Angels from the Realms of Glory

Introduction

The Christmas story is so ingrained in us that we could go nearly recite it if we were asked to. At least we would be able to get all the details and probably close to the order in which they happened. And it can be so familiar that it loses its grip on our hearts. We can become so familiar with it, that we overlook, what seems like, mere details. Yet, one of the greatest events—second only to the death and resurrection of Jesus—does not contain just mere details. No words were wasted when it came to telling of the birth of God the Son. That includes the glory of God that Luke writes about.

The people of Israel longed to see God’s glory again. Only a few shepherds beheld God’s glory as it wrapped around them on the hill. But more astonishingly, they gazed upon that glory as it was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And as we look at this portion of the Advent story, I hope we begin to long to see God’s glory even as Moses longed for it.

Perhaps the best way to do that is to focus on attributes that describe God’s glory.

God’s Glory is Devouring and Dazzling

God’s Glory is Directing and Defending

God’s Glory is Distant

God’s Glory is Delivered

Luke 2:8–14 ESV

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

God’s Glory is Devouring and Dazzling

As we study these attributes, we need to first focus on the fact that God’s glory is a devouring glory and a dazzling glory depending on how you approach it. Do we approach it in faith and faithfulness or not? Look at how the people of Israel saw God’s glory on Mt. Sinai.

Exodus 24:17 ESV

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

For a few days now, the glory of God had been leading the people of Israel through the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. Now it rested on top of Mt. Sinai and it was into this devouring fire of glory that God called Moses to join him for forty days. And it was from this devouring fire of glory that Moses would go in and out whenever he spoke to God. And being in the presence of such dazzling glory, caused his own face to shine.

Exodus 34:29–30 ESV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

Moses who walked in faithfulness, came out with face shining. Yet when Aaron’s sons walked faithlessly, making unauthorized incense at the dedication of the tabernacle in the presence of God’s glory, we read:

Leviticus 10:2–3 ESV

And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace.

God’s glory is at once dazzling and devouring; dazzling to faithful Moses to the point his face shined, but it was devouring to faithless Nadab and Abihu. Sadly, there are many Nadabs and Abihus in churches today, who think they can act faithlessly and not be devoured by God’s glory.

Beloved, we who are nearest to God—by the blood of Jesus—be dazzled by God’s glory and so walk faithfully by working our jobs, serving our loved ones, and seeking the good of our neighbors, showing God as holy that he would be glorified. As Jesus would say:

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

And by walking faithfully, I mean walking by faith—living in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith. What we began in the Spirit by faith, must be completed in the Spirit by faith.

God’s Glory is Directing and Defending

God’s glory is more than devouring or dazzling; it is directing and defending. I put these two together because they are two sides of the same coin when we see God’s pillar of fire and cloud.

It was this pillar that led the people of Israel through the wilderness. As Moses would write at the very end of Exodus:

Exodus 40:36–38 ESV

Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

It was God in his glory that directed Israel in her way. But it also defended Israel. Remember it was God’s glory that stood between the people of Israel and Pharaoh’s army.

Exodus 13:18–19 ESV

But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”

It was Isaiah who told of the pillar of fire and clouds coming again to defend Israel from its enemies.

Isaiah 4:5 ESV

Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy.

As Gary Smith wrote, “God’s glory is imaginatively pictured as a shelter or refuge from the harshness of the weather. These symbols represent any danger that might threaten the people of God. God is there to care for and to protect his people.”

We live in a world which rejects the glory of God. The vast majority refuse to walk in the light of God’s glory. Yet, we are promised, beloved that if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

God’s Glory is Distant

Along with the idea that God’s glory was directing and defending, comes the idea that God’s glory was near. God’s glory dwelt among the people. As we saw, God’s glory was in the tabernacle. It was only when it came out and moved that Israel would follow after it. But something happened. After God’s glory dwelled with Israel for hundreds of years, at first in the tabernacle and then the temple, it left. And so God’s glory is distant. The people of Israel and Judah had rebelled against their God for so long, that he gave them what they wanted: life without him or his glory. No more direction. No more defense. No more dwelling.

