O COME LET US ADORE HIM

Introduction

I remember when we first moved up here, Kelli and I were amazed at the beautiful sky. There were no hills, mountains, or trees to block the view like there was back home in Alabama. The sky seemed more blue and beautiful than any other place I had been. We mentioned this to quite a few people who had lived here for their whole lives. Some seemed shocked that we would think that. They had never noticed anything particularly different or beautiful about the sky here. How can two people like us be so blown away by the view while others who have lived here for a number of years never notice the beauty that surrounds them? In their case, the old saying is proven true. Familiarity breeds contempt. Sometimes when we see or hear something so often, it loses some of the magic for us. Unfortunately, even believers can lose our wonder and awe of the incredible gift we have been given. The wonder, amazement, and passion that we used to have can gradually be replaced by familiarity and complacency. We can become like the church of Ephesus, who had left their first love. What was the remedy to this loss of love that Christ gave the church in Ephesus? Remember!!! Remember from where you have fallen and repent, and do the works you did at first. It is my prayer tonight that the Lord would use these few moments to help us remember and to renew in us a sense of awe and wonder as we consider the miracle of our Savior’s birth. May He use these truths to stir up a renewed passion and zeal for Him in our hearts. And in doing that, may we come to worship and adore Him, for He is worthy! Read Luke 2:8-20...

How can we be complacent when we see such amazing things surrounding His birth? An angel of the Lord appears to announce His arrival and the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds. And a multitude of the heavenly host erupted in praise to the Lord. The shepherds were so amazed that they left their flocks to go and behold what had happened. When they had beheld the baby, they rejoiced, glorifying and praising the Lord for all they had seen and heard. And what did they see in that manger? A Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Savior

The angel of the Lord had told Joseph that Mary would bear a son named Jesus, for He would save His people from their sins. If there was anything that the Old Testament record had proven, it was that we all needed someone to save us from our sins! Adam and Eve were warned that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die in that day. And that is exactly what we see happen. As a consequence of that sin, they experienced spiritual death that very moment. We see evidence of that death when they were filled with shame and hid themselves from God’s presence. That death spread to all of their descendants. It is said of us all that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and just like Adam and Eve, we flee from God’s presence. For Scripture testifies that no one seeks after God. When you read the history of mankind in God’s word, you see how quickly sin and death spread. When you get to the time of the flood, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And unfortunately, the flood didn’t change that, for the Lord gave the same diagnosis after it was over. Now, we could easily trace the spread of sin throughout the history of mankind, but perhaps it would be helpful to make things a bit more personal. Stop and think about the horrible consequences of that one sin of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. One single sin has brought untold death and destruction to this world. What about us though? God help us, we have done much more than one sin. Though we are sinful to the core, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are basically good people. But we are all going to have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to answer for what we have done in these bodies, whether good or bad. Stop and think of the multitude of sinful actions we have committed in our lives! On that day when we stand before Him, all of our self-deceptions are going to be evaporated. We are going to have to answer for every careless word we have ever said. We will have to answer for every good deed left undone. We will be judged by the Word of God, and we read in Hebrews that the word of God is able to judge every thought and intention of our hearts. And what is every thought and intention of our hearts? Only evil continually. We have lived in constant rebellion against a holy God! So we stand completely and utterly condemned before the Lord, without any hope of saving ourselves. We have no righteousness to claim, because ours is as filthy rags. And because all of that is true, it should open our eyes to our greatest need. And what is that need? We need a Savior! Though we need a Savior, how could we ever hope for one? The Lord would be perfectly right and just to strike us down and cast us into hell this very day. But what did He do? He sent His dear Son to save us from our sins. How could this little baby save us? Because this baby was going to grow and fulfill His purpose and mission. He was coming to seek and save the lost! He was going to live the perfect life that we have failed to live. He was going to take the punishment that we deserve. He was going to be the sacrificial lamb of God, who was going to take away the sin of the world! How could He take it away? By bearing it on Himself on that old rugged cross. He would taste death for us and bear God’s wrath on our behalf. All we like sheep have gone astray, but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all! He died in our place and was buried. But praise God, death and the grave could not hold Him, for in 3 days He rose again. And even now He is seated at the right hand of God and He offers free forgiveness and salvation to anyone who would repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ as their only hope of salvation. And He doesn’t just offer forgiveness. He offers you the greatest gift you could possibly have: Himself. The believer in Jesus Christ can confidently say, “He is mine, and I am His”. He makes us sons and daughters of God. He makes us joint-heirs with Him. There is coming a day that He will dwell with His people forever. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no sickness, sorrow, sin, or death, for He is making a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. This is why He is called Savior. And O what a Savior He is!

Christ

This Savior was the Christ, or anointed One. He is our prophet, priest, and king. This is the Seed of the woman who was going to crush the head of the serpent. This is the lion of the tribe of Judah, whom the ruler’s scepter would never depart from. This is Abraham’s offspring, though whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This is the Son of David, who would rule and reign on the throne of David forever. This Son of David who was going to build a house for the Lord, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. This house wasn’t going to be a building, though. It was going to be a body. A people. A church. This church is going to be made up of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And how was He going to fulfill all of this? He was coming to be the suffering servant of the Lord. He was going to take the punishment for our sins and give us His righteousness! He was coming on a divine rescue mission to save sinners from the domain of darkness and transfer them into the kingdom of light.

Lord

How is it possible for this little baby to do all of that, and much, much more? Because He is God in the flesh, for only God can save us from our sins. Let this truth fill you with awe! The infinite, limitless, creator God of the universe was confined to human flesh. The maker of all things was clothed in the flesh of a helpless infant and laid in a manger. But oh, this was no ordinary infant! He is the Savior of the world! This infant is King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. He has been given the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Do you know this Savior, Christ the Lord? Have you fled to Him in repentance and faith? If you haven’t, why would you reject a Savior like this; a savior that can save you to the uttermost? Without Him, you have no hope, but today is the day of salvation! This day, the gates of mercy are flung open wide. If you hunger and thirst for forgiveness, righteousness, and salvation, you can come to Him and be satisfied! Turn to Him and be saved! You can receive this gift of heaven today! So what should we do now? If you don’t know Him, believe in Him and you will be saved. But if we do know him, O come let us adore Him! Let these truths fill our hearts with wonder and awe at such a mighty and merciful Savior! Let us worship and serve Him with everything we have. Let us leave this place like the shepherds did: glorifying and praising God for all we have seen and heard!