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Ever since I was a child, I have been an avid news watcher. My dad frequently had the news on in the evening and we would sit down to watch Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw deliver the news from the day. Most days when one watches the nightly news, it's pretty ordinary.
The news that is reported will be forgotten by most by the end of the week. However, there is some news that is delivered that people will never forget. Every generation has those memories of a major world event that are so significant that the people living during that time remember where they were when it happened.
People remember the bad news delivered and the good news. People remember where they were when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that largely caused the United States to enter World War II.
That was bad news and the people of that generation never forgot it. The people from that time also always remember the good news from later on in the war known as D-Day. On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces invaded the beaches of Normandy, which began the liberation of German-occupied France.
The memory from my lifetime that I will never forget, nor will many of you, were the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The news delivered that day is something that will never be forgotten by us living during that time.
Today in the morning service, we are celebrating Christmas. Today is all about news, but it's not about bad news. It's about good news. In fact, today is the remembrance of the greatest news of all that should be forever in the minds of all humans.
This morning, we are going to look at the story where great news was delivered to the shepherds in Israel as they were in the field doing their job. The text we are going to be looking at is Luke 2, verses 8 through 20.
What we are going to see is the news of a Savior King coming into the world. This news was delivered to the shepherds, to you and me, and to the whole world. This sermon is titled, Good News of Great Joy.
If you are using the Red Bible in the pews, it's on pages 1018 and 1019. I encourage you, as always, to follow along with me. Every sermon every week is calling you to do something. This sermon today is calling you to set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas.
To set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas, we are going to see three reasons why. The first reason why is the King was born to offer salvation to all people. We will see this in verses 8 through 12.
Earlier in the service, the birth of Jesus Christ was read from verses 1 through 7. In the verses following, we will see that this news gets out and this is how it happened. Verses 8 through 10. So, in verse 8, we see Jewish shepherds are watching over their flock in close proximity to where Jesus was born.
Of course, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so they were somewhere in this region. In verse 9, the shepherds get the surprise of a lifetime. A messenger from heaven, an angel appears to them. And as a messenger from the Lord, this angel brings the glory of God along with him.
What happens when humans see the glory of God with their eyes? They are frightened. People fall to the ground and are speechless. This is why all throughout scripture, angels always say, do not be afraid because their mere presence causes humans to fall down and tremble and be speechless.
The angels' words to them are no different in verse 10. This brings us to the main focus of our sermon today. The angel comes to share news. This is not bad news that was delivered to the American people on September 11, 2001.
This is so much different. This is very good news. In the second half of verse 10, the angel says, I bring you good news of great joy. The angel does not just say, I bring you good news. He says, I bring you good news of great joy.
This is the best possible news these Jewish shepherds could have heard. That the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah that Israel had hoped for was finally coming into the world. You have to understand how significant this news was for Jewish people.
Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous prophecies that predicted the coming of the Messiah. The word Messiah means anointed one. The word Christ is the Greek translation of that word. That's why we call him Jesus Christ.
Jesus Messiah. Now the question we must ask ourselves, is this good news only for Israel or is it for everyone? The end of verse 10 gives us the answer. That this news will be for all the people. The angel says that this good news is for everyone.
Not just for Israel, but for Gentiles too. Gentiles meaning the whole world. A Gentile is a non-Jew. So it's for you and me. Then the angel tells us what this news is in verses 11 and 12. 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 clothes and lying. In a manger. The angel reports that the news that happened not too long before, the anointed one, the one that all Israel had hoped for, finally came into the world.
The shepherds find out that he is not only the Messiah, but also God. In verse 11, the angel calls him Christ the Lord. Christ means Messiah and the Lord, or Yahweh, is the name for God in the Old Testament.
This is the great wonder of this day. God becomes man. This is known as the incarnation. We should ponder this wonderful reality continually. That God became man. By the way, this is a great way to use your mind.
We can think about a lot of things. But how wonderful it is if we use our mind to think about the reality that God became a man. And when we think this way, what it will do is it will lead us to worship.
To worship God for his greatness. That God became something that he never was. He became man. Now this news that the angel reported, why does this matter? Why does this matter to you? You may be here today and wonder why the birth of Jesus Christ is so important.
Is it the birth of just an important person from history that we all remember? No. Well, certainly that's true, but there's so much more than that. The birth of this child is so important. Because this baby is the only hope for the world.
