Kiss the Son
Notes
Transcript
1 Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.
2 Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar,
heav’nly hosts sing, Alleluia!
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Christ, the Savior, is born!
3 Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
radiant beams from thy holy face
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Turmoil of the conflict between the world and God
Culminating in the second coming of Jesus
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
And this morning, we are in better position to truly appreciate the peace of Jesus’ first coming
God could have ordained Jesus just to mess things up; his second coming being his first
Nothing after verse 9 of Psalm 2-
Christmas would then look like this:
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Praise be to God that Verse 9 is not it but it goes on
Warning:
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Then a warm invite
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
God in his kindness has Jesus come twice—the first in amazing peace so that the second time we can be behind him in white and not in front of him in red
It reminds me of Ephesians
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Praise God for the turn arounds in Scripture
All the turmoil we speak about in this conflict against sin is what makes the peace of Christmas so special
Celebrating Christmas just for the sake of being hyped up about a baby is only so exciting
But celebrating Christmas because Jesus came as a baby to offer peace and not war is worthy of eternal song
Psalm 2 correlates
10 and 11 a warning
12 an invite
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Stop being foolish in your rebellion and have some wisdom to pick a different course of action
God does not owe us warnings—he is patient and kind in giving us them
Warning denotes there is a chance to get out of danger
Sign of a cliff ahead is before the cliff not at the bottom after
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Furthers the warning with what the opposite of this rebellion looks like
What: Serve and Rejoice
Serve=worship God
Not self desires (rebellion)
How that looks: Fear and Trembling
One problem here though: Just a warning is not enough to curb our rebellion
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
We need something more....we need a warm invite
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
How are we to kiss someone who is going to:
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Because these are two different events, the Son’s second coming and now his first
The first is when we get to Kiss the Son
Kiss is connected with both Serve (homage) and Rejoice (kiss excessively) above
As one would kiss a sovereign
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
But it also denotes passionately
Laban was saying goodbye to his grandchildren when Jacob and Rachel left
55 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.
Or Joseph when he finally reveals himself to his brothers
15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.
We get to after his first coming willingly kiss the Son
And since we can only do that by his grace we do it in a rejoicing excessive way
What serving the Lord with fear and trembling looks like once we have kissed the Son and taken refuge in him:
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.