The Characters of Christmas - week 4

MAIN IDEA: The birth of Jesus reveals the gospel is for all people and heaven was excited to declare it.

Luke 2:8–20 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was 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 those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Here are three reasons I think angels are important to the story of Christmas.

The presence of angels declares the gospel is for all people.

Luke 1:11-20 - The gospel is for the elderly, for the one who is religiously faithful, for the one who thought life would be different, for the one who has struggled with unanswered prayers.

Luke 1:26-38 - The gospel is for the virgins, for those with unexpected pregnancies, for the young marrieds, for those who need God to turn the impossible into possible.

Matthew 1:20-25 - The gospel is for those who have been impacted by marital unfaithfulness or the appearance of, for those who are considering divorce, for those who scared and uncertain about the future consequences of those things.

Luke 2:8-20 - The gospel is for the poor and disregarded, for those who are hard-working but never get ahead.

Matthew 2:1-12 - The gospel is for those who have achieved a distinguished status in life, for those who have become wealthy, for those who are curious about Jesus but need help finding him.

Matthew 2:13-17 - The gospel is for those who are threatened by Jesus.

The gospel is for everybody who thinks they don’t fall into one those categories.

Hope for Lenawee. If the gospel is for all people, how can we bring the hope of the gospel to Lenawee county and beyond? Would you commit to being here every week for the next 6 weeks as we talk about how to spread the hope of the gospel through Lenawee County?

The presence of angels declares the supernatural sovereignty of God.

Luke 2:1–3 KJV 1900

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

Don’t think for a moment the power and authority of Caesar Augustus is why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Mary didn’t have a scheduled C-section. There was no epidural. Babies were born when God said they were born. If the tax deadline was three months earlier or later, Mary goes into labor somewhere else.

The whole event is planned and orchestrated by the baby inside Mary’s womb that is also in heaven at the same time.

Luke 2:11–14 KJV 1900

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men.

I want you to think about this for a minute. Look at the verses. The Lord Jesus Christ is lying in a manger, but he is in the highest.

Away in the manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head. The stars in the sky look down where he lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. BUT HE NEVER ABANDONED HEAVEN.

Glory to God in the highest!

The creator of all things dressed himself in creation and entered the world without leaving heaven.

He commissioned his angels to declare the good news of great joy for all the people.

The angels were excited to witness the birth of Jesus on earth.

1 Peter 1:10–12 ESV

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Thirty years ago, I had some friends that attended a conservative, evangelical school in the south. During the spring semester, they were placed on probation for “conduct that didn’t accurately represent the school.” As one of my friends told me this story, he said it was suggested they might want to consider transferring to a less conservative school for the fall. I said, “What did you do that was so bad that you basically got kicked out of a Christian college?”

You ready for this? Optical intercourse. They were accused of gazing too deeply into each other’s eyes and were told their conduct didn’t accurately represent the school.

1 Peter 1:12 ~ The angels were deeply gazing into the eyes of the gospel. Their minds were set on seeing the birth of Jesus. They were bubbling over with excitement to share the good news of great joy for all the people.

If the angels set their minds on the birth of Jesus, we should make it top priority also.

If the angels were deeply gazing into the eyes of the gospel, we should do the same thing.

If the angels were excited about sharing the good news of the gospel, we should also get excited about giving the hope of the gospel.

The birth of Jesus declares the gospel is for all people. Will your life declare the same thing?

Present the path to salvation concisely and clearly!!! Do you need to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior today? Do you need to be baptized?