Proper Adoration

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,,g and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,,g and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

With this poetic introduction to his biography of Jesus, John gives us powerful insight into our world and our relationship with God. Clearly, John wants us to picture the Creation story at the beginning of the entire Bible in Genesis, but he takes us back to a point before time, before the story we all know. John spends the first two verses of Jesus’ story picturing a reality which we often skip over when we read the Creation story. This reality is captured in only four words, “In the beginning, God...”

Before the planet earth existed, Christ existed.

And then we get to the part of the Creation story that we know, “God said, “Let there be light, and there was light...” It is here that John shows us a deep truth about God’s story; that John reveals a new, previously unseen layer. John tells us: In Christ was the light. The physical reality of the sun that we take for granted every day, is at its very creation, a representation of Christ. You see—throughout the Bible, physical circumstances carry a double meaning:

Physical realities really are significant. (There could not be a world without light and warmth.)

Physical realities point to eternal realities. (Our cold and dark lives need Christ’s light and warmth.)

And thus, from the very first second to ever tick by, God set in the universe and in his story, the indicators of a savior to come.

Notice how John, once he has been with Jesus—once he has devoted his life to the King of the world—is able to see the Old Testament story in a new light? The Old Testament contains the most relatable story we can ever imagine apart from the hope of Christ. But as a people who now see the baby in a manger, we begin to notice new things about God’s plan to save the world peppered throughout the Old Testament. For milennia, God has continued to place indicators of the savior in his interactions with the world.

Now a new year is starting in just a couple weeks, and I often hear Christians set the New Year’s Resolution to read through the whole bible, cover to cover. Awesome resolution! There are a lot of great reading plans out there to walk you through that! When we dive into Genesis at the beginning of the journey, God is still pointing the way to Jesus!

In and 2, we read about Creation and John has already helped us to see how Creation points to Christ, but it doesn’t take long for humans to turn God’s utopian world into the Hunger Games! From , we see a world not unlike our own. First, Cain murders his own brother out of jealousy; then some guy named Lamech comes along and ups the ante, carrying Cain’s original murder to far more evil depths. Really, the story could be on your news channel tonight and be Netflix’s next True Crime mega-hit next year! The last picture we get of human failure is World War 0— explains, “the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time.” What the Bible describes here is the very worst of our world even today—violence and prejudice and terrorism and gender disparity and tribalism and on and on I could go. Into this world, God reveals even more about salvation, this time by showing us two ways the world will not be saved.

The world will not be saved by:

the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time

Divine power without human action. (Noah and the Flood)

Human power without divine action. (The Tower of Babel)

Both of these possible salvations ultimately leave humans in our same broken state. And so God continues to reveal his ultimate plan for salvation to a very specific group of people—Israel. Earlier, Anna read God’s next revelation about salvation to us from . In this passage, God charts a new course for interacting with humanity. If it will not do to have God executive order evil out of existence nor to have humans muster their best efforts towards “progress,” then, God says, the world will be saved by some new cooperation between God and humanity. God will choose a very specific servant—the nation of Israel—to bless all the world with life and love.

Here in , we get the first glimpse of how salvation WILL work: The world will be saved through the partnership of divine power and human action.

Now this promise to Abraham does not mean that the world was immediately fixed. Again, just look around you. In fact, God’s promise to save the world through Israel couldn’t even save Israel! All throughout the Old Testament, the main way that the Bible talks about Israel’s failure to save the world is in the context of relationship. The Bible says that Israel fails to adore God like he deserves and they place greater value on other things than on their relationship with God. God often says of Israel that they have chosen an affair and abandoned their marriage covenant with God. In response to this affair, God kicked Israel out of the house and left them to their other loves. He sent them into exile.

In this exile is where we get the final indicator about the savior to come. It is in this exile, in the midst of Israel’s deepest pain, that God gives the clearest pictures of how the world will be saved. Isaiah is one of the exile books, and in it we find some of the most powerful images of salvation in the whole Bible.

We read about people walking in darkness seeing a great light; about a child to be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace; about a suffering servant who will be pierced for our transgressions; about a prophet who will come with God’s spirit to preach good news to the poor, to release prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to set captives free. And it is also the book from which Leah read for us earlier this evening of a Savior God defeating Israel’s captor, Babylon, and preparing a way out of exile by doing a new thing. God proclaims in a moment of tremendous clarity,

“But I, yes I, am the one

“But I, yes I, am the one

who takes care of your sins—that’s what I do.

I don’t keep a list of your sins.”

With this statement, in the midst of Israel’s most painful season of their life, God gave them one final indicator of how salvation would unfold:

God claims that he will single-handedly save Israel from her sins.

