Angels Proclaiming the Christ

Amen. The most glorious night in the history of man was the birth of the King. The most glorious day in the history of man was the crucifixion of the King. And of course, the most glorious morning was the resurrection of the King. But we celebrate the incarnation at this Christmas time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And that announcement was given by the angels to the shepherds in Luke chapter 2. If you have your Bible, you might want to turn there with me that we might look at the angel's proclamation this evening.

Now, this is a story that we have heard many, many times over at Christmas time. But the narrative for me never gets old. In fact, the narrative becomes more and more rich as I get older. In fact, the more I read the Christmas story, the more I see in the Christmas story, all the things I missed in the previous years. Because to be able to digest the text of Luke chapter 2 and to be able to understand the implications of everything surrounding the incarnation of the Messiah, it would take us a lifetime to understand all that Christ wants us to see in his birth.

And yet it's a glorious study as we begin to understand what it is the angel said and how it affects you and me on this Christmas Eve. Let me read to you the narrative.

It's Luke chapter 2 verse number 8. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord suddenly stood around them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger. Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. Let me talk to you this morning about this glorious announcement, this angel proclamation, that you might be able to understand more about what took place on this glorious night.

First of all, you need to know that this announcement was a phenomenal announcement. A phenomenal announcement. The glory of the Lord shone round about them. What is the glory of the Lord? Now I could spend the whole service just talking to you about this aspect of the announcement. I'm not going to do that, but let me help you understand something.

The glory of the Lord is the manifestation of God in the presence of light. The manifestation of God in the presence of light. In other words, it was the Lord God of Israel that would shine all around them. Now to understand the implications of that is far-reaching. Why? Because the glory of the Lord truly is all about the beauty and the brilliance of the Lord. Way back in the book of Exodus, the 33rd chapter, it was Moses who said, Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord said, I can't let you see my face.

I can't let you see me in all of my glory because if I do, you're going to die. Why? First Timothy 6, 16 tells us that the Lord dwells in unapproachable light.

So you can't approach him in a sinful body because you'll be consumed by the brilliance of who he is, the brilliance of his person. So God tells Moses, listen, I'm not going to let you see my full glory, but I'll let you see the afterglow of my glory. He says, I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock. I will pass by. And then he says, and I will proclaim to you because the proclamation of the Lord is the glory of his character. In other words, the glory of the Lord is who he is. And so the Lord says, I will proclaim to you, my loving kindness, my tender mercies, my compassion, my forgiveness, my grace, because that is the glory of the Lord.

So when you come to Luke chapter two and the glory of the Lord shines all around these shepherds, it's the presence of God manifested in light so that they are able to understand that God is among them. Now we know, we know that number 24, 17 says that a star shall rise out of Jacob. And that star is a representative of the light of the Messiah that will shine down upon them. We also know from the book of Revelation, the 22nd chapter, the 16th verse that Jesus is the bright morning star. We also know that a revelation to verse number 28 says that to the overcomer, I will give to him the morning star.

Jesus says, I am the bright morning star and the overcomer, the one who believes that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and died for them.

They receive now the morning star, who is Jesus, who is the day star according to second Peter 119 that shall arise in the hearts of man.

Malachi 4.2 said that the son, S-U-N, of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. So the Messiah is the son of righteousness, S-U-N. He is the star. Christ is the fulfillment of that, the bright morning star. He is the day star. He is the one who shines in our hearts. The beauty of this is that the glory of the Lord shines all around these men, the Prince of God manifested in light. And yet God in the flesh resides in a grotto in Bethlehem to prove that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

God said in Psalm 84.11, the Lord God is a sun and a shield, a sun and a shield, because the Jews knew that everything about the Lord God was all about the beauty of his presence manifested in brilliant light. That's why in the book of Ezekiel, when the glory of the Lord departed from Israel, the light had gone out, but now the glory of the Lord was back. On this night, on this glorious night, this announcement is the most phenomenal announcement ever given because it's all about the presence of God has now returned.

