"Joy To the World"

St. Luke is the historian for the birth of John the Baptizer, the Old Testament Prophet whose story appears early in the Gospels in between the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, or New Covenant. Luke is also the historian during the establishment of the Church as recorded in the book of Acts. John the Baptizer as the forerunner prepared people for the coming of the Lord, and in the beginning of his public ministry John, as presented in Luke’s account, announced the magnificent and mysterious coming of Jesus. Luke begins his Gospel with the story John’s birth and the birth of the Christ child, who was the subject of the most intriguing ancient prophesies of all biblical history. This human appearance of God in the flesh as Paul explains this divine mystery, is the coming of this person who would result in bringing to the world hope from its gray despair and joy from its profound apathy due to our world’s desperate spiritual condition.

Context.

“Joy’ is the third word we are focusing on during the four-week Advent season. Prior to the events of Luke’s Gospel, the world lay silent because there had been no Word from the Lord. God was not speaking, as the mouths of prophets were closed and their voices muted. Built suddenly after four centuries of silence there was a feverish flurry of heavenly activity. God has something to say!

The Text; Telling the Story.

Vv. 1-7; “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

v. 8-9; “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.”

Preaching Point.

God indeed has something to say, and God is now saying it! God sent an angel, God’s Messenger, to appear to the shepherds who were out in the fields watching their flocks. This is a reminder that Almighty God has everything at His disposal to use for the will and glory of God! In this appearance of the heavenly being, the glory of the Lord, or God’s presence made visible shined around them with such brilliance and intensity, the shepherds became ‘filled with fear,” or as the NET Bible translation says, they were “absolutely terrified.” It indeed was an unusual and extraordinary experience for the shepherds because God cannot be less than who God is. God is not like human beings and the holiness of God should be reverenced and the correct responses by human beings to all manifestations of God’s presence should be to worship God! God’s holy presence speaks loudly, or in other words, God knows how to make Himself heard and known. God is here among the shepherds! God has now gotten the attention of the shepherds, for sure, and for that matter, since we are studying and being blessed by this passage two thousand years later, God has gotten our attention also! Also, notice the juxtaposition of lowly shepherds having an encounter with Almighty God! God does not reserve the revealed glory of God for only a certain social ‘class’ of people, but a divine encounter or personal communication with Holy God is possible no matter if we are on the lower end of the wage scale or at the top of it, God is available to each one of us. Consistent with the theme of Luke 2 is the fact that this is God ‘coming’ to us in the Father’s own glory and in the child who is also the Son.

v. 10; “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.

Preaching Point.

No matter how awe-inspiring and intimidating God’s holy presence is to people, God’s message of grace is preempted with a word of comfort when God or one of God’s messengers says, “do not fear.” This is God’s way of saying, ‘I am here to bless you and not curse you.’ God did not show up in the fields of Bethlehem to harm the shepherds but to help them! There is no reason to fear because “I bring you good news (the Gospel) of great joy that will be for all people.” It is appropriate for people and cultures all over the world to celebrate Christmas, or the coming of Christ, because this heavenly news is for all people! In the world to come, the new heavens and the new earth will be populated by people of faith who have gathered to worship and serve the Lord from the four corners of the earth - “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24.31); “And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13.27). This message is for certain for all people as there is no bias, preference or discrimination in the kingdom of God. All who meet the conditions of a repentant heart are welcome to Christ’s fellowship.

And what is this message of good news? It is a message of “great joy that will be for all people.”

It is a joyous announcement/message, but first, what is joy? First, we should acknowledge that ‘joy’ is one of the nine fruits of the (Holy) Spirit according to Galatians 5. 22-23). ‘Joy’ has been called ‘spiritual happiness” by one interpreter. “Joy, in my opinion, is the result of deep-seated spiritual contentment where the soul has not only found ‘peace with God’ through salvation but has also come to know the ‘peace of God’ by trusting in the promises of God’s Word and yielding to the comforting work of the abiding Holy Spirit” (Adrian Scott). Let me also says, real “Joy” cannot be purchased with carnal currency printed and stamped with Satan’s image and is the payment for doing the work of Satan. Satan’s compensation may give you momentary pleasure and temporary satisfaction but no real joy because genuine Christian ‘Joy’ is the result of having the Lord Jesus as the center of one’s affections and comes from an ongoing, personal, trusting relationship with the God of heaven and earth and fully acknowledging Him as your only Savior and Lord. ‘Joy’ is one of the results of truly walking with God despite our circumstances. Someone said having ‘joy’ is the result of having a connection with God.’

v. 11; “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Here is the reason for great joy – A Savior has come in a very unusual way, He has come in the form of an infant child! And let there be no mistaken identity regarding this child - “He is Christ the Lord.”

The Greek word for Christ is ‘Christos’ or ‘anointed one.’ This child Jesus was anointed before He was ever born! Here are some who displayed their joy even though they found themselves in difficult circumstances.

Paul and Silas - “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake” (Acts 16.25-26a).

The Psalmist in Psalm 16 when he was inthe presence of God - “In your presence is fullness of Joy.:

The Wisemen - “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2. 10).

Paul in prison - “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4.4)

Joy in trials - “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1.2).

Nehemiah 8.10 - “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Miriam sang and danced before the Lord as she celebrated having crossed the Red Sea and escaping to freedom from the Egyptians - Exodus 15.

In our text Luke has told us the reason for our joy is in a person!

Jesus brings us great joy! Joy that my sins have been passed onto another. Great joy because God provided a ram in the bush! One who took my punishment. Joy of the soul because God had a plan for my and your redemption! Great joy because the Lord paid the price of our salvation when we were spiritually destitute. Joy because my record has been expunged by the great Judge of heaven and earth! I have Great Joy because there is nothing between my soul and my Savior! Joy because I have a friend in Jesus, born this day a Savior! He wasn’t made a Savior, or voted in as a Savior, or acquired the rights to be a Savior, but Jesus was born a Savior! What a different conception and birth was that of Jesus. Different from the way you and I came into the world, the result of a husband and wife, both sinners coming together and conceiving a child. But Jesus’ conception skipped the need for a man and a woman to come together and conceive a child, but it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that the virgin Mary was able to miraculously conceive and give birth not the Son of a man, but God the Holy Spirit was His Father!

Joy, that I am friends with God because my sins have been forgiven. Great joy because I am free from condemnation because my sin has been paid for by this child who was also a Son who lived selflessly, died humbly but rose from the dead purposefully, and that is so that you and me would have our names written in the Lambs Book of Life.

Saved from the punishment of my sin; saved from the stain of my guilt; relieved from my separation from a holy God; saved from hell’s fury; sanctified holy; satisfied completely; filled with the Spirit thoroughly; loved eternally; kept securely;