The Great Birth Announcement, Part 1

We thank you Lord for what the angel said and we thank you Lord for who they said it to We thank you Lord that on that night so long ago in Bethlehem. We were able to understand God's love to man And pray that what we hear and read this morning Would help us once again come to grips with the reality that Jesus Christ truly is a savior of sinners in Jesus name we pray Amen If you have your Bible turn with me to Luke chapter 2 Luke chapter 2 as we continue our study on the birth of Christ Last time we were together.

We looked specifically at the birth of Christ and today we're going to look at the great birth announcement That is how it was brought to man It's important to understand the birth of Christ because number one we told you it Magnified the sovereignty of God the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem Magnified God's sovereignty Because we saw how God would take a pagan King who knew not God who did not care about God but caused there to be a census a Taxation that would be taken that would move Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem God was orchestrating the events of man because God is providentially in charge of all things It's one thing to study God and understand that God is a God of miracles that God says something and it happens The hardest thing to understand about God is his providence how he orchestrates the events of life to bring about his perfect purposes How we can use sinful men how we can use?

Sinful people how we can use your sin and my sin and ultimately bring about his great glory That's the providence of God how he works in and through the events of life to bring about his perfect purpose And so we saw where the birth of Christ Magnified his sovereignty not only that but it verified his prophecy That is he was born in Bethlehem And we know that Micah 5 2 tells us the exact location of the birth of Christ We know that Micah 4 8 says the exact same thing because it was to the tower of the flock That is on the north side of Bethlehem It's called the tower of the flock or migdal a dare and that is where the birth of Christ would happen Why because it was there where the shepherds would oversee the sacrificial lambs And so we know through prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem So the birth of Christ teaches us about how God himself is magnified It also tells us about his how his prophecy is verified, but it also tells us how Christ himself identified with humanity The birth of Christ is about how God identifies with humanity God came down to man The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4 that he is the high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses He was tempted at all points like we are yet without sin.

And so the birth of Christ magnifies his sovereignty verifies his prophecy identifies him with humanity the birth of Christ we saw last time also Exemplifies his humanity I'm sorry his humility exemplifies his Humility that our Lord would be born in a lowly place such as a grotto such as a stable a place where where animals would feed our Lord condescend condescends to man Helping us to understand Philippians chapter 2 in Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews 2 tells us that he was made lower than the angels Philippians chapter 2 says this tells us that he became obedient Unto death even the death of a cross our Lord came down to man the birth of Christ also Teaches us about how it clarifies his ministry He was born in a place where lambs themselves are born because he was a sacrificial lamb He was born in a city where the sacrificial lambs were raised so that they might be offered up on the Day of Atonement There in Bethlehem, so it clarified to us his ministry it also Glorified his deity and that is the infinite became an infant and Through that we understand the magnitude of the deity of Jesus Christ our Lord But also we learned that the birth of Christ solidifies your destiny It solidifies your destiny because what you believe about what took place in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago Determines where you spend eternity the Bible tells us over in 1st.

John chapter 5 these words Verse number 10 the one who believes in the Son of God has the witness that himself The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God Has born concerning his son and the witness is this that God has given us eternal life And this life is in his son. He who has the Son has the life He who does not have the Son of God Does not have the life And so what you believe about what takes place in the first seven verses of Luke chapter 2 solidifies your destiny It determines where you will spend eternity based on what you believe the Bible says concerning the coming of Messiah That was the birth of Christ.

And now we move on to the great birth announcement somehow This birth has to be made known to man somehow Someone needs to hear that the Messiah has come. I When you give birth to a child, don't you want to announce the birth don't you want to send out a birth announcement? Maybe it's by way of a card. Maybe it's by way of a of the internet. Maybe it's by way of some CD or or DVD or whatever else you want to do to make sure that people understand the name of your child and make sure They know how to spell it, right?

Make sure that they know the the time the child was born Make sure they know how big the child was or how small the child was how much did it weigh? How long is that child all those things that we think are important? For instance when someone in the church has a birth then I call my wife at home She first thing she asked is well, how big was the baby?

I Don't know how big the baby was. I don't ask that question You know, well, how long was it? I don't know how long the baby was You got to call the lady who gave birth to the baby to figure out that information I don't know. I don't pay attention to those details. The bottom line is there was a birth Okay, that's the bottom line detail if you were to ask me how big or how small my children were when they were I couldn't tell you how big they are how long they were. I don't know The point is they came out.

