Advent 2: The Incarnation and Peace

The Angels’ Praise at the Birth of Christ

Please remain standing and take up your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 2. I'm going to read verses 1 through 20, but I'm only really focusing on one verse. So Mark, if you want to preach on this on Christmas Eve, there will be plenty left, brother, for you to have on Christmas Eve, if that's where you're going.

Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria, so all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into 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 wife, who was with child.

So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger. Because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you. You shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. This is God's holy and infallible word.

Please pray with me. O Lord, we revel in the occasion of your birth, the incarnation, which ushers in peace. O Lord, I pray that you would give us a greater sense of the peace that has been won by the Prince of Peace.

And in all the ways in which Christ has brought peace to the earth. And O Lord, I pray that your people would have hearts that are filled with joy today as they consider this great work of redemption that has been accomplished for them.

That you have loved them so much that you have saved them and redeemed them and granted them your peace. O Lord, we pray that you be glorified in this hour. And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please be seated. The title of the message today is The Incarnation and Peace. And the verse that I'm going to be jumping off from is verse 14. The only thing I'm really going to be talking about is verse 14 with some reference to the context to bring it into sharper focus.

I've got an interesting thesis statement for you today. Only four words. The praise of angels is the thesis statement of the sermon today. The praise of angels. And if you need an outline, I have two points which is found in our text.

The first one is glory to God. And the second is peace on earth. Glory to God, number one. Peace on earth. The praise of angels. One of the things that I think is a challenge of this season. I am not a topical preacher by nature.

I feel much more comfortable knowing what I have to preach next. And the next verses in the Bible book that I'm studying, that's what I'm preaching next. And that is very helpful to me to know that that's what I have to preach.

I don't get to preach on what I want to. I have to preach the next verses. But today I am delighted to be preaching a somewhat topical message on verse 14 of chapter 2. Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace.

Goodwill toward men. The praise of angels. The incarnation and peace. The first question, children, that we have to ask. Why do the angels sing a hymn of praise? Look at verse 13. Fear has come over them.

The glory of the Lord has shone around. The angel of the Lord standing before them. And then there is a great multitude of angels. And they break out in song. Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.

Why do the angels sing? And they sing in words which are recognizable and intelligible to the shepherds. What is the language of heaven? Is it Aramaic? It's the most common language of the Jews at this time.

Is it Hebrew? They know Hebrew. Most of them knew Greek. Was it Latin? What was the language that the shepherds sang in? I mean, the angels sang in that the shepherds understood. Why did they erupt in praise?

For what God has done in sending forth his son. Born of a virgin. The arrival of the promised prince of peace is an occasion for the angels to break out into worship. Now, to remember who the angels are, they are perfectly acquainted with the character and attributes of God.

They live, worship, and serve in God's presence. We see through glass dimly, darkly. They see face to face. They know really everything there is to know about God, it would seem. They're not constrained by sin.

Do you know that sin gives us a blurry vision of God? Distorts our vision a bit. Their vision of God is clear. Our tendency toward minor and temporal unbelief taints our understanding and our hope and our confidence in God.

It doesn't seem that the angels are tainted by any unbelief. Our sin, our transgressions, our stains on us, their pockmarks on us. And they are barriers to communion with God. And the angels don't have this.

They dwell behind the heavenly veil, and it seems they have some free passage and access between the two realms. Why do the angels sing? It's a big question for us. Why do they sing? Their hymn of praise begins to change the shepherds.

Look at verse 9. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. We've talked about this a number of times. The artist's renderings of little cherubim and harps, little fat babies, does not do justice to what angels are.

They are God's warriors. And that's why when they come into the presence of people, they are struck with fear. And they think maybe this is even God himself that's approached them. They are fierce and they are strong.

And the testimony of scripture is everybody cowers in their presence. These are God's warriors. And the shepherds, we learned about David, they're not people who are soft, timid men. They kill lions and bears to protect their sheep.

These are hard men in the fields. These aren't fearful men. These are men who would stop those who would steal the sheep. They're the men who would get between the sheep and the animals who would be seeking to destroy them.

These are not fearful men, but they come into the presence of the angel and they're struck with fear. The shepherds see those who live in the presence of God, his fierce warriors, and they're greatly afraid.

