A Child Is Born

INTRODUCTION:

Interest:

This morning I want to turn to the same verses that we will be reading Tuesday night in our Candlelight service, the verses that announce the birth of Jesus and tell us that a child is born.

These are very familiar verses. I am sure there are many of you who read these verses every year in your homes before opening presents. These verses provide the framework and memorized lines for many of our children Christmas programs. These verses are the source for many of our favorite phrases in various well-loved Christmas hymns and showed up throughout the choir songs this morning.

Involvement:

Yet, I wonder how much time we have actually spent contemplating the actual content of these verses carefully. It is likely that for many of us these verses are just part of our Christmas traditions that we enjoy each year rather than part of God’s revelation that we spend time pondering and studying.

Preview:

This morning I want us to pause and allow the wonderful announcement of our Savior’s birth to serve as the text for our sermon. As we do so, we will be confronted with the powerful truth that Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith.

Transition from introduction to body:

Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith. This is a lesson that is essential for each of us. Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith.

Let’s begin by reading this passage together; even though it is well-known, I want to make sure that it is fresh in our minds this morning…<read Luke 2:1–20>.

I want us to first notice this morning….

BODY:

I. The Record of Jesus’ birth

Really, the entire record of Jesus’ birth is found in Luke 2:7 “And she [being Mary] gave birth to her first-born son.” If you think about it, this is a rather incomplete birth announcement. Where are all the vital statistics? How long was the baby? How much did he weigh? For that matter, how long was her labor? Where are the details we are interested in for births today?

We’re told the background that led to a child of a couple living in Nazareth being born in Bethlehem. Of course, from the text that Pastor Aaron looked at last week, we also know that this baby was not really Joseph’s biological child; rather He had been miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin, Mary. Really, though, the record of Jesus’ birth is given in a very minimalistic fashion.

Transition:

The record of Jesus’ birth. The record of Jesus’ birth is brief. But that seems to be because Luke is rushing on to tell us about…

II. The Announcement of Jesus’ birth

When we come to verse 8, the scene suddenly shifts to the announcement of Jesus’ birth by the angel. There was no FaceBook post. There were no tweets going out that the child was born. Nothing on Instagram. Rather, there was an announcement like no other birth in the history of the world.

Transition:

I want us quickly notice two things about this announcement. First of all,…

A. Jesus’ birth announcement was unexpected

The first thing that strikes in Luke 2:8 is the introduction of the recipients of the birth announcements—the shepherds, “some shepherds staying out in the fields.” Think about it…these were men who didn’t even know who Mary was. They certainly wouldn’t naturally care that some young girl from Nazareth had just given birth. What was that to them?

Yet, we are carefully told that the announcement was made to shepherds who were out in the fields keeping watch over their sheep by night. The announcement came to men to were hired to stay up all night watching over the sheep to make sure that they weren’t attacked by a wild animal. Since they were rather close to Jerusalem, it is likely that these particular sheep that the shepherds were watching were destined to be temple sacrifices. So it is possible that the sheep were somewhat special…but the men were not and the sheep are clearly is not the point of the passage here. To be a shepherd was low-end, humble work, frequently filled by outcasts. In addition, who do you think pulled the night-shift within the ranks of shepherds? I doubt it was the foreman or the guys with the most seniority. Even within the ranks of these humble shepherds there would have been a hierarchy. The more senior guys would probably have been in the nearby town sleeping.

Yet these humble, lowly shepherds are the very men who suddenly experienced this stupendous announcement. Without any warning, suddenly an angel was standing before them and the night lit up with the brilliant glory of the Lord—the bright, shining manifestation of God’s presence.

As you might expect, the men responded with terror. The literal translation of the final phrase in verse 9 would be “they feared great fear.” Their surprise encounter with the divine was extremely startling and frightening.

Transition:

Jesus’ birth was unexpected. It went to an unexpected group in a most unexpected manner.

I also want us to also notice that…

B. Jesus birth announcement was momentous

Momentous is a bit of an understatement. The announcement was made by an angel. That’s pretty momentous, right? Look at Luke 2:10. Notice to that immediately after the angel tells the men to not be afraid in he says, “I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” His news is both “good” and “joyful” and this is true for “all people.”

Now, I imagine that at this point that when Luke writes “all people” the original readers would likely have understood “all Israel.” To this point in Luke’s Gospel, the nation of Israel has been who has been meant whenever Luke has said “people” because up to this point he has been focusing on the national expectations of Israel…the people of Israel were waiting for the promised Messiah to come. It is later in Luke and then especially in Acts, Luke’s 2nd volume of the 2-volume set Luke-Acts that he wrote, that Luke expands the idea of Jesus’ coming to include the Gentiles as well as the Jews. As the angel spoke this message to these shepherds, they would have understood that everyone within the nation was included in this good and joyful news. It wasn’t just for priests. It wasn’t just for Pharisees or Sadducees. It was for “all people”…including people as humble as themselves.