He is the only hope for the world. I realize that's a big statement. But it's a true statement. When Mary was pregnant, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him in Matthew 1 .21. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.
He is the Savior not just for Israel, but for all the people as we saw at the end of verse 10. He is called Savior because he delivers his people from their bondage to sin and brings them to God. Forty days after the birth of Jesus he was presented at the temple and Simeon said this to God about Jesus as he held him in his arms.
My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles. The rest of the New Testament gives the big picture. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins.
John 3 .16 says. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Acts 4 .12 says. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
God sent his son into the world to become a man, to save sinners, and also to be the king. He's not just a Savior but he's a Savior King. The people whom Jesus saves will be the ones who populate his kingdom that will go on forever and ever when he returns to this earth.
So what's interesting about today is that today we're not only focusing on his first coming but also his second coming. When angel Gabriel foretold the birth of Jesus, this is what he said in Luke 1 .32,.
What scripture tells us is that the king of the world is also the Savior of the world. When he came to this world the first time, he humbled himself by dying on the cross for sinners. And when he returns, he will come in power to establish his kingdom forever.
About his first coming, John 3 .17 says,. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world would be saved through him. That's what he accomplished in his first coming.
The New Testament later tells us what will happen at his second coming. Hebrews 9 .28 says,. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
If you believe in Jesus, your sins will be forgiven. And you will be with him in his kingdom forever. If you have a sincere faith in him, you will be one day in his kingdom forever. You can see how wonderful this news is.
This is the first reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas. The king was born to offer salvation to all people, including you. The second reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is that peace comes only to those who believe.
Verses 13 and 14. As the shepherds were still standing outside, they went from seeing one angel to numerous. Verse 13, Now a heavenly host is literally thousands of angels. These angels are praising God for sending Jesus to the world as the long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world.
And they praise God and say in verse 14, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Do you ever wonder why angels, or I shouldn't say that, do you ever wonder what angels do or what is their purpose?
Humans are always fascinated with what angels do and what's interesting is the scripture tells us that angels in 1 Peter 1 .13 they're fascinated with what humans are, what humans are all about and God's plan of redemption to them.
Hebrews 1 .14 tells us about angels that they are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. One of their main roles is to serve you, to serve the redeemed.
What they also do is they praise God non-stop. Do you remember the account in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah is standing before the throne of God? One angel called to another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
In Revelation 4 and 5, we see angels worshiping God as they say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. You get the picture. As angels stand in the presence of God, they worship him for his greatness.
This is what they are doing here. And this is the model that we are to follow. Do you offer praises to God frequently? As you go through the day, do you tell the Lord how wonderful he is for who he is and what he has done?
This is something we must do. God is worthy of all the praise, all the honor, and all the glory. And when you come to him, by coming to him in a relationship, you realize this. As you grow, you come to know this more and more.
Now in the second half of verse 14, the angels address humanity. And what they say is that on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. This verse has been interpreted wrongly by many. The wrong way to interpret this is peace on earth and goodwill toward men, meaning that Christ brings goodwill to all humanity without condition.
Some manuscripts say this, but what the ESV says here is what many other manuscripts say. And it is correct because it fits the theology of the New Testament that only believers have peace with God. You've probably heard peace on earth and goodwill toward men maybe in a Christmas song or a Christmas play.
One of the reasons that it's been interpreted wrongly is because of the universal statement in verse 10 that the salvation that Jesus brings is to all the people. But we should not take that wrongly. It is to all people in the sense that the offer of salvation is to all people.
But it only benefits those who believe. The offer is to the whole world, but salvation is only given to those who receive it. So there is only one group that has peace on earth. It is those whom Jesus has saved.
These are those on earth that God is pleased with. As Romans 5 1 says, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. God is only pleased with you if you are united to Christ and belong to the family of God.
You get there by believing that Jesus earned your salvation for you through his perfect life, his death, his sacrificial death on the cross where he bore the wrath of God that you deserve, and his victorious resurrection.
God is not pleased with you if you do not have a relationship with Christ. Stated simply. Romans 8 8 says, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Those in the flesh are unbelievers. So I ask you today, do you have peace with God?
Do you believe that Jesus died in your place and paid the penalty that you deserve for your sins? If you genuinely believe this, then God is pleased with you because you have this relationship with him.