They're there. I'm holding them. That's the important important aspect Don't don't mess with the details. Just give me the bottom line. There is a baby. I'm holding that baby All right, and and yet yet those things that seem to be important to us Are not mentioned about the birth of our Lord There was no name given to the shepherds Hey, well, let you know there's a baby born in Bethlehem. His name is Jesus He weighed about Oh, maybe somewhere around 10 5 10 6 about 23 inches long shepherds go. Oh, wow Yeah, what a big baby man.

Let's go see it Those things aren't important Say when it comes to the Messiah being born those things that we think are important the angel never spoke about Never gave his name Never told what time he was born never told how big he was or how long he was but what they did say is extremely important So important we're gonna spend this week in the next two weeks just on these verses 8 to 14 So you understand the significance about this great birth? announcement Because what you want to stand about this?

determines What you believe about Christmas and the birth of the Messiah? And what you believe about this determines whether or not each and every year your Christmas is a great celebration Let me read it to you Luke chapter 2 verse number 8 And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keep you watch over their flock by night And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened And the angel said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of a great joy Which shall be for all the people for today in the city of David there's 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 And lying in the manger suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying not singing and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased Those verses right there are absolutely crucial to your understanding the coming of Messiah They're very familiar verses right see my Christmas cards. We sing about him. We read the Christmas story every year And yet it's become so familiar to us.

We have missed the impact of the Christmas season There are seven points. I want to cover with you this morning. I'll cover the first two It begins first of all with the shepherds If you want to understand the great birth announcement, you need to understand the shepherds, right?

two things their location number two their occupation First of all their location the Bible says in verse number eight and in the same Region.

Well, what regions that that's the region of Bethlehem somewhere in that region of Bethlehem There were some shepherds who were attending their flocks by night Now if you were to go to Bethlehem today You could go to what they call the shepherd fields when you go to Bethlehem You can go to the Church of the of the Nativity That's where most people go when they visit Israel when we go We don't go to the Church of the Nativity because it's too commercialized where we go is a place called the shepherd fields Because out there you're able to see the vastness of those fields now Unfortunately over the years they have built roads right in the middle of the shepherd fields So they're not as isolated as they used to be when we first went to Israel But when you go there, you're able to see these vast fields these rolling hills where shepherds would walk their flocks and tend to their sheep And when you look out over that field and the vastness of it, you're able to understand that there were some shepherds there Maybe not specifically in that location, but somewhere in that region surrounding Bethlehem there were some shepherds and To sit there and and look over those shepherd fields and to recall the story of Luke chapter 2 and to realize that there were some Shepherds out there how many we do not know How many sheep did they tend we do not know?

But somewhere surrounding Bethlehem in that region There were some shepherds Tending their flocks by night These shepherds Were significant people in the plan of God's redemption Why would he appear to shepherds as you recall David was a shepherd boy and remember? Excuse me. David also would be tending his sheep somewhere in those shepherd fields somewhere around Bethlehem So not only were these shepherds there somewhere in that region around Bethlehem But there was a time where David the shepherd boy was also tending his sheep his father's sheep Somewhere in those shepherd fields around Bethlehem because the city of David of course is Bethlehem His father was a Bethlehemite Jesse And so we find not only the location but their occupation their occupation Now if you grew up in the church and you go to Sunday school you begin to realize that Shepherding is a is a pretty vital element in the in the in the Bible if you go back to to Abraham Abraham was a shepherd.

He was a herdsman. He had livestock. He had sheep. He was the father of our faith You also know about King David. He too was a shepherd boy He learned how to rule Israel because of his skill as a shepherd There was Moses who tended sheep on the back side of the desert for 40 years for his father-in-law Jethro Because he had to lead two and a half million Jews out of Egyptian slavery and the best way for him to be trained to do that was to oversee sheep and take care of them for 40 years So we see where where God used great men to tend sheep And so we begin to think of shepherds as he's these great individuals, but you must understand that during the time of Christ Shepherds were a very lowly People it was not a shameful occupation, but it was a lowly occupation Usually those who were shepherds were people that were unskilled and uneducated and they were very poor people And they were the kind of people that that would take a job because there was no other job They could do in fact, most young boys were shepherds.

