(Luke 2:11) Christmas: A Demonstration of God's Love
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
What do you do at Christmas?
Many of our traditions include
Christmas lights
Decorating a tree
Hot Chocolate
Gift exchanges.
Candlelight Services
For example … we have a candelight service planned for December 23rd.
Often it will include a certain meal or side dish.
Like a ham, tea ring, egg nog.
It might include watching certain movies.
I know for us we traditionally have watched White Christmas on Christmas Eve.
And that is what we do for Christmas.
And
For many, to ask what you do for Christmas is the same as asking what Christmas is all about.
That is the doing, is the meaning of Christmas.
- And that is it.
- There is no greater meaning, than having a festive time with famiy and friends.
Yet, for the Christian … the true meaning of Christmas is not in all the festive doing,
but in the remembering.
It is remembering the good news - that is the Good news of the Birth of Christ.
Many people enjoy Luke’s account of the birth, and if if you would turn to Luke this morning as we prepare our hearts for the true meaning of Christmas.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
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.
So far,
this Christmas season we have talked about hope, peace, and joy.
And the celebration of Christmas should certainly inlcude hope, peace, and joy.
That is the language of Luke, Matthew, Isaiah, and many of the books of the Bible.
And yet, may I add this morning LOVE.
Christmas is a celebration of God’s great love.
Christmas is a celebration of God’s great love.
No matter what part of the Birth you consider … you have to conclude it is a demonstration of God’s great love.
You ask,
How does Christmas show God’s great love for us?
How does Christmas show God’s great love for us?
To answer that question, I wrote a simple sentence that personalizes what Luke 2:11 teaches us this morning?
“For you the Son was sent according to His promises to save you and bring you the blessings of the kingdom.”
This morning, I will answer that simple question - How does Christmas show God’s great love for us? - with this simple paraphrase of Luke 2:11.
To start with … the Birth of Jesus was …
(1) For You.
(1) For You.
At Christmas,
we spend a lot of time talking about the Nativity scene.
Why was it in Bethlehehm?
Who are the wiseman?
Why is the baby in the Manager?
We spend time amazed at who Jesus is.
God in the flesh.
Prince of Peace.
The Messiah.
But in all the study and in all the questions and in all the amazement we forget something really important.
Jesus, the son of God, left the throne of God, to be born in a humble manager, FOR ME!
God did it for you.
God didn’t do it for himself.
God did for you.
Look down at your bibles, Luke 2:11, and read what it says.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Admitedly “For unto you” means the world.
It is a plural pronoun.
And It is roughly equivalent to the concept of John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Same thing … “For unto you is born this day”
Everyone of us belongs in this world.
We are apart of the world.
Which means, yes, God did it for the world … but not some abstract world.
But for me and for you.
If you are apart of the world … than Christmas was for you.
ILLUSTRATION:
Generally … if you do something for someone … that is an act of love.
When I come home, and my wife has had a hard day, and so I do the dishes … I do it for her.
I don’t do the dishes because it is easy or fun … I do it because I love her.
We all understand … acts of kindness are acts of love.
In the same way,
Jesus was born for you.
It is one of the ways we know that God loves us.
I want you to remember, in the midst of all the celebration … that all of the celebration of Christmas is because God loves you.
But consider, what comes next?
“For you the Son was sent”
Think about the signifigance of that ....
(2) The Son Was Sent.
(2) The Son Was Sent.
How valuable is a child?
Sometimes we worry about promotions, retirement, buying house, or the next vacation.
But let something happen to one of my kids.
And all those worries go away.
Suddenly … I come really focused.
My whole world stops.
In fact, we have term for this … Mamma bear.
The sweetest ladies in the world become raging bears after the cubs … if you mess their kids.
Ask any principal who has had to sit across from an angry parent.
Why is that?
- Because there is nothing more valuable in this world besides your child.
- It is the most precious possesion we have.
But the Bible records an incredible love …
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Who is born?
What child is this?
This is no less than the son of God.
All the diffirent titles and Scripture references that Luke uses in Luke 2
connect this idea from the Old Testament.
But to make it easy for us this morning …
Luke makes this explicitabely obvious in Luke 3.
When describing Jesus Baptism, Luke shows Christ as the very son of God.
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
It is just like John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Now think about this in terms of love.
God sent his Son to us.
Our greatest gift on Christmas … is that God sent his son to us.
