Waiting for Christmas (Luke 2:25-38, Jeff Kliewer)

The Big Bang, Moral Relativism, and a Worldview Without God

It all started with the Big Bang.

That's the world view of, if not a majority, probably close to a majority of Americans today. It all started with the Big Bang. Well, if that's true, then there is no morality. All things are subjective.

Whatever you believe to be right is good for you and what someone else believes is good for them. But there's no basis on which anything could be right or wrong, objectively speaking. Truth would just be relative, whatever you wanted it to be.

And if it's true that the Big Bang is just the beginning of all that is, this world is purposeless, meaningless. Nihilism is the way to go because there can't be any meaning unless there's a God that formed it all.

You see, I was at an event last night and I saw somebody wearing a T-shirt. And you've all heard of Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter. This person had a T-shirt that said, No Lives Matter.

And it had some kind of skull kind of thing on there. You know, most people walking around today with a world view that doesn't begin with God, they don't know it, but the consistent view is that no lives matter.

As sad as it was that that man was wearing a No Lives Matter T-shirt, as sad as that was, at least he was being consistent with his atheistic world view, which is the world view I assume he held.

No lives matter.

There is a story that every person believes. Whether they know it or not, they have a world view that's built on a story. The atheistic world view is nihilistic and hopeless, but our story is built on hope.

The True Story of Reality in Christ

Let's turn now to the true story. See the true story develop and really it finds its culmination, the climax of the story in Christmas. In this baby born, Luke Chapter 2, verses 25 to 38 today, the story of reality.

Christianity is more than a religion. There's many religions in the world. Christianity is a world view. It's a story that explains all of the world and the center point of that story is Jesus, the Christ.

The story moves from creation to fall to redemption to restoration. If you open your Bibles to the first part, you'll find Genesis Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Two chapters tell the story of creation. And then the early part of Chapter 3, all the way through near the end of the Bible, tells the story of fall and redemption, the effects of the fall and a coming redemption.

And finally, the last two chapters of the Bible tell this story of restoration, how everything comes back together. So if you look at the Bible as in its parts, you have two chapters, creation. One thousand one hundred and eighty-five chapters of fall and redemption and then two chapters of restoration where you see the restored world, the new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem.

That's the story of the Bible. And to really understand our lives and our place in this world, we need to see the big picture, to see the story of how all things fit together. So we're going to read Luke 2, 25 through 38 and then we'll comment on it in terms of this story that's developing.

Because what you'll see is a very old man.

And a very old woman.

And each of them has an important place in the story. They were waiting for something. The one thing that matters most. What this story is all about. So let's read. Luke 2, 25 and following. If you have the Bible or you can look it up on a device, we're using the ESV, English Standard Version.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him, according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 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. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about it.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed. And a sword will pierce through your own soul also so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin. And then as a widow until she was 84.

She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day and coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption.

Of Jerusalem. Key in on that word waiting. Chapter two, verse 38, she had been waiting. And the point of the text is she's been waiting quite a long time, hasn't she?

How old is she?

Eighty four years old. And majority of those years, she has been a widow and has begun to devote herself to prayer, to worshiping the Lord with fasting. Go back to chapter two, verse 25, and you see that same word.

Waiting. There was a man in Jerusalem. This is Simeon. He's a righteous man. He's devout, but he's waiting for something. What is he waiting for? He is waiting for the consolation of Israel. Now, when you have a word like waiting, it implies that something else is coming that needs to come, that necessarily will come.

Waiting implies an unfolding story. Something has been promised. Something is coming, and they are waiting on this story to unfold. The point of life is found in the story of God. If you live your life just waiting, waiting for the next thing that will bring you fulfillment, maybe it's a TV show that you can't wait for it to start.

Maybe it's a sporting event. Maybe it's something else in your life that you've just been waiting for, and you think when that happens, I'm going to be happy. You are living a man-centered story. Your story revolves around you, your life, and you will never be happy, because man and woman was made for his story.

Think of the word history.

Divide it into its parts. History is his story. It can't revolve around us. There's no fulfillment there. Anna and Simeon were waiting for something. Now, let's look into the text. What were they waiting for?