God is among man. That's why the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory full of grace and truth. We beheld his beauty. We beheld his brilliance. That's why on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Christ unzipped his flesh and the glory of the Lord would shine all around them, because our Lord is the glory of God in flesh. And so we are able to celebrate this glorious night because of this phenomenal announcement that was given to these shepherds. Outside of that, this announcement was a privileged announcement.

It was a privileged announcement. Notice who the announcement was not given to. If you were sending out an announcement about the birth of the king, you would make sure that everybody important received that announcement. But the Sanhedrin did not receive the announcement. The Pharisees did not receive the announcement. The priests did not receive the announcement. But the shepherds, they were the lowest possible on the social ladder in Judaism. They were the lowest of the low, which symbolically helps us understand who the announcement was for.

For Christ said, I came to preach the gospel to the poor, to the needy, to the imprisoned, to ones who recognized they had a need. See, the shepherds knew that they were sinners. The religious establishment, the elite, they didn't believe they were sinners. They were of their Father Abraham. They were good to go. We talked about this last week, that they didn't believe that they had fallen short of the glory of God, the beauty of God, the brilliance of God, because they were sons of Abraham. But Christ came to preach the gospel to the poor, to show that God's grace over man's works was why Messiah came.

Man could not earn his way to glory. He had to receive the gift by grace through faith in Christ alone. So this was a very privileged announcement. You would think that the Lord God of Israel would make sure that all in Jerusalem knew that the king was born, but that was not the case. Just the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem received the announcement. So it was a phenomenal announcement. It was a privileged announcement. It was a peaceful announcement. For the angel said to them, do not be afraid.

That was the key theme of the Christmas story. Do not fear. It was given to Zacharias when he was in the temple offering sacrifices, and the angel appeared to him, and he was frightened, and the angel said, do not be afraid, Zacharias. Same was true of Mary when the angel appeared to her and gave her the announcement that she would be a child. He said, do not be afraid, Mary. The same thing was said to Joseph when Joseph was going to put Mary away because he knew that he wasn't the father of the child, but the angel appeared to him and said, Joseph, do not be afraid.

And now to the shepherds, do not be afraid. Because the announcement given was a peaceful announcement. There was no need for them to fear because the shepherds understood the need for men and women to fear and to reverence God. If the glory of the Lord shone all around them and the glory of the Lord is the presence of God manifested in light, they knew that God was around them, and they lived in fear. You see, there is no fear before the eye of the unbeliever, no fear of God, but only the believer.

That's why the Bible says in Psalm 130 verse number four, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

Only the believer fears the Lord. The unbeliever does not. But this announcement was a peaceful announcement to not be afraid. Why? Because it was a purposeful announcement. What was the purpose? This, I bring you good news of great joy. It's a purposeful announcement. That's why it's a peaceful announcement. I bring you good news. Euangelion speaks of the gospel itself. I'm bringing you the gospel. And the gospel is that which brings great joy, not just a semblance of happiness, but ultimate joy.

There's nothing that brings joy to the heart of man other than the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, this is so important because there are so many people who go through Christmas with no joy. That's because they don't understand the good news. If you understand the good news, there is great joy in your heart. When we gather together on a Sunday morning, we gather together with joy in our hearts. We gather together to celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that he came to save people like you and me.

And so we gather together to celebrate that. That's why when you come, your heart must already be prepared to worship. We're not hoping that you come and we can somehow prepare you to worship God. That's not our job. Our job is to celebrate God with you. You should have already been prepared when you arrived because your heart is right before him. Because if you haven't been prepared on your way in, don't depend upon us to prepare your heart. That's up to you. And so you come to celebrate the good news and you celebrate it with great joy because that is the purpose of the announcement, that this Messiah has come to give you the great joy.

Listen to Isaiah chapter 51. Isaiah chapter 51, remember we told you last week, this is right in the middle of the second half of the book of Isaiah that talks about the redemption of people, the redemption of Israel, not just their physical redemption, that's the first part, and not just their national redemption, this is their spiritual redemption.

