not capable of being anyone’s lord, we do not have within us the power to defeat darkness.

So why would we make much of ourselves? Why would we mask what is perfect?

Kids with face paint.

Adding to Jesus is subtracting from Jesus.

Jesus Christ is sufficient.

v. 2.

Consider the gospel, with Christ at the very core.

Nicene Creed, speaking of Jesus- “Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.”

What could we possibly add? This is the gospel, it is what Jesus has accomplished. This is sufficient for the very salvation of man. This is what we are to believe, this is what we are to proclaim.

Read Luke 2:8-20.

Might we identify well with the shepherds this morning. Go and see what God has done, behold Him, adore Him, then give Him praise and proclaim His name. Let’s pray.