So you began at a very young age Because it was such an unskilled kind of job You didn't have to go to seminary to be a to be a shepherd in those days And so you begin to understand that it was the lowly people who became shepherds But you must also come to grips with the fact that in Jewish culture They were the lowest of the class You see shepherds had to tend their flocks seven days a week So that would mean they were unable to keep the Mosaic law That means they were unable to keep the Sabbath.

Well in the Pharisees mind. That was a bad thing They weren't keeping the Sabbath because they were working on the Sabbath and to do that would make you disfavorable in the eyes of God And so the Pharisees began to look down upon the shepherds because they couldn't keep the Mosaic law specifically to keep the Sabbath day holy also because the Jews had added so many different rituals and and Laws to the existing laws of God that that the shepherds could not keep they were even looked further down upon on top of that You must understand that these men Having been looked down upon by the religious establishment Not having much of an education Being poor did not have much Except the sheep and the clothes on their back.

It's about all they had they sleep underneath the stars at night they did not have much and yet and yet as the strict legalism of The Jews of the day would become stricter and stricter The shepherds became more and more distant from the upper class of society They got further and further away And all that being said sets the tone for why our Lord would send the angel to shepherds Because by this time our God's disdain for the religious establishment had grown to its height And our Lord would speak against listen.

He would speak against the religious establishment set of rules in their works-based system, which Judaism was under and Sovereignly appear To the lowest class to the shepherds who could gain no standing in the eyes of God So the reason he appeared to shepherds was because he was going to accentuate the grace of God You know, you'd think we'd understand that You'd think we'd come to grips with the reality of why our Lord Would send this angel and a host of angels to the shepherds to announce the great birth of Christ It wasn't to the the high priest It wasn't to the king.

It wasn't to the Pharisees. It wasn't to the scribes It was to the lowly It was to those who realized listen, they were sinners It was to those who realized that there was nothing good in them Because you see that's the people God saves remember when our Lord Came to the town of Nazareth Early on in his ministry. He would quote from Isaiah chapter 61. It's a Luke chapter 4 verse number 16 Says the king to Nazareth where he had been brought up and it was his custom He entered a synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read and the book of the Prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he Opened the book and found the place where it is written.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me Because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind He set free those who are downtrodden to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and he closed the book and gave it back to the Attendant and sat down the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him They began to say to them today. The scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing You see Isaiah 61 prophesied about the coming of Messiah and whoever this Messiah was the Spirit of the Lord would be upon him And the Spirit of the Lord was upon him.

This is what he would come to do He came to preach the gospel to the poor who said release to the captives Those who are downtrodden to give hope that's what God came to do and So by coming to the shepherds and giving them the announcement, he set the tone for his ministry He came to save the lowly he came to save the captive. He came to save the brokenhearted He came to save those who recognized they had a need and that's why in Luke chapter 4 the people that he grew up with Wanted to kill him because they didn't recognize they had a need That's why they wanted to stone him that's why they took him to the to the brow there in Nazareth as you go up to Nazareth there's a big cliff on the right-hand side as you begin to make your way up to the little village of Nazareth said one and only cliff there in The village of Nazareth, so it's probably the place they would take him to throw him off to kill him Luke 4 goes into detail about why they want to do that.

It's because they did not recognize their need They did not recognize that they were sinners that they were captives that they were poor that they were lowly They thought they were really good See God didn't save good people He just saves the bad people See good people don't think they need a Savior bad people. No, they need a Savior They're sinners and that's what Jesus came to do and that's why he appeared to shepherds That's why Paul would say over the first Corinthians chapter 1 that familiar verse in verse number 26 where he says this for consider your calling brethren that there were not many wise according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen The things that are not that he might nullify the things that are that no man should boast before God but by his doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that Just as it is written.

Let him who boasts boast in the Lord You see when a sinner is saved. He has no Boasting in and of himself because it was of the Lord and his grace and his mercy that saved him That's what Mary said in Luke chapter 1 Verse number 52 when she says he has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble Mary knew Mary knew that our Lord came to exalt the humble. He came to revive the brokenhearted the crushed in spirit To set release those who have been taken captive by their sin that they might experience the freedom in Christ So the shepherds tell us about the great birth announcement And why is it our Lord would go to them and explain to them?

Because that would be his mission to proclaim the gospel to the lowly Our Lord said he didn't come to call the righteous Came to call the sinner for those are the ones who recognize they need a Savior So the first thing you need to know about the great birth announcement is the shepherds their location their occupation But the second thing you notice Is what we call the Shekinah.

