Peace for Advent
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: According to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Angels are Created beings whose primary function is to serve and worship God. Though some interpret the “us” in Gen. 1:26 as inclusive of God and His angelic court, the Bible does not comment as to when they were created. Unlike God they are not eternal or omniscient. The Hebrew word in the OT is malʾak, and the NT Greek word is angelos. They both mean “messenger” and occasionally refer to human messengers.
Angels not only carry messages to people (Gen. 18:9–16; Judg. 13:2–24; Luke 1:13, 2:8–15), they also carry out God’s will as He directs them (Ps. 91:11; 148:2–5; Col. 1:16). The Bible offers little description of angelic messengers because the focus is on the message and not the messenger. Angels also performed tasks as mediators (Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19; Rev. 1:1).
Angels also serve God in His heavenly court. Titles such as “sons of God” (Gen. 6:2–4; Job 1:6), “holy ones” (Ps. 89:5; Dan. 4:13), and “heavenly hosts” (Luke 2:13) identify angels as celestial beings who worship God (Luke 2:13–15; Rev. 19:1–3), attend His throne (Rev. 5:11), and make up God’s army (1 Sam. 1:11).
Angels are sometimes identified as winged creatures—the cherubim and seraphim. These angels appear in Ezekiel’s visions (Eze 1:4–28; 10:1–22) and in (Isaiah 6:2–6). Cherubim are primarily guards/attendants to God’s throne, whereas seraphim attend God’s throne and offer praises to Him.
That’s a good biblical description of Angels. Can anyone think of a Hollywood description of an Angel? What about the Angel in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”? The bumbling Angel second class who hasn’t won his wings yet.
The Hebrew word Malak is used 110 times in the Old Testament and the Greek word Angelos is used 169 times in the New Testament. That’s a lot of Angelic activity going on in the world. Only God knows just how many times Angels have delivered messages to people on earth. But we are going to take a look at just one time when an Angel makes an appearance in the world.
Luke 2:8-20
8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there appeared 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 men with whom He is pleased.”
15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
1 What are Angels?
2. What was the Message?
3. Jesus is the source of Peace!
Transitional Sentence: God provided peace to His children through the message given by the Angel on the night of Jesus’ birth.
1 What are Angels?
a. Angels are Messengers: The Hebrew words Malak and the Greek word Angelos means Messenger. The primary function of these messengers is to deliver messages from God to humans. The presence of Angels in the world can not be denied if you accept what the Bible says. The Angels delivered messages to a wide assortment of people, but always for the same reason; that humans might know the will of God. Our passage for this morning is just one of the times when a message was delivered from God to some humans.
Occasionally the Angel will provide a name such as GABRIEL. Gabriel makes four appearances in the Bible. Twice he appeared to Daniel in the OT and in the NT he appeared to announce the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Each time he appears in the narrative he is bringing human beings a message from the Lord.
b. Angels are also Ministering Spirits: Matt 4:11
11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
These Angels came to Jesus after He was tempted by Satan at the beginning of His ministry.
They will also come to our aid in some way when God directs them to do it. Hebrews 1:13-14
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies A footstool for Your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
For the sake of those who will inherit salvation. That’s everyone who believes in Jesus and will be saved. God is watching over His children.
c. The messenger in our passage today does not provide a name. He simply delivers his message. Luke 2:10-11
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
But then a great multitude of the heavenly host joins this one and they praise God saying: Luke 2:14
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Remember what the video said? The Greek word Eirene. Shalom, wholeness. This message is telling the shepherds about peace but it is also telling all the people how Shalom is coming into the world. The messenger is telling them where the true source of peace for mankind can be found.
2. What was the Message - Peace on Earth among men with whom He is pleased.
a. Peace - what is it?
Peace: the absence of conflict; the cessation of hostilities; or—based on the Hebrew concept of shalom—the positive condition of personal or communal wholeness, integrity and well-being.
We are at peace because we are not fighting, or we are at peace because we have a positive communal wholeness. Can positive communal wholeness exist as long as their is conflict in our lives?
b. So. why do we need Peace? Genesis 3:17-19
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.
18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;
19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
Sin brought a curse upon all living things and that broke the relationship with God. As long as we are struggle against God we will struggle against each other. As long as we struggle with God we will struggle with this cursed earth that continues to grow thistles and thorns; and it continues to endure catastrophe after catastrophe as we continue to struggle against it.
c. So, what good is peace to us anyway?
If there was peace between human beings we could stop quarrelling and fighting. If we could stop killing each other and actually start helping each other we could do so much more. But we would have to get rid of the source of our quarrels and conflict. We would have to get rid of our desire to have more, to be first, to come out on top.
James told us that the the source of quarrels and conflict is our own pleasures. We lust after stuff and we are envious of what others have so we fight and kill to get it. We struggle to have enough, we struggle to have more than the other guy, we struggle to die with the most toys or the most power. With this kind of behavior God is not pleased. But there is a kind of behavior with which God can be pleased. He is pleased when people accept His Son as Lord and Savior. His, Son Jesus is the subject of the Angels message. Find the child and receive justification, receive justification and find peace. Romans 5:1
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is the source of peace.
3. That’s right, Jesus is the source of Peace
a. So, why is Jesus the source of Peace?
He brings peace with God. The lack of peace started with the breaking of relationship with God. Breaking the relationship began the struggle. We want to be our own god. But reconciliation and peace with God heals the wound that causes the struggles with God and the earth. Col 1:19-20 says:
19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Once reconciled to God we can begin living lives that honor God and bring peace to the earth because we can stop struggling to be our own god. We can stop struggling to get ahead of the other guy and we can stop struggling so much with the earth and know that God has got this under control. Be at Peace, have Shalom.
b. The crazy thing is that Jesus didn’t really come to bring peace. Matt 10:34
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
He actually came to bring a sword. He came to take back what has been lost to the evil one. He came to drive a wedge between sons and fathers, mothers and daughters and whole communities. He brought a sword because those who live in the darkness and do not believe in Jesus will fight and struggle to keep those who accept Him from leaving the darkness and spreading the light. The quarrelling and struggling will continue until all knees bow to Him.
c. How many of you know this saying?
No Jesus, No Peace;
Know Jesus, Know Peace
In case you don’t understand, it means as long as there is no Jesus in the world and your life there will be no peace in the world or your life. But when we know Jesus, when we have a personal relationship with Him we can know peace. We can have peace, we can have Shalom because Jesus is the source of peace. The blood of the cross, His blood is the source of Peace. Jesus said: John 14:27
27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
I don’t know what kind of peace the world can give us, but I know the Peace that Jesus can give too us.
Exit:
The bible is full of Angelic appearances. They are messengers. They carry God’s word from heaven to those on whom God’s favor rests. We don’t know to much about them because the message is always more important.
The message that was delivered to the shepherds was one of peace. The message sent the shepherds on a quest. A quest to find the Christ child, Jesus who was born to be God’s sacrifice to bring reconciliation between God and men.
The message was presented to a few lowly people who would appreciate the coming of the Christ Child because they knew they needed Him. The message still calls out today to those who know they need a Savior.
If you are in need of a Savior the alter is open and available to seek Him. Don’t walk away from this opportunity. Don’t harden your heart, He came for you.
Pray