Simeon, in verse 25, is waiting for the consolation of Israel. And there's a parallel in verse 38, because Anna is waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. The consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem.

Parallel ideas. In the Greek, the word consolation is paraklesis.

Paraklesis.

Some of you who know your scriptures well, you're immediately remembering that when Jesus promised another counselor, he promised another paraclete, another helper, another comforter. A paraklesis, the cognate is parakletos, meaning a legal advocate.

The picture here is in a courtroom, a person is standing guilty. And what's needed is some kind of defense, some kind of paraklesis, some kind of word of encouragement that will turn the tables on this trial, and the guilty person will be exonerated.

Paraklesis, the comfort has the idea of guilt. Hold that in your mind. The next one, the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem. The word for redemption is lutrosis. It means liberation, deliverance, release.

The idea here is that somebody is enslaved, and what's needed is a lutrosis, a redemption, a payment that sets that slave free. So here's the problem. Israel, Jerusalem is held in captivity. How so? There's an empire called Rome that's dominating them.

They were meant to be free, the free people of God, and yet, because of a problem that has come into the story, now they find themselves enslaved and captive and even guilty before God. They need a legal representative to help them get right with God, to remove their guilt.

They need a freedom fighter to come and conquer this Roman empire and set them free. This is the issue for Israel. The story needs a hero, but it's not only about Israel. Look in verse 32. It is about Israel.

It is about Jerusalem, but this hero who comes is also a light for revelation for the Gentiles. And for glory to your people, Israel. It's bigger than Israel alone. The story, the problem is for Gentiles, too.

It's for the whole world. And so here's what I find. Many people that I'll share the gospel with, when I begin to speak about Jesus dying on a cross for their sins and rising from the dead, as beautiful and glorious as that message is, somehow their eyes will glaze over.

It won't even sound relevant. People don't want to hear it these days.

Why is that?

Why have people become hardened to the gospel? It's because they're hearing a story starting with the solution and not understanding the big picture of the story. You see, they don't know the problem in order to know the solution.

They don't know the story. And see, when we hear Simeon was waiting and Anna was waiting, it implies there's something bigger unfolding. It goes back to Genesis 1 and 2 and then chapter 3. Guys, we need to know the story, to understand the story, to see how it unfolds.

The story begins in Genesis 1 and 2 with creation. Chapter 3, verses 1 to 7, there's a fall. And then you have a guilty man and a guilty woman and a serpent crawling around. And you know what happens next?

The man is called to account and he blames the woman. She's called to account and she blames the serpent. But in chapter 3, verse 15, God then speaks to the serpent and he gives the first promise. This is what Anna was waiting for.

This is what Simeon was waiting for. This is what makes sense of the story. God says that a seed of the woman, an offspring from Eve, an offspring of woman, would be at enmity against the seed of the serpent.

That serpent was no ordinary snake. Do you guys know any talking snakes? No. This was the devil taking on the form of a serpent. And there would be strife between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, those who belong to the devil.

Jesus told the Pharisees, you think that Moses is your father? No, your father's the devil. Harsh language. There was a seed of the serpent, those who belonged to him and followed him as their father.

But here's the news. Here's the promise.

We're told in Genesis 3 .15 that the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent's head, but that the serpent would strike the heel of the offspring of the woman. And that verse, Genesis 3 .15, is the first gospel promise.

Don't miss this part of the story. Mankind has fallen into sin and every one of us has sin inside of us. That's the problem. In fact, the penalty of sin is death. We are separated from a holy God. And God has promised that he will send an offspring of the woman.

Now, later on, Isaiah 7 .14, we'll pick up on that theme. A virgin giving birth to a son without the seed of a man, the seed of a woman, an offspring from woman would be the hero.

Of the story.

In Genesis 3 .21, Adam and Eve find themselves naked. They recognize because of their shame now, they recognize that they're naked, so they make a covering for themselves. That's no good. That can't do.

God makes an animal sacrifice in the garden and clothes them with skin. That pictures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who makes a covering for our sin. Adam and Eve have a child, right? And their firstborn is named Cain.

