A Christmas Revelation

INTRODUCTION

Worship Defined

“WORSHIP: Our natural response to the revelation of who God is and what he has done.”

Based on that understanding, there’s 2 things briefly that I want us to digest about worship as we see it in scripture….

Worship is a dialogue.

Worship is never one-sided! It’s a conversation between us and God.

PATTERN: God reveals, we respond.

God starts the conversation.

He’s the one who’s called the meeting — not our service time.

God reveals himself to us — through his Word, through song, through sermon, etc. — and we respond by worshiping him.

Isaiah 6 is a great example of this displayed in scripture…

God transports Isaiah in a vision to the throne room of heaven, and what follows is a back and forth of God speaking, and Isaiah responding appropriately.

Here’s the bottom line:

In order for us to understand why we worship, or how we worship, we first have to understand WHO we worship.

Remember, God’s called the meeting. The opening of the conversation comes from him — not us. He reveals himself, and we respond accordingly.

All through Scripture, God reveals aspects of his character for people to come and see who He is.

One of the clearest revelations God ever gave was on the night Jesus was born.

He chose to reveal himself some unlikely people in an unlikely way.

The good news for us is he’s still showing us who he is this morning through Luke’s account of Jesus’s birth.

READ: Luke 2:8-20

PRAY

1. God reveals his GLORY.

Put yourself in the position of the shepherds for just a minute…

Minding their own business, watching sheep in the middle of a field.

It’s dark, there’s no street lights, no noise from vehicles, nothing but a quiet night sky.

All of sudden, the sky burst open in light. The shepherds find themselves face to face with a heavenly messenger.

Just as they’re coming to grips with the scene in front of them, the already lit sky explodes with a MULTITUDE of the heavenly hosts.

There’s angels everywhere!

Through no merit of their own, the shepherds find themselves right in the middle of the glory of heaven.

Imagine what that moment was like…

ILLUSTRATION: Some people when they walk in the room, all eyes go to them.

Celebrity, politician/authority, celebrated leader.

When the president walks in the room, everyone stands and all attention immediately goes to them.

And they’re not even surrounded by light and angels!

When God puts his glory on display, he takes center stage.

All eyes are squarely on him.

Why? Because God’s glory highlights his majesty.

God’s glory highlights his majesty.

Every revelation of God’s glory points beyond itself to His majesty.

God’s glory is the visible expression of who He is

The radiance of His holiness, goodness, power, and beauty.

His majesty is His kingly authority

His supreme rule, sovereignty, and exalted position over all creation.

When God reveals His glory, He is not merely showing us His beauty; He is displaying His right to rule.

The brilliance of His presence reminds us that He is not only wonderful — He is King.

That’s why in Scripture, when men encounter God’s glory, it leads to

Awe

Submission

Humility

Fear

When God himself steps into the room, there’s no question about who’s in control.

Philippians 2:10–11 “10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

I imagine when Christ returns, there will be a moment like the shepherds experienced — where the sky splits open and the fullness of God’s glory is put on display.

There’s no doubt who the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is.

There’s no doubt who has the right to rule.

Luke shows us that the shepherds got just a little foretaste of what all people will experience one day.

When God reveals His glory, He takes center stage.

And when God takes center stage, we don’t just see who He is — we see who we are.

The brightness of His holiness exposes the reality of our sinfulness.

God’s glory highlights our sinfulness.

Angel: “Fear not”.

The shepherds had reason to be afraid because they were sinful people in the presence of a holy God.

Throughout scripture, when people come face to face with God’s glory, they become acutely aware of their sinfulness.

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel sees the glory of God and falls on his face.

Daniel 10, Daniel sees the Lord in a vision and trembles on his knees.

Luke 5, Jesus causes the disciples to catch so many fish their nets are breaking.

Peter’s response? Luke 5:8

Luke 5:8 ESV

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

These are all different people, with different interactions, but the same response.

Every time God’s glory is revealed in scripture, people don’t feel empowered, they feel exposed.

Understand this: God’s glory doesn’t make people sinful — it makes them aware of their sin.

ILLUSTRATION: You can clean for hours and make your house spotless.

Inevitably, what happens? The sun comes through the window just right, and dust you didn’t see before is as plain as day.

The light didn’t cause the dirt, it revealed it.

The light of God’s glory is like taking a spotlight to our lives — it exposes all that hidden dust and dirt.

Watch this: The angel says “Fear not” not because there was nothing to be afraid of.