I thought about calling the shining But I decided to stay away from that term and call it the Shekinah from a Hebrew word called Shekinah, which means to dwell This becomes so important for you to understand the birth of Christ the Shekinah glory of God Shekinah means to dwell the the dwelling presence of God Let's know what the Bible says It says in verse number nine in an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them The glory of the Lord listen is simply the presence of God Revealed in light That's what it is The glory of the Lord is the presence of God Revealed in light Now listen, we know God has no physical body, right?

We know that God is spirit He has no flesh and bone So when God manifests himself he manifests himself in brilliant light and So we need to understand that because that's going to help us understand the birth of our of our Lord and the announcement on this night To the shepherds in that same region around Bethlehem You see our Lord Because he is spirit when he wants to reveal himself. He reveals himself in His glory, which is the presence of God in light Remember way back in Exodus chapter 33 Moses said show me your glory.

I Want to see your glory I Want to be begin to grasp for your presence. I want you to show me your glory and the Lord says to Moses He said verse 20 Exodus chapter 33. You cannot see my face for no man can see me and live Then the Lord said behold there is a place by me and you shall stand there on the rock and it will come about While my glory is passing by or why my presence revealed in light is passing by That I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by Then I will take my hand away and you shall see my back But my face shall not be seen God says listen, you can't see me Moses and live No man can look into my face and live because he is brilliant shining light So much so that if you saw him you'd instantly be incinerated you could not stand in the presence of Almighty God So Moses says our God says to Moses.

This is what I'm going to do. I'm gonna put you in the cleft of the rock I'm gonna hide you with my hand and I'm gonna pass by you and when I do you're gonna be able to see my my afterglow Because once you see me you'll die so you you can't see me Moses and live So I'm gonna let you see my my back parts my my afterglow when I walk by When you come down next to chapter 34 says in verse number 5 and the Lord descended in the cloud and Stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord The Lord descended listen in a cloud.

That's very important The presence of God Manifested itself in a cloud the dwelling of God in a cloud And the Lord passed by in front of him listen and proclaimed the Lord the Lord God Compassionate and gracious slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness and truth who keeps loving kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity transgression and sin Listen how was God revealed to Moses God was revealed to Moses by what God said Not by what Moses saw That's why the Word of God is so important If you're gonna see God you're gonna see him because of what he said And the Lord God proclaimed to Moses His character his nature his glory his presence who he is Now this this cloud is important.

Why because the Bible tells us in Exodus chapter 40 upon the completion of the tabernacle verse 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle So the cloud is representative of the glory of the Lord and it filled the tabernacle and Moses were not able to enter the tent Because the cloud had settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was Taken up from over the tabernacle the sons of Israel would set out and if the cloud was not taken up Then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up for throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day and there was listen fire in it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel So in the tabernacle, there was this cloud which represented the glory of God the Shekinah the presence the dwelling of Almighty God And that cloud when it moved Israel moved it was a cloud by day.

It was a fire by night When the temple was done the same thing happened The glory of the Lord came down into the temple and was there in the temple So we had the exact same thing in the tabernacle in the temple, but Ezekiel gets a vision When Ezekiel gets his vision he sees something happen he sees the glory of the Lord departing from the temple because of the sins of the people and The glory of the Lord the presence of God in light manifested in light is now Leaving the temple it had been with them as they moved out of Egypt It had been with them through the through the through the years of the tabernacle had been with them through the years of the temple But now Ezekiel gets a vision because God is telling Ezekiel Listen, there is no longer going to be my dwelling presence among the people and he removes himself from that temple until Luke chapter 2 because now the glory of the Lord is coming back down to earth This is so important Because now he wasn't going to be manifested in a cloud And now he wasn't going to be manifested by some light he was going to be manifested in the flesh He was going to be manifested in a body God the infinite one becoming an infant Enfleshed it's called the incarnation of God the enfleshment of God And that's why when you go over to Matthew chapter 17 on the mount of transfiguration Remember what took place there?

It says in verse number one and six days after Jesus took Excuse me and six days later Jesus took with him Peter James and John his brother and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves and He was transfigured or metamorphosed before them and his face Shown like the Sun and his garments became as white as light and behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him And Peter answered and said to Jesus Lord It is good for us to be here If you wish I will make three tabernacles here one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah While he was still speaking behold a listen bright cloud Overshadowed them and behold a voice out of the clouds saying this is my beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased Listen to him So here was our Lord Unzipping his flesh opening his flesh being transfigured before them and what they saw was the brightness of light At the same time this cloud would descend from heaven.

