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Introduction
No time of the year are we reminded of this truth more than the time in which we are in now.
The world becomes a beautifully decorated Hallmark Card as trees are put up, decorations are brought out of storage, and we go through the hustle and bustle of celebrating the joys of Christmas.
Some stores have been piping in Christmas music now for 2 months as they try to drive sales and move merchandise to promote the most wonderful time of the year.
The world becomes home to festive parties, gifts being exchanged, and lots of goodies being baked.
All these things happen because traditionally we celebrate this time of the year as Christmas, the time when the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
Over the next few weeks, I want to invite you to examine with me exactly what it means to us that the Word did become flesh and made His dwelling among us.
The Word is not just a word.
It is about God revealing something about Himself through His spoken word and perfectly personified in His Son Jesus.
As the Word of God, Christ being God, came to this world to reveal God to us.
As the Word of God, Christ with God from the beginning and became flesh.
As the Word of God, Christ was the Creator of all things.
The angels knew this and realized what was happening on that first Christmas day.
That is why they were sent to reveal the Lord’s coming.
Our text today shows us what they sang in celebration of this incredible event.
As we take off on this journey, let’s look at this verse a bit more and see what gave them this jubilation when the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
A Familiar Statement
If you have ever celebrated Christmas in any way you have heard or read this statement multiple times.
We have it on the cards we give and receive.
We hear it on the songs that have been sung.
We even hear it proclaimed in “ A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
Has it become too familiar that we have lost what it really means?
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We learn in the preceding verse that the announcement was from a multitude of angels.
The multitude’s first word was Glory.
In Scripture, Glory usually has two meanings.
One meaning is that Glory is an attribute or general characteristic of God.
Another meaning refers to a particular point in time when God manifested His Presence.
Both meaning point to His majesty, His splendor and His beauty.
So when the angels said Glory to God, they were announcing the majesty, the splendor and the beauty of God was manifesting His presence!
It was both an announcement and a pronouncement.
One is a public or formal notice that something has happened.
The other is a formal authoritative statement.
These angels are announcing the Glory of God and at the same time pronouncing what God has done with the birth of Jesus.
They are embracing the holiness of God by saying to Glory to God. remind us that we just cannot match up with the glory of God.
Romans
The angels are saying to us what the scriptures also give to us!
refers to blessing His Glorious Name.
describes Him as the Glorious Father.
calls Him the King of Glory.
, tell us that God’s glory is exalted above the heavens and earth.
shows us that the glory of God appeared to the Patriarchs.
We see from , and that even creation proclaims the glory of God.
There are many other instances of scripture portraying the glory of God.
The statement from the angels about the glory of God is consistent with what scripture tells us.
This is a wonderful example that reminds us that all messengers of God will never contradict scripture, and scripture will never contradict true messengers of God.
However, this multitude of angels did not just say glory to God, they said glory to God in the highest.
This had to be a fabulous song!
A Fabulous Song
This multitude of angels made the announcement and pronouncement.
They had been given the opportunity to share the highest of all announcements and pronouncements.
We learn from that one of the functions of the angels was to glorify God.
On that Christmas night, one angel had given the good news of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.
Then, according to :
They were singing about something that could make mankind could receive.
They were singing about Jesus, the Son of God, being born in a manger.
Not just a baby born into the world, but a baby that would be the salvation for the world.
They gave God the glory and then proclaimed it as the highest possible way they could.
Glory to God in the Highest!
They were singing about something that could make mankind could receive.
They were singing about Jesus, the Son of God, being born in a manger.
Not just a baby born into the world, but a baby that would be the salvation for the world.
They gave God the glory and then proclaimed it as the highest possible way they could.
Glory to God in the Highest!
We have just just mentioned that even the creation gives praise to God.
God is glorified in the beautiful sunrises and sunsets we have seen this week.
God is glorified through every bird that sings.
God is glorified by the creatures of the sea and every animal that roams the earth.
God is glorified even by the stars in the sky and all of the marvels of the universe.
Yet in the incredible beauty of all His creation, God chose to make His salvation known through the Word that became flesh.
We have just just mentioned that even the creation gives praise to God.
God is glorified in the beautiful sunrises and sunsets we have seen this week.
God is glorified through every bird that sings.
God is glorified by the creatures of the sea and every animal that roams the earth.
God is glorified even by the stars in the sky and all of the marvels of the universe.
Yet in the incredible beauty of all His creation, God chose to make His salvation known through the Word that became flesh.
These angels knew that while creation could praise and glorify God, it was not the full manifestation of the created order.
God has something higher and greater.
Creation giving praise and glory to God is beautiful, but it was not as high as what God did in salvation.
Salvation, mankind being made right with God, is the absolute highest degree of what God has done.
Salvation glorifies God.
It provides for His most intelligent and amazing creation, the opportunity to be aligned with Himself.
Glory to God in the Highest!
What a fabulous song that must have been these angels sang!
I believe these angels had song Glory to God since the foundation of the world.
But this was the first time that the angels sang “Glory to God in the Highest.”
God did not change His position or His status.
God was already getting all the glory.
says:
The angels were saying, “nothing can stand in the way of seeing just how incredible God is, and we are telling you about the greatest thing He has ever done!”
The angels didn’t need salvation.
They were designed to praise God and give Him glory.
The angels were excited because the ones that needed salvation were given an opportunity to receive it through the birth of this child.
This caused them to celebrate so they sang out, “Glory to God in the highest.”
Matthew Henry wrote, “Other works of God are for His glory, but the redemption of the world is His glory in the Highest.”
The angels knew that!
Then they explained why they were giving glory to God in the highest.
They sang out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men whom His favor rests.”
A Final Solution
They get specific in their pronouncement.
The angels proclaim the final solution.
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