And the Lord God says, so the ransom of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion and everlasting joy will be on their heads.

They will obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing will flee away. When you understand the Redeemer and why he came and what he came to do, all sighing and sorrow flee away because now you with gladness receive the joy of the Lord. Now Isaiah 51 says this, so the ransom of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion. You know what Zion means? Zion means to shine forth, to shine forth. How do we know that? Psalm 50. Psalm 50 verse number two says, out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Zion means to shine forth. Why? Because the king who is a star, who is the light of the world will shine forth from Zion as he sits on the throne of his father David and shines forth the beauty of his presence. And so when we as believers understand the gospel in all of its implications, we have great joy. And that's the purpose behind the announcement. It was a phenomenal announcement, yes, because it was the glory of the Lord that was shined all around. God is in his presence, has arrived after 400 silent years.

He is finally here. And not only that, it's a privilege announcement, a peaceful announcement, a purposeful announcement. It's also a pervasive announcement because the Bible says, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people.

It's a pervasive announcement. It's just not for the Jews. It's just not for the shepherds. It's for all the people. That's why when Simeon, eight days after the birth of Christ, would hold him in his arms, he would talk about how this baby was the light of revelation to the Gentiles. Because Simeon knew that in the redemption of his people Israel would come the opportunity to redeem not just the sons of Abraham, but those who are of the nations as well. And so he would hold in his hand the light of revelation to the Gentiles.

That's why Paul says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God to salvation to the Jew first and also to the Gentile nations.

It's a pervasive announcement. It's just not for a select group of people. It's for the entire world to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord, because no matter what your background, no matter where you're from, no matter who you are, the gospel is for you. And so therefore it is a pervasive announcement. On top of that, it is a present announcement. For it says in verse 11, for today, not tomorrow, but today. It is a present announcement. It's an announcement that deals with you in the present.

For today in the city of David, there's been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Not tomorrow, not yesterday, but today. This is a present announcement. That is, the Bible says, for today is the day of salvation.

The writer of Hebrews said it this way. If today you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the day of propagation in the wilderness. Why? Because today is the day of salvation. This announcement is a present day announcement. It wasn't an announcement just given to the shepherds some 2,000 years ago. It's an announcement that we are to give to people today because a Savior has been born for them today in the city of David. And that today is every single day as we begin to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is a present announcement. On top of that, it is a personal announcement. A personal announcement. He says, for today in the city of David, there's been born for you. In fact, three times he says for you. I bring you good news has been born for you a Savior, and this will be a sign for you. You see, it's a personal announcement because it is given to each and every individual in the room. You know, you don't go to church by families. You don't go to church, I mean, I'm sorry, you don't go to heaven by families.

You don't go to heaven in groups. You go to heaven one person at a time. Straight is the way, narrow is the gate, few there be that find it. No one goes to heaven because their family is in heaven or their church is in heaven or their friends are in heaven. This is a very personal announcement. This is for you. And if you've never given your life to Christ, this is the opportunity for you to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to unwrap the gift of eternal life and to understand that Jesus Christ came to die for your sins and for mine.

This is a very personal announcement. On top of that, this is a promised announcement, a promised announcement. For today in the city of David, there's been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This is the promise. This is what they have been waiting for, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, a promised Savior. That's what they are anticipating. Isaiah 41, Isaiah 42, Isaiah 43, all talks about how I, the Lord, am your Redeemer. I am your Savior and there is no other. They anticipated the arrival of a Savior.

The problem was is that they expected a Savior politically and nationally, not spiritually, because they didn't believe they needed one spiritually because they thought they were all right with God. But he came to save them from their sin. That's why you call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin. But this is the promised Savior. This is a promised Christ. This is the promised Messiah. This one born in Bethlehem is the Messiah of Israel. He is the promised coming one. He is the promised seed.