And if you don't believe in him, then you do not have peace with God. This Christmas, make sure that you have peace with God through Jesus Christ. And many in this room have this wonderful peace with the Lord, but some of you do not.
What will you do with the most important news you've ever heard? This news stares you right in the face. You cannot be indifferent to it because what you do with it will determine where you will spend forever.
Jesus is the gift that God has offered to the world. Will you receive him and have eternal life? I pray and hope that you will. The second reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is that peace comes only to those who believe.
The third and final reason you must set your minds on the most important news of all this Christmas is that God's people treasure this news. God's people treasure this news. We'll see this in verses 15 through 20.
After the shepherds heard this world-changing news and the angels praising God for it, they desired to go and see him. Verse 15. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
So this is what they did in verses 16 and 17. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
So the shepherds found him and we see that there were others there along with Mary and Joseph. That's very important here because we'll see their reaction here in a second. As the shepherds were standing in the barn as Jesus was lying in the manger, which is a feeding trough, like what you see right next to me right here, they reported the wonderful things the angels had told them about this baby.
That he was the long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world. Verse 18 tells us that those who were also present heard the shepherds share this news. It says that those who heard this incredible news about the Messiah wondered what the shepherds said.
The people reflected on the news they heard and saw with their eyes. But this text hints that they may not have believed it. All it says is they wondered at what the shepherds said. The text leaves you hanging about whether or not they received it or rejected it.
So they pondered it, thought about it, but did nothing with it. They didn't embrace it. It may have had somewhat of an impact as they considered its importance, but their immediate response to this news is not what it should have been.
We know this because Mary's response is shown in contrast to theirs, and her response is the correct one. Verse 19. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. So Mary pondered it too, but she treasured it.
This news brought her great joy. She did not just ponder its significance like the people who were there did. She embraced it fully. And in verse 20, the shepherds had a similar response as Mary. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.
So the shepherds also treasured this news about Jesus, and we know that because they praised God as they went away. Do you know what true belief in Christ is according to Scripture? In our culture, true belief has been reduced to merely believing in your mind that something is true.
People say, yes, they believe there is a God, or yes, they believe that Jesus died for their sins, but they don't go much beyond that. There's no treasuring. And it is true, yes, you need to believe the facts.
You need to believe these things to be true. But if you stop there, that is not true saving faith according to Scripture. True saving faith is where you embrace it fully, where you treasure it, where it brings you the greatest joy in the world.
So my question to you is, have you embraced this news with joy? And what I want to say, too, is that as believers in Christ, it ebbs and flows. There's ups and downs with your treasuring of Christ, and so if you're in a down season, pray that the Lord will give you an up season where you treasure Him more and more.
And one thing is that we can always treasure Him more, and so this is an area where we should always be striving to grow in. But understand that true saving faith will have some treasuring of Christ, where He is, at the end of the day, most precious to you.
So may we emulate Mary and the shepherds and treasure this news, this great news of who Jesus is and what He has done. So the third reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is that God's people treasure this news, and we ought to treasure Jesus all the more.
So set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas, and to repeat here, to recap, we've seen three reasons why the King was born to offer salvation to all people, peace comes only to those who believe, and God's people treasure this news.
We live in a world where good news and bad news is constantly being delivered to us. Two thousand years ago, an angel from heaven delivered the greatest news to the world. The Savior King has come to save those who will one day reign with Him.
This news has already changed many of your lives forever. To those of us who have been changed by this, we must ponder this and treasure Jesus in our hearts. For some of you today, this may be the beginning for you to have a relationship with Jesus, the treasure of the universe, and I encourage you to believe in Him, and if you have any questions, you can talk to anybody here about that who knows Christ.
So how will you respond to this news, this most important news of all that has been delivered to you? My prayer is that everyone in this room will know Christ as Lord, Savior, and treasure. And next Sunday, we'll be back in the book of Genesis, looking at the end of Genesis 29, and so I look forward to continuing that sermon series with you as we continue to look at the life of Jacob and his wives.
Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for this precious word, this precious truth, this great news that Jesus, the Savior King, has come into the world. And this happened 2 ,000 years ago, but it's every bit as relevant today as it was then, and may everybody in this room truly, truly have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
And may our hearts be awakened, Lord, to this beauty, this truth. And it's in His name we pray. Amen.