We’ve been on a journey thus far—we’ve moved through the Old Testament, watching as God has slowly brought into focus the picture of the savior first hinted at in the very act of Creation. For Christians, we can look back at the Old Testament and recognize that in real-life history, God has been sharpening our vision to see better how he meets our world’s needs. Following the story of the Hebrew Bible, we are put behind that giant machine at our eye doctor appointment—the phoropter—and God is carefully testing and correcting our vision so that we understand him better. Our vision is almost ready, but we need one final lens adjustment to see salvation clearly. The moment of clarity comes to us in the form of a story known the world over...

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

THE SHEPHERDS AND THE ANGELS

8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and peace on earth to people he favors!,I,

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

And there we have it, the moment the world has waited for since time began came to pass through two teenagers in the company of some dirty shepherds. Salvation is come; God’s plan revealed in full.

The light that emanates from the face of a child would grow to become the light of sacrificial love in the face of pure evil. Far from the display of divine power in the flood, this divine power would take on the form of a feeble, defenseless babe—of new life rather than destruction. Unlike the totally secular and human power of the proud Babylonians, this man would yield his life fully to God’s will—even to the point of death on a cross. Thinking back to that first promise of salvation made to Abraham, we see in this child the one through whom “all the peoples on earth will be blessed.” Remembering the darkest night of exile; recognizing God’s determination to save us in spite of ourselves; we see the fully divine become fully human to fulfill single-handedly the salvation only possible through the partnership of two different worlds.

Every thread of the story; every hidden truth in Creation; every “God-moment” and every feeling of forsakenness; they all bring us to this manger, where, whether people recognize it or not, the world has changed forever. And then we get a brief note about one faithful person in the story.

“Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.”

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.

This is the attitude of person who realizes the magnitude of the events that have unfolded. If we recall that Israel’s deepest problem in their relationship with God was that she adored other things more than her Savior God, then this teenage girl’s attitude become even more profound. Where Israel followed the cultures surrounding her and sold her heart to wealth, and power, and self-determination, this teenage girl followed God to a trough, under government threat, entirely based on His word. And she cherished the moment.

Tonight, I invite us all, you and me, to be more like Mary. To adore the Christ child more than we adore our gifts. To cherish and hold more dear the savior of the world than the good things in the world. To see past the spectacle and the complex traditions and gaze at Immanuel—God with us.

I want to speak to our young people for a second: Guard your hearts tomorrow. I know the excitement of unwrapping new gifts on Christmas morning and giving each its due time for enjoyment; I know that nagging desire to duck away from the family dinner to return to our new gadgets and products; I know the temptation toward eye rolls when Mom and Dad want to talk about Jesus. You will be tempted to adore the gifts you receive in this world, but these gifts are really only stealing the adoration due to Christ.

And we can do that because God really is with us now. Somewhat mysteriously, Christ is in each of us. Christ has arrived not just once in a manger, but continues to arrive anew in the hearts of all who believe daily. In ways we cannot explain, Christ in us changes our lives! He doesn’t just give us warm fuzzy feelings; he doesn’t promise us great prosperity; he doesn’t bless our plans for success; he simply promises himself. And if are anything like Mary, that will be all we want.

This is a family service, so I want to speak a brief word of encouragement to our parents:

Now to parents—I want to encourage you. God has given you spiritual authority in your homes; you have the power by the schedule you keep, the words you speak, and the joy you share to train your kids’ to adore the right things. Our culture tells you that your job is to make sure your kids adore Christmas—that Santa brings them the right gifts; that you don’t start any fights; that you not get too awkward. But God invites you to help them adore Christ—to share His story about their salvation. Pray for your family that Christmas would never be more important than Christ.

God has given you spiritual authority in your homes; you have the spiritual power by Christ in you to raise up your kids to adore the right person and not the wrong things—by the schedule you keep, the words you speak, and the joy you share. Our culture tells you that your job is to make sure your kids adore Christmas—that Santa brings them the right gifts; that you don’t start any fights; that you not get too awkward. But God invites you to help them adore Christ—to share His story about their salvation. Pray for your family that Christmas, a single moment in time, would never be more important than Christ with us.

We want to help you make Christ more important than Christmas tomorrow. As you leave tonight, you will receive a Christmas day family liturgy that allows you as parents to put Christmas in the right perspective. This liturgy from the Common Rule leads your family through the Christmas story, training your kids to look beyond the false glitz and glam of China-manufactured toys to be amazed and enraptured with wonder that God would come to Earth. It is our prayer here at Church of the Good Shepherd that every family would join with Mary and cherish Christ, holding him dear and deep within yourselves.

amazed and enraptured with the wonder of God coming to Earth, not with the false glitz and glam of China-manufactured toys