In chapter four, verse one, they're thinking, wow, this is with the help of the spirit, we have a man. Maybe this is the offspring of the woman. Little problem, he kills the second one, Abel. And in chapter four, verse 10, Abel's blood is crying out from the ground to God for justice.

He's been unjustly slaughtered by his own brother. And that blood is crying out from the ground. Cain is not the offspring. And Abel's dead, but there's hope in Seth. And when Seth is born, we learn for the first time now people are calling.

On the name of the Lord.

People begin to pray at the end of Genesis four. And then things look hopeful in chapter five. This line that comes from Seth is following God. But by chapter six, the story takes that turn again. And the sons, even of Seth, are seeing that the daughters of men are beautiful.

And they give themselves in to sexual temptation. And now the thoughts of men are nothing but evil all the time, men and women. There's hardly a righteous person left. In fact, by chapter seven, God destroys the world.

But one offspring.

His name is Noah, is righteous on the earth. And God saves him and his wife and his three sons and their wives. Eight people on an ark and the rest of the world is destroyed. Do you see this is all one story?

And coming off the ark, there's hope of a new world, an offspring from Noah. But right away, the first thing that happens, Noah gets drunk. He gets drunk and his sons have sinful problems, except one, Shem.

And from that line, there's a godly line and there's hope through the Semitic line. And one of the Semites is Terah, and he goes and leaves the idolatrous place in Ur and goes to a place where he could worship the true God.

But he's not the one. He dies. Yet his offspring could be the one. His name is Abraham. And he's going to a promised land. And in chapter 12, verses one to three, he's promised a land. But something bigger than the promised land, he's promised a seed.

That through Abraham's seed, not only his own people, but all the world will be blessed. You see, it's the Genesis 315 promise. The world will be blessed, particularly through Abraham. But it won't be the son of the flesh when he tries to take things into his own hand.

We learn what happens in that in Galatians chapter four, verses 21 to 31. There's there's only bondage there through the slave woman Hagar. And Ishmael is not the offspring. No, the son of promise is Isaac.

And through his seed comes Jacob. Call him Israel and his 12 sons. That come from him, you see, it's all one promise. And then Moses comes. Is he the deliverer? Is he the promised one? No, Deuteronomy 18, 15, one like Moses.

He's a forerunner. He's a picture of the coming savior, the coming deliverer. And then there's that Jesse. Isaiah 11, one, a shoot will come from Jesse. And his son. Although the youngest and not expected is King David, and yet he falls.

And you see the drama of the story, the the hope rising. You're looking for this one to deliver. And yet he falls with Bathsheba. He numbers the the fighting men. And he's not the one to save the world.

And then. Here's the good news of the story.

The Wait Is Over in the Birth of Jesus

The wait is over.

There's an old man in a temple and an old woman. And here comes a little baby carried by this unexpected carpenter, Joseph. And his wife, Mary, this humble couple carrying this baby. And Simeon begins to exalt.

And praise God.

And he says, the wait is over.

Look at chapter two. We're in Luke two, verse twenty nine. Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. According to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation. That you prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, for glory to your people, Israel.

Simeon takes this baby in his arms and he proclaims this is the salvation of the world. Here he is. And Anna, what does she do? She speaks of him. Verse thirty eight. Begins to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel.

See. The first big point that we can't miss. The coming of Jesus, this Christmas story is God's story.

And this baby.

Is the fulfillment of the promise that began way back in the garden in Genesis three, 15. He'll be the one to crush the head of the serpent. Yeah, he'll be struck in the heel. When a nail is driven through his heel into a cross.

And so we learn in chapter two, verse thirty five. A sword is going to pierce Mary's heart. She's going to see this. This offspring of hers, this virgin offspring, will be pinned to a cross with a stake.

Will pierce her heart. What's the purpose of your life? So we see there's a story. I want you to notice something else in the text. Anna and Simeon find the purpose of their lives in him. In Jesus. In chapter two, verse twenty nine.

Simeon says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. He's lived his whole life. What am I here for? He'd been promised that he would see the Lord's Christ. And now that he's held this baby.

