Night of Joy
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What brings joy to you this Christmas Eve? Is it the gathering of family? The anticipation of gift-giving and receiving? Is it watching Christmas classics - like It’s A Wonderful Life or Charlie Brown Christmas?
Are there Christmas traditions in your household that bring you joy? Our children are now adults living out on their own - so some of our traditions have changed. But I do fondly remember the traditions we held when they were growing up. One tradition was the annual sleeping under the Christmas tree and movie night, which never worked out as intended. It would start well, hot cocoa and snacks, sleeping bags and pillows, but we could never agree on the movie - Krista loved Polar Express, the rest of us thought it was creepy, and no one, except my son John, really wanted to sleep under the tree. At some point in the night, one by one, we would all sneak back to our own beds until the poor boy was all alone.
Another tradition was to allow our kids to open one gift on Christmas Eve before going to bed. Anyone here have that tradition? This was a carry over from my own childhood. I remember the excitement of weighing each gift in my hands, listening for a rattling part or something to give me a clue whether or not it should be my first gift. The joy of peeling back the paper and seeing some toy I was hoping for – or the disappointment of finding a value pack of tube socks. My brother would play happily with his new car and I would beg mom to let me open one more.
Now our kids are grown and the only lasting tradition I can count on is that my wife and kids have probably forgotten to get me a Christmas present yet again.
But I digress.
The point is that most of our traditions, including this candlelight service, are special to us because they bring about a sense of joy, even if it is for but a moment, in our celebration of Christmas.
Tonight, I want to share with you a joy that is not momentary, but a joy that is available to each of us - an ever present and an everlasting joy. A joy that does not leave us when circumstances sour and things go south. A joy that shines as a light in the darkness.
It is the joy that was announced to the shepherds tending their flocks by night.
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The angel, God’s messenger, is bringing good news of great joy - do you receive it? There is a difference between hearing and receiving. All of us have likely heard this story many times over. But have we received it? Has the good news penetrated our soul? Has our heart been warmed by the message or is our heart hardened by the world to the point that we don’t dare risk opening it up to the possibility that there is a God who loves us and can be trusted. Have we been filled with joy - or are we filled with worry and fear?
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Who has been born to us? Who has come? Who is this one named Jesus?
Well the angel said he is Christ. That is not Jesus’ last name. Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The word means “anointed one”. This is the one chosen by God and given a divine appointment to carry out. To be anointed in ancient Israel was to have sacred oil poured on your head and to have hands laid upon you as you are set apart, consecrated for a particular office and function. There were three groups of officials in the Old Testament that were anointed as they were “sworn in” so to speak. The prophets, the priests and the king. Jesus fulfills each of these roles.
Jesus was the promised Messiah. The one whom the people were waiting for, the one the prophets spoke of, the one who would fulfill the promises of God.
Here is a fascinating component of the Christian faith. Until we actually place our faith in Jesus and believe, we are blind to what is right in front of our eyes.
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.
The god of this world (lower case g) is referring to Satan. When our eyes are not on Jesus, when our sight is limited to only what the world offers - our eyes are in fact veiled - our vision obscured. We do not see clearly. We dismiss that which clearly points to the wonders of God.
Yet when we turn to God in faith, the blinders are removed. We were once blind, now we can see. Many of you can attest to this being true. Suddenly, the scriptures come alive and the one who is now spiritually alive begins to see what has been hidden.
And what is right before our very eyes? Well, let’s start with the 300+ Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament that could only be fulfilled by one man in human history - Jesus the Messiah.
Prophecies written centuries before Jesus was born.
Prophecies that foretold that he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), his earthly family tree would be a direct line back to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), Isaac (Genesis 17:19), and Jacob (Numbers 24:17). Of the 12 tribes of Israel, he would come from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10). He would be an heir to King David’s throne (Isa. 9:6-7). His throne would be eternal (Daniel 2:44). He would be called Emmanuel “God with Us” (Isa. 7:14). A messenger would come before him to prepare the way (Malachi 3:1), he would be rejected by his own people (Isa. 53:3), He would raise the dead, give sight to the blind, the deaf would hear, the lame would walk and the mute would speak (Isa. 35:5-6). He would speak in parables (Ps 78:2-4). He would be betrayed by one close to him (Psalm 41:9). He would be silent before his accusers, he would be spat upon, stricken, and crucified with criminals (Isaiah 53). His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16), he would be a sacrifice for sin (Isaiah 53).
That is just a sampling of Messianic prophecies, but enough to rule out everyone else who ever lived.
Then there are the many allusions and indirect references to Jesus found throughout the scriptures. Every OT story you may be familiar with points to Christ. Abraham being instructed by God to take his own son up Mount Moriah to sacrifice him on an altar. His son Isaac carrying the wood to be used on the altar up the mountain. If you are familiar with the story, you know God intervenes and provides a ram stuck in a bush for the sacrifice. For any parent, it is a horrific story - but in Christ we see God’s purposes for what he did back then. He was showing us what he himself would do one day to free us from our sin. And just as Isaac carried the wood up the mountain, so did Jesus carry the wood beam of his cross to Golgotha where he was crucified.
We may remember the story of the reluctant prophet Jonah being swallowed by a big fish and taken down into the depths of the sea and God causing the fish to surface and spit Jonah out onto dry land on the third day. An allusion to Jesus’ three days in the grave and his glorious resurrection.
Story after story - all pointing to what is to come.
Great joy is ours through Jesus the Christ.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The angel also identifies the one born to us as Lord. This indicates his sovereign authority. The angel knew exactly who was coming on the scene - this Jesus who Mary had just delivered and who the shepherds were about to meet is the One who always existed and from whom all creatures live and breath. He is the Lord.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
When we call Jesus Lord, we are acknowledging that He is in fact above all things and that he is indeed divine.
In saying, “Jesus is Lord,” we are committing ourselves to obey Him. We trust Him to direct our path, that He will lead us when we follow Him. Jesus asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). To call him Lord is to submit to His authority. When we declare him Lord, we are filled with joy because there is no area of our life outside of his care.
Lastly, the angel proclaims that born unto us is a Savior.
This is the good news - that God is redeeming all that is broken in this world, that He is reconciling sinful man to himself, that Jesus came to save us from our sin.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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.
This is the true gift of Christmas. This child born unto us would do what we are incapable of doing for ourselves. He would live a perfect life without sin, he would be the unblemished lamb of god who takes on the sins of this world and offers up himself as a holy sacrifice. Every evil thing ever done, ever selfish thought, every worthless deed, every harmful action, he would satisfy the consequence so that we could be set free and live as new creations - fully redeemed. And his resurrection defeated the power of death for us all - in him, we have eternal life.
Eternal security brings everlasting joy.
The angel is bringing good news of great joy for you tonight - do you receive it?
Let us pray.