So what was the message that was such “good news”…literally, the word that becomes the word for “gospel”? The “good news” is that a Savior was born. In fact, Luke immediately qualifies this Savior with two specific words written in a very unique manner. A Savior “who is Christ Lord.” There actually isn’t the word “the” in the original language such as we have translated in our English versions. That means that we should understand that these words are further describing “Savior” through the use of two titles, “Christ” and “Lord.” This baby who was born was destined to be both the Christ—the Promised Messiah who would deliver Israel from all her enemies—and the Lord—the God of Israel, their sovereign King. Of course, the full meaning of these titles would have to wait for the resurrection years later, but they are given here in the birth announcement.

The angel finished his announcement with one final point. He gave the shepherds a sign which would verify that his announcement was true—they could find this baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Now…it is possible that there might have been more than one baby wrapped in cloths that night in Bethlehem, but surely there was only one “lying in a manger.” That was not the place one would normally look for a newborn baby…only extraordinary circumstances could lead to such an occurrence.

Transition:

Jesus’ birth announcement was momentous. It was made to the lowest, most humble of society. But the angel said Jesus’ coming was for “all people”; that includes you and I. On the night that a Savior, who is Christ and Lord was born, a momentous announcement was made that affects us.

The announcement of Jesus’ birth was both unexpected and momentous. That is because…remember…Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith. Now let’s consider…

III. The Responses to Jesus’ birth

Jesus’ birth was recorded and it was announced. What follows in the rest of our verses this morning is various responses. I want us to notice three of them because each of them shows a demand that is placed upon us by Jesus’ birth.

Transition:

First of all, we can see in our verses that…

A. Jesus’ birth demands praise

Look at Luke 2:13. Suddenly the lone angel is joined by a “multitude of the heavenly host.” Literally, the one angel was joined by a great number of heaven’s army…many other angels. Their primary action as they arrived on the scene was to praise God. You cannot help but fell the joy which surely radiated from these heavenly beings as they cried out “Glory to God in the highest.”

The idea of highest is simply that God is in heaven…as distinct from earth which is the domain of men. God is in heaven and with the birth of Jesus, heaven itself was erupting into praise…ascribing glory to God for the amazing fact that this Child who had been promised for centuries, this Child was miraculously conceived as was discussed last week, this Child who is actually the Creator Himself, this Child had entered creation in the most miraculous way. God had become the God-man—the infant, Jesus—fully God and fully man. The infinite gulf that separates the holy, pure, unchangeable God from His sin-tainted creation had been crossed! God had bridged that gap! The God-man had been born! Heaven rejoiced in praise to God! All glory was proclaimed to His name.

Application

Folks, we need to take a lesson from these angels. As we celebrate Christmas, we need to realize that we are celebrating the wonder of God entering creation through the birth of Jesus. This truth should fill us with joy immeasurable. We should praise God with our full being as we understand what He did. We should indeed love to sing the Christmas hymns, but not because they give us a warm, fuzzy feeling about this special time of year with friends and family. We should love to sing the wondrous truth that our God entered creation as the baby Jesus, bridging the infinite gulf between God and creation.

Transition:

Jesus’ birth demands praise as an appropriate response. That is the first demand that comes through these verses.

Secondly,…

B. Jesus’ birth demands faith

If you have ever happened to compare the various English translations, you may have noticed that there is some significant variation in the final phrase of Luke 2:14. The NASB version, as you can see above me, has “and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” This is quite different the well known KJV, “and on earth peace, good will toward men.” That is because there is a minor textual issue with the final word of this verse in the various Greek manuscripts. I think that the NIV captures the translation about as good as possible when it says, “and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

The point that the angels were making in their song of praise is that the coming of Jesus represented incredible blessings for mankind…Jesus was the means by which men could experience peace with God. Ever since the Garden of Eden when Adam followed Eve who followed the enticement of the Serpent in direct disobedience to God, peace between God and men has been destroyed. Their disobedience was sin…and a holy God cannot allow sinners to exist in His presence…there could be no peace. In fact, as a just God, God must punish sin. As a consequence of Adam’s sin, every one of use are born sinners…born without any peace existing between God and us. And God’s justice has us facing eternal punishment because of our sin.

Yet God, because He is a loving God, also determined in eternity past before He created the world and before Adam and Eve sinned that He would provide means by which some could experience peace with Him. The way that God had determined to provide peace began with this birth. With His birth the possibility that the rupture created by sin could be repaired.