That he's proclaimed him and prophesied about him. His purpose is fulfilled. Same thing with Anna. Chapter two, verse thirty eight. Coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God. That hour, after 60 years, a widow.

After all those years, wondering why did my husband die so young? Why have I been alone here?

Why did she go through all that pain?

Could it be that that's what caused her to go live in a temple? Maybe she never would have lived in the temple and become a prophetess. That's a big deal. And to devote her life to worshiping the Lord and to fasting day and night and to be known in Israel.

In the temple as this woman of God. And then. At that very hour, the culmination of her life's purpose. Is to proclaim him, to speak of him, we're told all through the scriptures, we see purpose is found in Christ.

In Acts 13, I think it's verse 25, John the Baptist. He was a great prophet. But he lived not for himself. He had to decrease that Christ would be exalted. He ran his course for that purpose. Also in Acts 13, a little later, I think it's verse 36, David ran his course for the purpose of exalting Christ.

So I have a question for you. How do you walk in that purpose? The key is in the text. What was it about Simeon? Chapter two. Verse 25, 26 and 27. Each give us the clue. It appears three times. There was a man in Jerusalem.

His name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Next verse. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death.

Verse 27, and he came in the Spirit into the temple. The key to living according to your purpose in this life is to walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It's to be filled with the Holy Spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Simeon was walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in his own strength. Lord, help us to live by the Spirit, not by our own strength. If you live in the flesh, your eyes will be focused on what's next in your calendar.

It'll be focused on your email inbox as things pile up. It'll be focused on the things of this life and the circle that you would draw and stand in would be all around yourself. Life in the flesh is stressful.

Life in the flesh is overwhelming. Life in the flesh is focused on yourself. But life in the Spirit.

Is all about Him.

Looking for Him, waiting for Him. Seeing yourself as only part of His story, not your own.

There's joy there.

There's rejoicing there. There's this sense of purpose there. That's what Simeon discovered and Anna discovered. They were in the Spirit. If you're a believer in Christ, the Spirit lives in you. But it's possible for even believers to grieve the Spirit of God.

We get focused on our own selves. And we begin to live our lives by our own designs and measures. And we grieve the Spirit of God. But this morning, will you just take a moment, even while I'm preaching, you don't have to listen to me for a minute, just in your heart, just pray, Spirit of God, fill me.

That my life can be about Jesus, not about myself. That's the secret here. The Spirit of God. Simeon was walking in the Spirit. He was listening to the Spirit. He was praying. Look at the prayer of Anna,.

Night and day.

This is a God-centered life. Not a self-centered life. Centered on this one they were waiting for, and their purpose was fulfilled. Last thing, you can't understand.

This story,.

Unless you get this. Verse 31.

This baby.

This precious little child. The fulfillment of the story. Don't miss this. He was prepared in the presence of all peoples. Prepared.

Prepared for what?

He was prepared to save people. How so? There's one little verse in the book of Hebrews, that few people recognize as a Christmas verse. You don't really go to the book of Hebrews for Christmas. You go to Luke chapter 2 or Matthew, right?

But turn with me very quickly. If you miss everything else, don't miss this. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 5. Hebrews 10 5 is a Christmas verse, because it says, consequently, when Christ came into the world, that little Christ child, who's come into the world, that's the Christmas news, right?

The baby is here. This virgin born child has come into the world. And in his divine nature, he's able to say something that a little baby cannot say. In his humanity, in his human nature, he doesn't speak words yet.

He hasn't grown in wisdom and knowledge, but in his divinity, Jesus is one person with two natures. His divine nature is able to say, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me?

This is the Christmas message. The divine Son of God has taken on a body. And God doesn't desire the Levitical sacrifices of bulls and goats and all the flowing blood of animals on the altar. Pile up all the animals in the world, it would do nothing.

God doesn't care. Those things were only pointing to something bigger and more real, more consequential. Verse 10. By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

You guys want to know the meaning of Christmas? It's not even just gifts and love. The meaning of Christmas is that a body has been prepared for the Son of God, coming into the world, that this body would be sacrificed.

A body has been prepared for.

Sacrifice, and.