But the angel comforts them. Look at verse 10. He says, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. My very incomplete vision of God and his dealings with the angels is they are soldiers at attention.

And he says, Go here and do this. And they immediately launch out and go and start doing it. That's how I think about them. But as I pondered and meditated on this text of scripture today, I am struck by how interested the angels are.

The angels are standing in awe. They know who Christ is and they know who God is and they know who the Holy Spirit is. They know who sinful humanity is. They've been present and witnessed all of the failings of humanity.

And one thing I think we should point out, sinful humanity is at war with God. And the angels of God are his warriors. Sinful man is at enmity with God and his ministers, the angels. And here, knowing all that's happened in history, knowing about the fallen angels, I believe the angels of God are in wonder that Christ would come in the flesh.

They are in awe that the second person of the Trinity would come and rescue his creation. The king is coming and he's returning to save his bride and even the very dust of the ground which belongs to him.

So I don't think this is just dutiful service in the life of the angels. The angels now have new cause to worship their God. It's astounding, isn't it? The revelation of Jesus Christ is an occasion for the angels to see more of the glory of God.

One commentator has said that what has happened in the birth of the Redeemer is the outcome and revelation of the glory of God. For in the coming of Christ, the zenith of divine self-revelation has been reached.

Do you believe that? Think about Trinitarian orthodoxy. How sharply does it come into focus with the arrival of the incarnate Christ? We understand a father in relation to his son and a spirit in relation to the father and the son because of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the zenith, the peak of God's self-revelation, even in the sight of the angels.

My commentary has been reached. Therefore, to God belongs the honor and the glory. And to him who is in highest heaven, all praise should be accorded for the event. Incredible things have happened here.

The good tidings, look at our text again, of great joy. Verse 10 is the arrival, the birth of the King of Kings. And we have to maintain the kingship of Christ because what we have here is a cosmic battle unfolding and we have the arrival of the king.

The king is coming to reclaim and restore and renew the entirety of the created order. Not only is he going to rescue sinners from the clutches of sin and death and Satan, he's also going to take hold of his creation and say, this creation is mine.

I'm going to restore it and renew it and I'm going to fill it with glory. These are the most landmark of events in history. The arrival of the King of Kings, the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this king has arrived to conquer his enemies.

Do you realize that we are conquered foes? Isn't it glorious? The enemies of God, the haters of God are conquered by the love of Christ and they are restored to him, not as merely getting out of death and prison as as foreign combatants, but they are brought into the family of God.

This conquering king's conquest is so comprehensive that he comes to win the nations as his spoils of war. The king himself has come to win the peace. He comes to reconcile sinful men to God with whom they have waged war after.

And as R .C. Sproul has famously said, sin is cosmic treason. Christ has come to make his enemies his friends. I believe this is why the angels sing. They are in awe of the redeeming love of the father, the son and the spirit.

They are utterly undone. And the announcer shows up to speak to the shepherds and the other angels fly in or however they get there. They fly and show up and they burst out into song. Glory to God in the highest.

The enemies of God are able to be reconciled. And those to whom peace accords are given, they're not merely spared that imprisonment and death. They're made members of God's family and even maybe more perplexing, made to be joint heirs with Christ and his kingdom.

Well, let's consider the first of the two elements. First, the doxology, the glory giving by the angels in the presence of the shepherds. Glory is the Greek word doxa, and it's where we get the word doxology.

We are giving glory to God. And if you open up your bulletins, I want to show you two glory giving sections. The first, it's considered a little less significant in terms of its stature, but it's no less glorious, is the Gloria Patri.

This is giving glory to the father. That's what we do in our liturgy. And after we've had the ministry of word and sacrament and been assured of these promises and made these commitments, we conclude our service with the doxology.

We reflexively give glory to God for what he's done in redemption and that the micro of that has been our own liturgical experience on a given Sunday. It's a big word. It's an important word. And the angels say glory to God.

Glory to God in the highest. And there's an observation I'd like to make about this, that worship begets worship. In verse 14, the angels worship and the shepherds see the worship of the angels. And by the time we go down to the end of our section that I read, it says, then the shepherds return, verse 20, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.

And it was told them worship begets worship. Someone passing by our church building, when our voices are raised, they are confronted with something. They're either going to join the holy chorus or they're going to reject it.