He says fear not because he’s bringing good news.

God’s glory exposes our sinfulness, but God doesn’t reveal our sin to crush us.

He highlights it because he wants to do something about it.

2. God reveals his GRACE.

Throughout scripture, when God’s glory is revealed, fear is the natural response. What’s surprising isn’t our fear, but God’s response.

Here’s the thing: People respond in fear, and yet God responds with grace.

He doesn’t shy away from their sinfulness, he steps toward them and offers cleansing.

Luke 2 is no different.

The shepherds respond in fear — aware of their unworthiness.

Instead of judgement/condemnation, the angel gives them greatest news they could have received.

God reveals his grace through Jesus.

Look at the language of the angel’s message!

Luke 2:11 ESV

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

The angel doesn’t say, “Unto you is born a teacher.”

He doesn’t say, “Unto you is born a moral example.”

He says, “Unto you is born a Savior.”

That word matters.

A Savior assumes there is something we need to be saved from.

It assumes guilt, but announces good news.

It assumes helplessness, but announces grace.

But this isn’t just any savior, this savior is Christ the Lord.

Wrap your head around this for a minute — the angel isn’t just announcing the arrival of a savior.

He’s announcing that God himself has stepped out of heaven, taken off his royal robes, and clothed himself in the flesh of man.

In other words, the angel is announcing to these shepherds that this is no ordinary baby.

He’s God in flesh, the Word incarnate, Immanuel — God with us.

Like so many places in scripture, there’s more to this announcement than meets the eye.

The angel comes to shepherds…specifically shepherds somewhere around Bethlehem.

As a reminder, God established a system of religious sacrifice in the Old Testament. As a result, every so often, a spotless lamb would be sacrificed for the sins of the people.

Obviously this means they needed a supply of unblemished lambs. So, they developed a bloodline of sheep that had a high genetic likelihood of producing spotless lambs.

Of course, someone had to take care of them. It’s very likely that the shepherds we read about in Luke 2 are caring for the temple flocks.

The flocks were kept outside Bethlehem, and they required 24/7 protection to make sure they remained unblemished.

Here’s where this gets interesting, and why the angel’s message itself tells us who these guys probably are…

When a lamb was born, the temple shepherds had to inspect it for blemishes. If it was spotless, they would wrap the lamb in swaddling clothes, and place it in a feed trough — a manger — to keep it safe.

Watch the angel’s language again… Luke 2:12

Luke 2:12 ESV

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Let’s bring this home…

Here’s a group of men who had cared for lamb after lamb after lamb, all for the same purpose — to be slaughtered for the sins of the people.

And yet, the cycle would start all over again. It was never ending!

But then comes this announcement — a savior’s born. Just like so many lambs they’ve cared for, he’s wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

But this savior is different. He’s not just any lamb, he’s the Lamb of God, sent from heaven to take away the sin of the world one time once and for all.

CONCLUSION

When God reveals a Savior like that, neutrality is no longer an option.

Revelation always demands a response.

God’s revelation demands a response.

Watch the Angels language — Luke 2:12

Luke 2:12 ESV

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Implies expectation that they go!

Watch how the shepherds respond — Luke 2:15–16

Luke 2:15–20 ESV

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.

They were obedient!

Watch how they return — Lk 2:20

Luke 2:20 ESV

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

When we recognize who God is and what he’s done, we can’t help but to worship him.

When we see him as he’s revealed himself to us…

Jehovah Jireh: The Lord who Provides (Gen. 22)

Jehovah Rapha: The Lord who heals (Ex. 15)

Jehovah Shalom: The Lord is Peace (Jg. 6)

Jehovah Shammah: The Lord is There (Ez. 48)

Jehovah Rohi: The Lord my Shepherd (Ps. 23)

El Roi: The God who Sees (Gen. 16)

Jehovah Tsuri: The Lord my Rock (Ps. 18)

Alpha and Omega: Beginning and End

Immanuel: God with Us

Jesus: The Lord Saves

When we see God for who is, how could we do anything but worship him?

One of the clearest ways that God reveals himself to us is through the act of the Lord’s Supper.

For those of us who are believers, as we take the bread and the cup, we remember who Jesus is, and what he’s done for us.

Matthew 26:26 ESV

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:27–28 ESV

27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

God reveals himself, and we respond.

If you’re not a believer this morning, he’s the God who saves.

Gospel presentation.

If you are a believer, our only appropriate response is worship.

Let’s stand as we sing.