He is the promised Shiloh. He is the promised substitute. He is the promised son of God, son of man, son of righteousness, suffering service, sacrificial lamb. This is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. This is what you've been looking for. This is what you've been longing for. This Savior is the Christ, is the Messiah. This Messiah is Lord of all. He is the Lord of the universe, claiming his authority, claiming his deity. This is not just an ordinary baby. This is the God man. This is son of God, son of man.

This is what Isaiah the prophet said. This is El Gabor, the mighty God. This is the son that was given. There was a son that is born and there was a son that was given. Both are the same. One speaking of his humanity, one speaking of his deity. This is the Savior who was the Messiah. This Messiah is the Lord of the universe. This is the King. This is your long awaited Messiah. That's why the announcement is so phenomenal. Because for centuries they had waited. Centuries they had longed for a King that would come and be their Messiah, be their Savior.

And now finally, after 400 silent years, without God ever speaking from heaven personally or through a prophet or through an angel, the angel would appear to Zacharias, appear to Mary, appear to Joseph, and now nine months later, the birth of the Messiah in the glory of the Lord would shine all around them.

The presence of God manifested in light. The most phenomenal announcement ever given was the announcement about the Christ child. For unto you this day in the city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. On top of that, this announcement was a precise announcement. It was precise. He says these words, this will be a sign for you. You're going to find a babe wrapped in cloth, lying in a feeding trough, a manger. Now feeding troughs in those days are not like the ones we have pictured on the front of our bulletin or the one that's out in the foyer.

Feeding troughs were cut out of stone. If you've been to Israel with me, you have seen what a feeding trough looks like. That's why most people believe that Joseph was a carpenter, but he was a stonemason. He would carve things out of stone. If you've been to Israel, there are so many rocks and stone all around. Well, this manger, this feeding trough was cut out of stone. And so there's this huge stone, and in it is hewed out a place to put hay, to put the food for the animals. This will be a sign for you.

This is a precise announcement. You'll find a babe wrapped in cloth, lying in a feeding trough, meaning that that feeding trough would be in a grotto, in a cave-like place, a place cut out of the rocks to shelter the animals from the weather. And that's where they would find this child. They would find this child in the city of David. A precise announcement, because that was the fulfillment of Micah 5, verse number 2, Micah 4, verse number 8, that this is where the Messiah would be born. So the announcement was not a nebulous announcement.

It wasn't a confusing announcement. It was a very precise announcement. There's been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. I'm going to tell you exactly where He is. He's in a feeding trough, lying there, wrapped in cloth, in the city of the King, King David. That's where you go. So they know exactly where that was. It was a very precise announcement. On top of that, it was a praiseworthy announcement. A praiseworthy announcement. And suddenly there appeared with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God, saying, not singing, saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men, with whom He is pleased.

This is a praiseworthy announcement. Why? Why? Because everything about salvation is the glory of the Lord. Everything about the saving grace of God is the glory of God. The announcement is about the glory of God. Salvation is a byproduct of God's glory. You see, God saves you. Why? That you might believe in Him because of who He is. You believe in Him, according to Philippians chapter 1, for His sake, not yours. It's all about the glory of God. See, we think God comes to save me. It's not about me.

It's not all about God. It's all about His glory. That's why there is the praising of God in the highest. That's why there was glory given to God, because God is going to save sinful man. And so therefore, He gets all the glory. Man doesn't. That's why salvation is by grace through faith in God alone. That's why it has nothing to do with your works. Because if it was about your works, you could boast in your own self. It's not about you. It's all about the grace of God and the glory of God. And so it's a praiseworthy announcement because God gets all the glory for His saving grace.

He gets all the glory because He humbled Himself, became a man and was born to die. He gets all the glory. It's all about the Christ. Christmas is about the Christ. It's not about your family. I know you're going to gather with your family, but Christmas is not about gathering with your family. Christmas is about the Christ. You have to understand that. You know, like Ben Franklin said, fish and family smell after three days, right? So be careful. Christmas is not about your family. Christmas is about the Christ.