Our worship is spiritual warfare. When we sing praises to our God, the pagans reject it and their judgment is sure. When we together with one voice, we say to God and to one another whose side we are on.

The message of the gospel is, are you going to acknowledge Christ as Savior and Lord? Are they going to accept the terms of peace? And what are the terms of peace? Absolute surrender to Christ. He's Lord and Savior.

He's the king. All authority belongs to him. There is no easy believism. There is no cheap grace. When we come to Christ appropriately, the terms of our peace is absolute surrender. We acknowledge Christ as king.

The reason this worship is warfare. Is the people of God raised that banner of Christ, the king. They blow the trumpet. They march in formation. They declare to everyone who can see them which side they are on.

We're not going to go there, but in Luke 12, Jesus says some paradoxical things about bringing peace. He says he comes to bring a sword. Family allegiances become divided. Some of you were raised in families that weren't serious about the Christian faith.

And you had to make a decision, a commitment. Which side are you on? Think about a great illustration of this in the American Civil War. Ask Mark about all the details. But you're part of the U .S. Army.

Someone like Lee. But you hail from Virginia. You are offered the commission to be the leader of the Union Army. But you get better pay and better benefits. And you get an audience with the president of the United States.

But you have to be willing to attack your hometown. How many families are torn by the war between the states? The question was given, which uniform will you wear? That question is still true for us. Whose side are you on?

Are you on the side of Christ the king? Are you on some other side? And another observation. Is anything more dangerous on the battlefield than timid soldiers? That's terrible for the battlefield. You've got to forget all that could happen to you.

And you have to laser focus beyond the mission. Take that hill. Knock out that bridge. Whatever it is. It seems to me the church is languishing a bit currently. Do we have that kind of single-minded zeal and purpose?

Are we really raising the banner of Christ? Do we blow the trumpet? Do we sound the horn? Do we herald in the streets that Christ is Lord? That first statement of our text today, glory to God in the highest.

He is receiving glory as the one who occupies the space of highest heaven. And the glory that is to be offered to him is of the highest degree. The angels sing because they are in awe of God. They are glorying in what he has done in the incarnation of Christ to win the peace.

Can you imagine being the angels? I don't know how this works. But I imagine the angels being present and watching the fall of man into sin unfold. And maybe some would want to rush down there and even right then have the war with the great serpent.

Can you imagine their horror when they observe the murder of Abel by his own brother Cain? Can you imagine what they know about God and what he intended for man created in his image? And they observe and they see all of these things.

And they've seen all of the failures of humanity throughout all of these years. And then the word comes out that the second person of the Trinity is going to be clothed in flesh. And the angels burst out into song rejoicing in the salvation that will come to man.

And what's never talked about, they are actually being reconciled to the redeemed in Christ too. Because remember, they're God's ministers. The sinful man is at enmity with God and he's got to be at enmity with his warring angels.

Christ has come to win the peace. Now, if the angels who have seen the glory of God since the beginning of their creation, if their response is to be this spectacular and majestic, how much more should our worship be filled with that weightiness?

We are the direct recipients and beneficiaries of this work accomplished by Christ. He's coming to save us. He's coming to defeat the enemy who wants to hurt us. He's the one who's coming to rescue us.

We should be a doxa kind of people where glory is just being emitted from our persons continuously because salvation is found only in Christ the Lord and that salvation has come. It's come in the flesh.

Christ as Creator, Reconciler, and the One Who Makes Peace

Well, the second part of this I'd like us to consider. The worship, do our God for sending his son to give us peace, gives rise to a question. The question is, in what ways does Christ bring peace? The first place I'd like you to turn with me.

We're going to turn to a couple places. These will be very brief, but I would like you to look at this with your own eyes. How does Christ bring peace? The first place I'd like you to turn is the book of Colossians in chapter one.

And I want you to think about this and the scope of the Trinitarian plan of redemption and then the fulfillment and execution of it by Christ and the resulting benefits and fruit as it unfolds. Begin reading in verse 15, one of my most favorite sections of Scripture, Colossians 1 15.