Of course, for this announced peace between God and men to actually be established a couple of additional things are required. First of all, Jesus had to live His whole life without committing a single sin…which the rest of Luke, as well as the other Gospel accounts, confirm is exactly what He did. Jesus grew up and went through His entire life without the peace between Himself and God the Father ever being damaged or corrupted by sin. In fact, the only time that this perfect peace was ever severed between them was when Jesus willingly took upon Himself the Father’s righteous punishment for the sins of mankind—the sins of you and I. On the cross, as the Apostle Paul states it in 2 Cor 5:21, God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” When Jesus accepted the guilt and punishment our sin, at that moment God the Father turned His back on Jesus and poured out His holy wrath on His own Son so that the payment for the sins of others was accomplished.

But there is a second requirement for this announced peace to be established as well. What the angels are proclaiming in our verse when they say “peace to men on whom his favor rests” prompts a question that points to this second requirement: on whom does His favor rest? Who has this peace with God? That is where the good news—the Gospel message that the rest of the NT explains—comes into play. God’s favor rests on those who have placed their faith in Jesus for salvation. That is why He is the Savior; He can save those who believe in Him. In love God sent Jesus. In grace, God offers us the benefit of Jesus. Any who trust on Him…who has faith in Him…can be saved.

We see faith in the lives of the shepherds in that they believed what the angels said and immediately went to Bethlehem in search of this child who had been born.

Application

We too must respond to the announcement of Jesus with faith in order to experience the grace that God offers. We must each believe: (1) that we are sinners with no peace naturally between us and God. (2) We must believe that our sin deserves an eternal punishment before a holy just God and that there is nothing we can do through our own efforts to change that. (3) We must believe that Jesus was born as the sinless Son of God and that He lived a sinless life. (4) We must believe that that in love, He took our punishment upon Himself by dying in our place. And (5) we must have faith that God has graciously accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and forgives us because we faith in Jesus as our personal Savior.

Faith requires action. For the shepherds that action was leaving their sheep on that dark hillside and going to see the child who was announced. For us, faith requires trusting that Jesus died for our sins. Do you have faith in Jesus as your Savior today?

Transition:

Jesus’ birth demands faith as an appropriate response…this is the second demand in these verses. And now thirdly,…

C. Jesus’ birth demands proclamation

The shepherds, when they arrived in Bethlehem Luke 2:17 says that they “made known the statement which they had been told.” In other words they told the story of what had just happened to them on that hillside; how the angel had spoken to them and how the host had joined in praise to God. But look also at Luke 2:18. Luke tells us that “all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.” Apparently the shepherds didn’t speak only to Mary and Joseph; apparently they spoke to many people in the town. The impression is that they made quite a stir with their excitement and their story.

Illustration

Now frankly, I find this easy to believe. I grew up in a very small town. In that town, it didn’t take long for any excitement to make its way into every home. People spoke to each other daily and any local excitement became the main topic.

Well, the appearance of angels and announcement of the birth of the long-promised Savior in their little town would certainly qualify as big news in Bethlehem. I suspect that people were pounding on doors and waking neighbors up to hear the word after these shepherds ran breathlessly into town looking for the baby Jesus. The shepherds immediately proclaimed what they had heard to anyone who would listen.

Application

How about you? Are you breathlessly proclaiming the news of the most exciting thing to ever happen in your life—you salvation from sin? If you know Jesus as Savior, you have experienced the forgiveness of the holy God. You have seen justice poured out upon your sinless substitute. You have felt the love of God calling you His child. You have enjoyed the grace that establishes and maintains a new spiritual life each day since your salvation. You have something at least as exciting as the shepherds to tell…I think the case to be made that it is even more exciting since you have experienced the end result that was announced by the angels to them—peace with God. So…are you proclaiming the excitement of what you have experienced? Are you telling others about Jesus.

Christmas is meant to be the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Are you celebrating by proclaiming His birth and all that flows from it to those around you who did to know about it? Like the shepherds, we need to see that Jesus’ birth demands proclamation.

Transition from body to conclusion:.

Jesus’ birth demands proclamation. Jesus birth demands praise, it demands faith, and it demands proclamation. These are the responses of Jesus’ birth that we see demonstrated in our passage and which we should have as well.

CONCLUSION

Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith. This morning we have looked at the record of Jesus’ birth, the announcement of Jesus’ birth, and the responses to Jesus’ birth. We have looked at these because Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith.

As we celebrate Christmas this week, we need to remember this central truth. If you know Jesus as Savior, this should be a week of great joy as you celebrate what He has done for you. If you do not know Jesus as Savior, I urge you to talk to me today so that you can come to know Him and make this the most exciting week you have ever had. And then all of us need to remember as we go through the week that we are to share our celebration with others—both saved friends and relatives who can rejoice with us and unsaved friends and relatives who need to know what Christmas is really about. Jesus’ birth is the starting point of saving faith