God’s Christmas Accomplishment – Salvation for All who Believe

God’s Christmas Accomplishment – Salvation for All who Believe Psalm 100 (NIV84) A psalm. For giving thanks. 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Isaiah 9:6–7 (NIV84) 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Romans 8:28–30 (NIV84) 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. Friends, today we celebrate the first Sunday after Christmas 2019. What is the message that you would like to hear today? Maybe more important: what is the message that we should listen to today? Traditionally we gather and say: “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth!” For it is a time when the people of God, “the sheep of His pasture,” assemble to rejoice in His presence and enter His courts with praise because of the great things He has done. And there is always an outreach element implied in this action. We acknowledge as believers; we are priests; we sit here, on behalf of the whole world. No one is to be excluded from our worship because no one is excluded from the heart of God in Christ. Because just like He chose us “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,” He appointed us intercessors on their behalf; that is, He made us “priests to our God” as (Revelation 5:9-10) reminds us. And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” And the call to God’s worship is universal throughout space, its basis is unlimited throughout time, for our prayer is founded on the mercy and truth of God. “For the Lord is gracious,” we say, “His mercy is everlasting, and His truth stands fast to all generations.” To “enter His gates with confession” is always timely, but it is never time-bound. To come “into His courts with hymns” is to step into the realm of eternal mercy and eternal truth. Friends on this first Sunday after Christmas 2019 you and I know that we are welcome here because in Jesus God has ransomed people from every tribe, language, people, and nation. God’s message of salvation and eternal life is not limited to a specific culture, race, or country. Anyone who comes to God in repentance and faith is accepted by him and will be part of his kingdom. Christianity is the only religion in the world that can genuinely be described as an equal-opportunity faith. We are all sinners in need of salvation. We are here because we believe that Jesus came to abolish the barriers that made our salvation impossible. God in His great mercy made that possible. As we worship, this mercy and truth of God are matters of our knowledge. “Know that the Lord Himself is our God,” we say. According to Jeremiah 31:34 and Hebrews 8:11-12, near the texts cited above, this knowledge of God concerns to the covenant itself: “All shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.” Revelation does not give us only knowledge about God, but the personal knowledge of God. This knowledge of God is that to which we give voice when we “come into His presence with exultation.” Friends, in Romans 8:28-30 Paul reminds us that everything that happens in this life is directed toward a goal. What happens may not itself be “good,” but God will make it work to ultimate good, to meet His ultimate purpose for life because God has a plan. In Ephesians 1:4 (NIV84) Paul explained that goal as “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.” The KJV version of Romans 8:28 reads, “All things work together for good to them that love God …” The wording is smooth and familiar but, unfortunately, can lead to a misunderstanding of Paul’s point. God works all things for good, not “all things work out.” Suffering will still happen and will always bring pain, loss, and sorrow. Sin will again occur and sin will bring shame, disgrace, embarrassment, dishonour, humiliation. However, Paul argues that under God’s control, the eventual outcome will be for our good. God works behind the scenes, ensuring that even in the middle of sins committed, slipups, mistakes and tragedies, good will eventually result for those who love Him. At times this might happen quickly, often enough to help us trust the principle. But there will also be events whose results for good we will not know until we pass on to eternity. Paul knew this from his own experience: “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12 NIV); “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NIV). So, God works in all things—not just isolated incidents—for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good; evil is widespread in our fallen world. But God can turn it around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy, but to fulfil His purpose. Note also that this promise can be claimed only by those who love God and are “called according to His purpose.” Those who are called are those the Holy Spirit convinces and enables to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective on life. They trust in God, not life’s treasures; they look to their security in heaven, not on earth; they learn to accept, not resent, pain and persecution, because God is with them. “The authority of this poor child will grow” (Isaiah 9:7). It will encompass all the earth, and knowingly or unknowingly, all human generations until the end of the ages will have to serve it. It will be an authority over the hearts of people, but thrones and great kingdoms will also grow strong or fall apart with this power. The mysterious, invisible authority of the divine child over human hearts is more solidly grounded than the visible and glorious power of earthly rulers. Ultimately all authority on earth must serve only the authority of Jesus Christ over humankind. Friends, with the birth of Jesus, the great kingdom of peace has begun. Is it not a miracle that where Jesus has become Lord over people, peace reigns? That there is one Christendom on the whole earth, in which there is peace in the midst of the world? Only where Jesus is not allowed to reign—where human stubbornness, defiance, hate, and greediness are permitted to live on unbroken—can there be no peace. Jesus does not want to set up His kingdom of peace by force, but where people willingly submit themselves to Him and let Him rule over them, He will give them His incredible peace. “Authority rests upon his shoulders” (Isaiah 9:6). Authority over the world is supposed to lie on the weak shoulders of this newborn child! One thing we know: these shoulders will come to carry the entire burden of the world. With the cross, all the sin and distress of this world will be loaded on these shoulders. But authority consists in the fact that the bearer does not collapse under the burden but carries it to the end. The authority that lies on the shoulders of the child in the manger consists of the patient bearing of people and their guilt. This bearing, however, begins in the manger; it starts where the eternal word of God assumes and bears human flesh. The authority over all the world has its beginning in the very lowliness and weakness of the child.