And I want you to think about the angels and the perspective that they have seen these things unfold and how we too should respond to the revelation of the person of Christ. Who is Christ? Look at verse 15.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. The little baby that they've announced is the steward and king of all creation. It's astounding when you think of it. He has the first rank.

Creation is in submission to Christ, the Lord. And here's where it gets really astounding. And it harkens back to John's gospel. Chapter one, verse 16 says, for by him, all things were created late in time.

Appearing in the flesh. Christ is the creator of all of these things. The ancient of days arrives in the womb of the Virgin Mary and is born into the world to bring peace. The king is coming to reclaim his creatures and his creation.

It's very exciting. For by him, referring to Christ, all things were created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him.

I'm going to pause here. We get mocked a lot about our optimism and eschatology and all these things. But I'm here today to tell you this world belongs to Jesus Christ. Longwood, Florida belongs to Jesus Christ.

It's his.

They may not know it.

They may not act like it. But this dirt is his. And all the people and all the bugs, everything that flies around belongs to him. He possesses it. All these things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things. Verse 17. And in him, all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. So it's an amazing thing. He's the firstborn over the creation.

It's his. He's the first rank. He's the creator. And he's also the firstborn over the new creation. However glorious Christ is in all of that creative work, it's amplified and magnified by his restoration of all things.

He's the proprietor, the first rank officer over all things, the created order and in the new creation. That he might, in all things, have the preeminence. Christ has to have the first rank in all things.

So this is who Christ is, according to Paul and Colossians. And this is where the incarnation and the idea of the incarnation in relation to peace comes in. Colossians 119. For it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell.

If there be any fullness. Christ possesses it. Whatever the fullness of the Godhead is, Christ possesses divinity in that way. And he possesses the fullness of humanity. And it is through Christ that he's going to reconcile all things to himself.

He's going to do it by him. Whether things on earth or things in heaven. And children, I want you to look at that last sentence. Very much the heart of our message today, the theme of peace. How does he make this peace?

Having made peace through the blood of his cross. So the king is going to come and he's going to reclaim his creation and the creatures who have fallen. And the way he's going to do that after he fulfills all righteousness.

He's going to win the peace. He's going to stomp on the serpent's head on the cross. That's where it's going to happen. And that's the place. That's the day. That's the occasion. That event is the way that Christ has brought peace to the earth.

Not only the created order of earth, but also apparently the cosmic realm as well. Things on earth. Things on heaven. So there are cataclysmic, spectacular things happening at the incarnation of Christ.

And it's so spectacular that the angels, who I have to think are not easily impressed. They are erupting in worship and giving glory to God for the arrival of Christ in the flesh. I turn on our way back.

Turn to the book of Ephesians really quickly in chapter two. The first way that I want to describe that Christ brings peace is that he himself is our peace. How could we be at enmity with God ultimately if we've been united to Christ?

It's impossible. Things which angels long to look into. One of the many glorious facets of the precious gemstone of our union with Christ is that he is our peace. Ephesians chapter 2 beginning at verse 14.

For we have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We were far off, verse 13 says. The spoils of war for the conquesting king is the nations being brought into the church. He's come to conquer the world in his righteousness and love and grace and bring us in.

Verse 14 says, for he himself is our peace who made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation. He's referring to the circumcision contextually and the uncircumcision, the Jews and the Gentiles.

Because Christ is our peace, he's broken down the walls that divide us. That the sources of enmity and strife have been crushed under the righteous foot of Christ. He's abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

So as to create in himself one new man from the two. Jews and Gentiles couldn't be more sharply at odds. He makes one man the church. One bride out of the Jews and the Gentiles. He makes peace that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross.

Our union with Christ in one another, it's accomplished on the cross. The conquering king wins the victory on the cross and that's the source of our unity. He came and preached peace to you who are far off and to those who were near and through him.

We both have access by one spirit to the father. Now what's really interesting here is the two sides of this. If we cannot be at intimate enmity ultimately with God, if we've been united to Christ, then we also have to see the other side that our union to Christ reveal God's love for us.

So we think about justification, the legal requirements of being right with God and Christ. God in his love for his natural enemies according to the flesh. His love is so overwhelming that he sends Christ to save them because he loves them.

Not because of their merit. Therefore we're united to Christ and therefore since we're united to Christ we cannot be at enmity with God. So it goes back all to the love of God. The second way is Christ gives us peace with God.