Ezekiel 10:18–19 ESV

Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

Many remember that Malachi was the last prophet of God. And so we know God remained silent for four-hundred years. But we often forget that God’s glory left nearly 200 years before then and had not returned. Ezekiel had prophesied that it would return, but it had yet to do so. God, his glory, his word, was so distant to the people of Israel.

The same can be said about today. God, his glory, his word, is so distant from billions around the world. But he has called his church—his body—to represent him to this world and show how glorious he is.

1 Peter 2:9–12 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

We are the ones called to show that God does not have to be as distant as he seems. That we were once in darkness too, but he called us out of the darkness of our sin and moved us into his marvelous, wonderful, amazing—dazzling light! Those who remain in darkness can still experience what we have experienced.

God’s Glory is Delivered

Why can we make that claim? Because God’s glory is not only devouring and dazzling. It is not only directing and defending. It’s not only distant from those who walk in darkness. God’s glory has been delivered.

Luke 2:9 ESV

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

The people of Israel longed to see God’s glory again. Only a few shepherds beheld God’s glory as it wrapped around them on the hill. But more astonishingly, they gazed upon that glory as it was wrapped in swaddling clothes. For hundreds of years, God’s glory was prophesied to return and for hundred’s of years it had not come. Suddenly, on Shepherd’s Hill, an angel appears and the glory of the Lord shone around them.

Often we focus on the angels that appeared on the hill. But the angel is just a servant, a messenger to the shepherds to tell of the good news to all the people. The focus is on the message and the message is glorious because what God was doing was glorious. God send the Savior of the world. He sent the Messiah—the Christ—of Israel. He sent the Lord, very God of very God. And so the angel is joined by his fellow angels to give glory to God.

Luke 2:14 ESV

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

They angels glorified God because they understood how glorious he was and how glorious his plan was to save the world. They delighted in it. John Piper has quoted many times C. S. Lewis’ explanation of what it means to praise and glorify God and I want to pass it along to you.

“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”

And when the shepherds went to see this sight that they angels said, they saw glory wrapped in flesh. I do not mean to say that radiant beams came from his holy face as Silent Night suggests, but rather here was veiled in flesh, the Godhead was seen. And being that it was good news to all the people, the shepherds went away to tell them the good news. And notice how Luke describes how the shepherds went:

Luke 2:20 ESV

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Like the angels, the shepherds delighted in what God had done by sending his glorious Son. If God is glorious and he is working a glorious plan, we cannot help but glorify him.

But there was another man, just a few days later who got to see glory veiled in flesh. His name was Simon, who, when he saw Jesus, picked him up and said,

Luke 2:29–32 ESV

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

God’s glory had been delivered for his people. A light for revelation to the Gentiles who did not even know to expect him and a light for glory to Israel. Just as God had promised; his glory was back. And he was born to die so that he could bring many sons and daughters to glory.

Conclusion

As we finish up this morning, I told you my hope was that you and I would begin to long for God’s glory even as Moses did. To long for God’s glory is to long for Jesus himself.

Hebrews 1:3 ESV

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

And so we see that what is true of God’s glory is true of Jesus. He is devouring. He devours sin and death as we read in 1 Corinthians 15. He is dazzling as John saw in Revelation 1. He directs us as he himself is the way, the truth, and the life. He defends us as he is our Advocate, our Mediator, and our Intercessor. He is distant now, as he sits in heaven at God’s right hand and yet always with us even unto the end of the age. And he is delivered once and will one day come again in all his glory.

Colossians 3:4 ESV

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

But if you do not know Jesus. If all you know are stories about him, but don’t know him as Savior, King of your life, and very God of very God—in other words, if you are trusting in yourself rather than putting your faith in Jesus, you will never know his glory and so you will never appear with him in glory. But we invite you to turn from yourself and your own ways and trust in Jesus.