Christmas is not about the gifts. It's about the gift of Christ. See, we lose perspective so easily in the holiday season. We get wrapped up in all the things of the world and forget that it's all about the coming of the Messiah. Savior has been born for you in the city of David. Glory to God in the highest. This is a praiseworthy announcement. On top of that, this is a pertinent announcement. It is so relevant to you because He says, and on earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased. This is a pertinent announcement because it is relevant to your peace and mine, not peace socially.

This is peace spiritually. This is peace between you and God. Peace among men with whom He is well-pleased. That is, is somehow I get peace because I bring pleasure to God? No, no. Psalm 147 11, God is pleased with those who fear Him. The peace comes to only those who fear Him. It doesn't come to anybody else, only to those who fear the living God. So peace among men with whom He is well-pleased. In other words, there is peace that comes to man who fear only Him. The peace that He brought and brings today is the peace between God and man.

That man can now be reconciled to the God He is at enmity with. That's the peace. For when Christ came, He said, I did not come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword, right? The peace He offers is the peace that you and I have with God, because now my sins are forgiven and I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And now I can enter the presence of almighty God. That's the peace that He offers. That's why it's a pertinent announcement. It's so relevant to you and me, because if we are not born again, we are the enemies of God.

And we need to be at peace with God. And the only way we can be reconciled to God is through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is the Savior, who is the Christ, the master of the world. Not only that, this is a very persuasive announcement, a persuasive announcement. And when the angel had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing, or see, the Greek translation says, to see this word or reality. In other words, the word spoken was the reality about the coming Messiah.

Let us go straight to Bethlehem to see the revelation of this word about the Messiah that has been given to us. It's a very persuasive announcement. You see, once you know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, once you know that the only way to have peace with God is through Jesus Christ, once you know the good news that gives you great joy, it persuades you to tell others about what you have just heard. That's why Christmas is so important, because Christmas is the time that persuades us to tell others about the coming of the Messiah.

Oh, that's so important, is it not? Why? Because he's going to come again. He's going to come again. And the book of Matthew tells us, listen, the book of Matthew tells us that when the Son of Man appears, there'll be a sign. And the sign will be, he will come in the clouds with great glory. What is a sign of the Son of Man's return? His glory. Now listen, when the glory of the Lord's shown all around, it's shown all around the men, that's it. They were the only ones who were able to understand the presence of God has come down to man.

Remember, when God comes down to man, he comes down for one of three reasons. He either comes down to deliver, to discipline, or to destroy. In the book of Exodus, he told Moses, I've seen the affliction of my people, and I'm coming down to deliver them. He came down to deliver them physically from bondage. He came down 2,000 years ago to deliver us from spiritual bondage, because we were all enslaved to Satan, but he came down to deliver. He's coming again, but he's not coming to deliver. He's coming to destroy.

And so the book of Matthew tells us in Matthew 24, that when the Son of Man returns, he returns with great glory. And the Bible says that every eye will see him.

How can that possibly be? Because the glory of the Lord will be all consuming. It won't be in a centrally located position. It will be all consuming of this earth. The presence of God manifested in light. And remember, he dwells in unapproachable light. So when the Son of Man comes again, he comes with great glory. And those who do not know him will be incinerated by the brilliance of his beauty. He will speak a word, and because of the beauty of his character, they will be destroyed. See, that's why the announcement is so persuasive.

Because knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. You need to make sure you know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. You need to make sure that you understand that the baby born in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago was just not an ordinary baby. It was the Christ child. It was the Son of God, Son of Man, Son of Righteousness, who rises with healing in his wings. This is Christmas. This is the announcement on that glorious night. And my prayer for you, for me, is that we would come to understand that in all of its fullness.

If you've never given your life to Christ, today is a day of salvation. Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today. What a glorious, glorious night it was some 2,000 years ago. We were not there, but Lord, you have given us the Word of God that tells us about all that took place. For that, we are grateful. And our prayer today is that there would be no one among us who hasn't embraced the Christ child as their Savior, as their Lord, and as their King. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.