Turn quickly to the book of Romans. This is going to be quick. Romans 5. Maybe the biggest way that we think of peace, if we were to take a survey of the Hebraic scriptures, the idea of shalom and even the idea of arene, the Greek word for that in the New Testament.

The epicenter of this would be reconciled to God. That would be the centerpiece of this. Romans 5 says, Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. How do we have access?

We have access through the Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. The idea of peace is truncated in our modern understanding.

It's usually related to inner tranquility or something like that. This peace, this shalom, this arene is a comprehensive wholeness. The entirety of our human existence, we have been made at peace with God.

We have been reconciled to God. Christ himself is our peace. He's the only avenue of our peace, and he has given us and granted us peace with God. He's also, we learn in 2 Corinthians 5, and this is another astounding idea.

He's given us the ministry of reconciliation. We communicate this reconciliation that God is doing in Christ. What a privilege. Why are we so silent about the gospel? We need to go into the streets and say, The king has come, you're conquered, kiss the sun.

This submission, you have to submit entirely, but oh, the glories you will see, the benefits you will enjoy in knowing Christ the Lord. We need to get out in the streets and preach Christ.

To them.

There's a third thing under this idea, answering the question. It's related to that text, I'm not going to go there again in Ephesians 2. Christ has given us peace with our fellow man. Two Christians should not remain at odds with one another.

It should never happen. Never, ever happen. If he has broken down all of the barriers, the middle wall of separation, if we have been in Christ and grafted into his peace, our brother also has been engrafted into Christ, it would seem that that peace would extend to those two parties.

And it's our unwillingness to be at peace with our brethren that keeps us at odds. Christ gives us a peace with our fellow man. And finally, I'm just going to read it myself without having to turn there.

Christ gives us a real peace in our inner person, in our inner man. This idea is abused elsewhere, but we need to have a proper view of it. This is found in Colossians chapter 3. It says, As Christ forgave you, so also you must do.

Got a spirit of bitterness and unforgiveness? How is it possible? You've been forgiven so much. Above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And this is a real, whole, comprehensive peace.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the God, to God the Father, through Him. Everything I am, everything you are now, is shaped by this peace that's been conferred in Christ.

Don't contradict your holy name. Don't contradict that uniform that you wear, that side that you're on. Don't contradict it with your unbelief and your unwillingness to walk and live in this peace. Well, time is short.

I'm going to give you a few words of application. First, are you highly prizing your union with Christ, who is your peace? The angels who have a near-perfect knowledge, they're not omniscient. They are utterly taken and engaged with the worship of God and the consideration of what Christ is doing, coming in the flesh.

How much more so should we be prizing what Christ has done? He is our peace. Brethren, I want to comfort you today. If you're in Christ, you have peace with God. Oh, there's nothing better than that. And that really forms the hub of shalom in Scripture, to be at peace with God.

That's wholeness. That's blessing untold. If you're in Christ, you have peace with God. Worship Him. Bow down and give thanks to Him. Third, in light of this peace, you and I need to be reconciled to our fellow men with whom there has been strife.

If there's been any strife between you and a brother in Christ, you need to go make it right, because Christ is our peace. If you've been united to Christ, and you're at peace with God, if the peace has been won in Christ on the cross with your fellow man, then you ought to be thoroughly enjoying the wholeness of this biblical shalom.

If you're not enjoying it, the deficiency is not in the provision, it's in our appropriation of it. And finally, for the theology geeks, great intro into the Lord's Supper, the fifth application. If you have time today, I'd encourage you to read Leviticus chapter 3 and chapter 7.

There is an offering given in the Old Covenant administration called the peace offering. It's the only one of the Levitical sacrifices in which the offerer receives back some of the sacrifice to eat. Isn't that amazing that the system structure even in the Old Covenant preaches and teaches us about our union with Christ.

You and I are going to have the privilege of coming to the table and partaking of the peace offering that was accepted by God in Christ. Glory. Amen. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the provision of your word.

We thank you for the peace that you have brought in with your incarnation. Oh, Lord, I pray that your people would lay hold of that peace today and that they would even taste it with their lips and enjoy it in their bellies as they come to the table.

We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.