This baby must grow up and live a righteous life as our representative. Tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. In the flesh, in the body, living a righteous life as our representative, but then substituted for us on the cross as a sacrifice.

Christmas is the preparing of a body for the Son of God, that he would live among us in order to die. I could tell just about anybody Jesus died for our sins, and they'd say, yeah, yeah, I've heard that.

In fact, just yesterday we were at a Christian event, and we were walking through, and this glorious message about salvation is being dramatized, and I overheard the conversation between a couple teenagers as we walked from a crucifixion scene to a resurrection scene, and they were joking and laughing with each other and saying, ha ha, I wonder what comes next.

And then what flew out of their mouth were a string of curse words and talking about drinking and all kinds of things. They were there watching the story of Jesus unfold, laughing because, of course, they know what comes next.

He rises from the dead, but completely unmoved by it. If you asked them, do you know that Jesus died for your sins, if you believe? They'd say, yeah, yeah, I knew that. They probably were raised in church.

They probably, they probably have heard that. But see, they don't connect the story. Their eyes are blind. They don't know what it means he died for our sins. What does it mean that he died for our sins?

It means that the punishment that I deserve, this is the story. I was part of that fall in Adam. I'm a sinner with the sin nature. I deserve to die and be eternally cast off from God. But God has prepared a body, and that man grew and.

Died in my place.

He stood where I deserve to go, and he took that penalty into his own self. When I say Jesus died for my sins, it means he took a punishment that I deserve. I deserve to die. I deserve to go to hell. And so this story can never get old for me.

I could see it year after year until I see him face to face. Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead. That's the story. There's a Savior named Jesus. So I wanted to close with that. This idea, a body prepared for sacrifice.

Thoughts will be revealed by him. In Acts chapter 17, it says that God will judge the nations by a man. The offspring of the woman, Simeon said that thoughts would be revealed. The day of judgment will come when all people will stand before the great white throne of God.

And every idle thought and intention of the heart will be laid bare, according to Revelation 19. People will be judged by those things. And because of the fall, here's the story, all people will be judged guilty because we're all guilty.

Unless your name is found written in the Lamb's Book of Life. If you're judged by the book of works, by the things you've done, you'll be found guilty. And you will be separated from God in eternal darkness in hell.

It's a real punishment. It's a real place. But if your name is found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, if you belong to Jesus Christ, he has borne your punishment and you are free. You have a Periclesis, a legal advocate who stands in for you.

You have leutrosis, redemption.

You've been redeemed and.

Your name is written in that book of the redeemed. So that's the gospel message this Christmas. We're gonna call on Michael and the worship team to come up. And as we do, I want to call on each of you to close your eyes and ask Jesus, the offspring of the woman, the sacrifice prepared to save you from your sins.

This Christmas will be the greatest Christmas of your life. If you'll receive Jesus as your Savior. And for those of us who've been born again, this should be a time of celebration. The wait is over. Christmas that we celebrate should be a joyful time.

Ask him to give you the joy of the Lord. So let's just bow all heads and eyes closed. Maybe you've never heard the gospel preached in this way. It just never made sense to you. But now you get that there has been a fall and sin has come into the world and the only hope is a Savior.

And that Savior is Jesus. Do you believe that right now? Do you believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah? The Lord's Christ. Call on him to save you. Stop putting your hope in yourself. Stop trying to write your own story.

There's no purpose there. There's only emptiness and death. A meaningless existence that just ends in complete darkness. But hope has come. His name is Jesus. In your own heart right now just say, God, I am a sinner.

I am a fallen son or daughter of Adam. I cannot save myself. My works are no good. I need Jesus, the Savior of the world. Jesus, save me. Save me, Lord. I turn away from my sin and I trust you alone to save me.

This Christmas, write me into your story. Let me be included. Save me, Lord Jesus. Amen. And believers, you pray right now in your heart that this Christmas would be all about his story. Ask for the joy of the Lord.

To celebrate. The wait is over. He has come. The Lord's Christ, the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem, the light to even us Gentiles. He's come. Let us focus our lives entirely upon him.

Lord Jesus, give us the joy of the Lord. Help us to celebrate this Christmas. In Jesus name. Amen.