We joke about Mom’s being Mama bear, but do you think God is any diffirent.
God has sent his greatest treasure, His son, to be born in the flesh … for us.
That speaks of incredible love.
You should know that God loves you because he sent his son.
Not only does God show his love to us by sending his son,
but by keeping his promises.
One of the greatest acts of love you can ever give … is keeping your promises.
If you truly care about someone … you keep your promises.
Keeping your promises shows commitment and therefore love.
ILLUSTRATION:
When I pastored a church, I worked really hard to keep my Saturdays free.
- My wife could count on Dad being there on Saturday morning 95% of the time.
- The rest of the week was fair game … but as much as humanly possible Saturday are fair game.
Why?
Because promises and commitments showed I love them.
In the Same way,
one of the greatest ways we know God loves us … is he keeps his promises.
Continuing with the paraphrase …
For you, the son was sent,
(3) According to His Promises.
(3) According to His Promises.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The words,
Luke 2:11 (ESV)
in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
should perk your ears.
Why does city of David matter?
Because Micah 5:2 promises the Savior will born in King David’s hometown.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Christ and Savior are references to God’s promises to send a conquering hero.
Perhaps the very first promise of this is Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
And this promise is found throughout the Scriptures … the promise of a coming conquering hero.
Now think about that.
Luke is telling us … that God kept his promises.
That God so loved the world … that he kept his promises.
You know God loves you because God kept his promises to you.
Fourthly, you know God loves you because he saves you.
“For you the Son was sent according to His promises to save you and bring you the blessings of the kingdom.”
(4) To Save You.
(4) To Save You.
Luke 2:11 (ESV)
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior
What does it mean … a savior?
Christians know Christmas is a demonstration of God’s love because … we know we are despartely in need of a savior.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
We as Christians know that when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden,
each of one us were cast into sin.
Everyone of us have commited evil and wickedness before God.
We stand guilty before God. We are all sinners in the hands of an angry God.
Everyone of us faces a struggle with sickness, disease, and ultimately death.
COVID-19 has perhaps reminded us just how close death really is … but every cemetary long before COVID beared this witness … We all will one day face death.
And thus we know we need a savior - someone who will help us find victory over our sin and over death.
And that what Luke 2:11 is teaching us.
God so loved the world he sent his son to be the savior of the world.
Again, John 3:16 tells us -
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
We know God loves us because he sent his son as the savior who will save us from sin and death.
And finally, I can know that God loves because he promises to bring the kingdom.
“For you the Son was sent according to His promises to save you and bring you the blessings of the kingdom.”
(5) And Bring You the Blessings of the Kingdom.
(5) And Bring You the Blessings of the Kingdom.
When you hear the words -
Savior, Christ, and Lord … those all terms to describe the coming king and coming kingdom.
Christ in particular is the greek word for the Messiah of the Old Testament … the coming King who would be the savior of the world.
One of the my favorite descriptions of the Kingdom comes from Rev 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
J.I. Packer calls this kingdom “the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21)”
(He will Reign Forever, Vlach, pg 345)
The Kingdom will be the greatest event in human history.
Perhaps even greater then the cross
Because the cross was a means to an end.
To save us from sin and death,
and to restore us to walking with God … just like Adam and Eve did in the garden.
How do I know God loves me?
Because God sent the savior who will bring the greatest blessings I will ever receive in my life.
Litterally … this child is greatest gift anyone of us could ever receive.
THE BLESSINGS OF THE KINGDOM,
CONCLUSION:
So you asked, how can I know that Christmas is a demonstration of God’s great love.
“For you the Son was sent according to His promises to save you and bring you the blessings of the kingdom.”
Luke 2:11 should lead us to:
Celebrate Christmas as a celebration of God’s great love for me.
CANDLE:
Not as work, or a special act of Grace, I don’t earn favor with God
But as a visual reminder, a symbol, a teaching tool … let’s remember what we have talked about the last feew weeks.
In the last few weeks we have celebrated: Hope, Peace, and Joy.
============================================================================
<P2 Peace>
<P1 Hope> <Christ F> <P3 Joy>
<P4 Love>
============================================================================
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas … may we not get disctracted by all the doing,
but instead celebrate God’s love for us at Christmas.
When you do your Christmas traditions, and you visit friends and family … may it foremost be a reminder of the hope, peace, joy, and love that God displays in the birth of Jesus.