… He accepts and carries the humble, the lowly, and sinners, but he rejects and brings to nothing the proud, the haughty, and the righteous (Luke 1:51–52). “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6)—how can this be the name of the child? Only because in this child, the everlasting fatherly love of God is revealed, and the child wants nothing other than to bring to earth the love of the Father. So, the Son is one with the Father, and whoever sees the Son sees the Father. This child wants nothing for Himself. He is no genius in the human sense, but an obedient child of His heavenly Father. Born in time, He brings eternity with Him to earth; as Son of God, He brings us all the love of the Father in heaven. Go, seek, and find in the manger the heavenly Father who here has also become your dear Father. “Prince of Peace”—where God comes in love to human beings and unites with them, their peace is made between God and humankind and among people. Are you afraid of God’s wrath? Then accept the child in the manger as the prince of peace and receive in Him the peace of God. Have you fallen into strife and hatred with your sister or brother, husband, wife, father mother, son or daughter? Come and see how God, out of pure love, has become our brother and wants to reconcile us with each other. In the world, power reigns. This child is the Prince of Peace. Where He is, peace reigns. When God’s Son took on flesh, He truly and bodily took on, out of pure grace, our being, our nature, ourselves. This was the eternal counsel of the triune God. Now we are in Him. Where He is, there we are too, in the incarnation, on the cross, and in His resurrection. We belong to Him because we are in Him and He in us. That is why the Scriptures call us the Body of Christ. “Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads” (Isaiah 35:10). Since ancient times, in the Christian church, the sadness of heart, resignation has been considered a mortal sin. “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2), urges the Scripture. For this, our life has been given to us, and for this, it has been sustained for us to this present hour. If the Lord’s presence makes us joyful, then so should serving Him make us happy. Only when one takes no pleasure in God does serving Him seem like a chore and a burden. The joy that no one can take from us belongs not only to those who have died but also those who are still living. In this joy, we are one with them, but never in sadness. How are we supposed to be able to help those who are without joy and courage, if we are not borne by courage and joy? With God, there is joy, and from Him, it comes down and seizes spirit, soul, and body. And where this joy has seized a person, it reaches out around itself, and it pulls others along, it bursts through closed doors. There is a kind of joy that knows nothing at all of the pain, distress, and anxiety of the heart. But it cannot last; it can only numb for a time. The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the distress of the cross; therefore, it is invincible and irrefutable. “The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7). God is zealous. The idea of “gentle Jesus meek and mild” is not wrong, but it is incomplete. He is also “zealous Jesus brave and bold.” And Isaiah is saying that the “this” God intends to accomplish will occur with a “zeal” from the heart of no one less than “the LORD Almighty” or “the Lord of hosts.” His passion is driving history toward the final triumph of grace in the Messianic kingdom. Friends, you and I will not achieve the victory of God in this world. By nature, we don’t trust God that much. We seldom live fully for the sake of God’s glory. But Scripture consistently reminds us that God continues to solve our problem for us because of His loving-kindness of heart, that is not divided. That is the guarantee of our salvation. When we are finally glorifying and enjoying Him wholeheartedly, we will look at one another and say, “We didn’t do this. God did. This is the triumph of His zealous grace.” Now friends, this is not my wisdom. This is Scripture. In New Testament terms, “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” 1 John 5:4 (NIV84) 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. I believe that God can and will bring good out of evil, even out of the worst wickedness. For that purpose, He needs men who make the best use of everything. I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us to resist in all times of distress. But He never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on Him alone. A faith such as this should allay all our fears for the future. I believe that even our mistakes and shortcomings are turned to good account and that it is no harder for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds. I believe that God is no timeless fate, but He waits for and answers sincere prayers and responsible actions. Therefore friends, on this first Sunday after Christmas 2019 you and I are challenged once again to dare to treat God as God. We are called not to respond to life in a way that makes God look helpless and weak and worthless. We are challenged not to live emotionally as if God is not really our Saviour. To do this is to practice what the scholars call practical atheism. If God is God, He is all that finally matters. If we are part of the remnant that look at the Jesus message saying: “I believe,” we will respect God enough to live that way – as people who have faith. Then we will treat God with the respect He deserves from is. How we treat God determines how we experience God. Let’s make sure that we don’t put up walls that God had torn down when Jesus came to earth to be our Immanuel. Amen.