The Other Side of Christmas

Intro

1st Sunday after Christmas

A month of preparation/anticipation

for family gatherings

for gift giving

for our coming Lord Jesus

With all the hype & anticipation… the Day come and gone… What’s next?

What’s on the other side of Christmas?

It’s a lot like a pregnancy

9mo of anticipation

excitement at birth

Then family leaves and the anticipation dissipates, life moves back to normal and you wonder… What’s next?

There is a sense of let down after Christmas

the anticipation for Christmas has gone and now we are left with the question… Who is this baby?

Mary and Joseph were still figuring it out even after the miracle birth

Life went back to normal for them

In our text, they are bringing baby Jesus to the Temple to follow the Laws of Moses.

They were doing the things anyone would do who had their first born child.

So who is this baby?

Transition: Simeon in our text this morning reveals to us what’s on the other side of Christmas and how we should live with who this baby born unto us truly is.

Simeon was an old man who was given a promise by God.

A promise from God that he would not die until he saw salvation.

Simeon, like us, was filled with the Holy Spirit

Simeon lived by faith

that the promise given to him would be fulfilled by God.

Do we (on this side of Christmas) after Christmas Day has past… do we live by faith in what was promised to us in this child and what this child came to do?

Do we depart in peace (like Simeon) when we leave worship on Sunday.

As servants of the Most High God

Serving one another in love, proclaiming the Good News of Great Joy?

Do we live by faith in Who this child is on the other side of Christmas?

You see, the child has come… Jesus is here…

This baby is the Son of God who comes to take away the sins of the world

On the other side of Christmas we rejoice.

We rejoice with Simeon at who this child is.

Simeon holds baby Jesus in his arms and says:

Luke 2:30–31 ESV

for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

At Christmas the angel of the Lord said to the shepherds:

“For unto you is born this day… a saviour… the Christ”

Now… Simeon’s eyes see God’s salvation

God’s plan of Salvation for all people

It’s in a baby!!!

But how could Simeon know this Child was the Son of God… the salvation to the world?

The child was brought to him like any other child was

It was revealed to him by the power of the Holy Spirit

God is working through Simeon in our text

To reveal to us a deeper understanding of this child born in Bethlehem.

On This side of Christmas we too see salvation

By faith, led by the Holy Spirit within us

The Spirit is the one who reveals this salvation to us

The Spirit is working in the hearts of all people to reveal who Christ is

Why do you think so many people come to worship on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Because everyone is searching for hope… for salvation… The Spirit leads people to hear God’s word and reveals to them salvation

God works through us as well

The Holy Spirit not only works inside you for you but for others as well.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Philippians 2:13 NIV

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

To Show Christ

to Show salvation that’s in Jesus to all those around us

Colossians 3:15–17 ESV

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We don’t get to physically see Jesus face to face today, but we do see him now in His body… the Church…

The place where Jesus dwells and pours himself to express his fullness and love.

Transition: There is no let down on this side of Christmas because, like Simeon, we have seen salvation. Jesus has come!

TO SEE JESUS IS TO SEE GOD’S SALVATION!

To see Jesus is to see God’s salvation

To see Jesus is to see God’s light & revelation

Read John 1:1

To See Jesus is to see God & His perfect plan revealed to us

A plan that is a light to the Gentiles

We are Gentiles

This baby reveals that the light of salvation is for all people… all nations

And this brings Glory to the people of Israel because it fulfills the promise made to Abraham

“that all nations would be blessed”

On this side of Christmas there is joy because all the promises of God are given to us

through a baby born in a manger

on this side of Christmas there’s an assurance of our status before God

no longer outsiders but His children

On this side of Christmas we rejoice, with Simeon, in the Good News that brings Great Joy because this child,

This child born unto us is a light & the salvation to all people and the world has not overcome him.

There is no let down after Christmas Day because the anticipation we had now bursts forth in praise and worship for who this child is and what he ultimately did for us on the cross.

Sealing us as forgiven children of God.

Conclusion

We rejoice as servants of the Most High God,

as those who have been called to shine the light of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

By faith we see the Lord’s salvation & live in joyful hope for the Final Day when Jesus returns.

On the other side of Christmas is peace...

peace and joy in the gift given to us.

You have been given an amazing gift this Christmas.

The gift of salvation, given for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins and an eternal life in Christ.

And this gift all started with a tiny baby… lying in a manger… born in Bethlehem…

ALL GLORY TO GOD!

Amen.