It was a bright cloud It was a shining cloud because that was representative of the presence of God and the voice of God The Father would speak. This is my beloved Son with whom I am pleased Why do I tell you all that I Tell you that Because the glory of the Lord shown around about them is the presence of God manifested in light Now think about this God has just been born in Mary God is in Bethlehem Enfleshed in a body And yet the presence of God would shine all around them how can that be Say Oh pastor, man, I just had breakfast man.

I'm sure I can comprehend all this stuff, man This is this is way beyond me, man. I haven't even had lunch yet. Some of you are half-asleep The bottom line is then this is amazing stuff. You got the presence of God enfleshed in a baby In Bethlehem you get the presence of God shining all around them See just because God became flesh does not mean that he was no longer on the present Because you have God the Father God the Son and God the Spirit, right? God is still present everywhere just because he localized himself in the flesh Does not mean that he no longer was on the present now Jesus would lay aside some of those divine attributes according to Philippians chapter 2 when he became a man But what is happening here is a demonstration listen of what the shepherds truly knew They knew the glory of the Lord had departed way back in Ezekiel's vision But now they see the glory of the Lord coming back down to earth the presence of Almighty God has arrived and The glory of the Lord would shine all around them You see you need to understand the revelation of the Shekinah.

This is the manifestation of God to the shepherds Now, let me take off from that for a second because you need to understand that God is light And then what John says 1st John 5 1 or should be 1st John 1 5 God is light and in him is no darkness at all John in 1st John gives us the gospel.

He says number one. God is light. Number two. God is love and number three God is life There is no life Unless you understand the love of God And you never understand the love of God unless you understand that God himself is light John got it in the right order God is light.

God is love. God is life But you must understand that God is light. Listen, there is no salvation To those who do not know that God is light No matter what you know about God You'll never be saved unless you understand that God is light because in him is no darkness at all That's what John says 1st John 1 5 That means there is no evil. There is no darkness. There is no sin in our Lord He is perfectly righteous. That's why the glory of the Lord is Manifested in brightness in that that shining brightness because it's it represents his purity His holiness if you read Revelation chapter 1 you realize that John the Apostle John got a vision of the glorified Christ And his face would shine as bright as the Sun if you read Revelation 21 You realize that in in heaven, there is no Sun.

There is no moon There is no stars because it's the light of the Lamb that lights the new city of Jerusalem It's the Lord God who lights it Better yet understand this God created light on day one Genesis chapter 1 verse number 3 He created light on day one He did not create the Sun and the moon and the stars till day four Because the Sun the moon and the stars Although they give us light that is not their express purpose Their express purpose is to give us time in days and seasons You see the Bible says in Isaiah 45 7 that God listen to this God created darkness So God creates light and God creates darkness.

So what was there before there was light and before there was darkness? nothing Well, that must represent that must be represented by darkness. No No, when there's nothing there's nothing That means there's no light and there's no darkness. There's nothing. Well, how do you define that? Well, nothing Nothing is zero zilch nada There's absolutely nothing there. Well, it must because there's nothing it must be dark. No We get that from movies. We don't get that from the scripture. Isaiah 45 7 said that God created darkness There was no darkness till God created it.

God also created light now. He is light But he also created light You with me so far. Are you tracking with me? Because to understand God is light. You must understand that he is unblemished He is absolutely pure and absolutely holy. There is no sin in him. There is no darkness in him He is so perfect. So righteous so holy that when you see it At the shepherds you're absolutely frightened scared to death Because when you see the light You automatically see how sinful you are in Nobody is saved unless that takes place first.

You can't get saved unless you know you're a sinner, right? And if you're a sinner you need what a Savior and that's Jesus Christ our Lord and People don't understand this when they come Christmas season. They don't get this That's why all these people who are unbelievers celebrate Christmas. They don't get it They can't celebrate Christmas The unbelieving world can't celebrate the birth of Christ Why because they don't see him as light That came to shine in their dark world to expose their sin So they would fall in their face before him and say God be merciful unto me a sinner So We begin to understand that God is light when the glory of the Lord shown around them It tells us that our God is light.

That's why he said in John 8 12 I am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness But shall have the light of life John says in John 1 verse number 4 in him was life and that life was the light of the world He's unblemished James 1 17 says that every good and perfect gift cometh down from the father of lights the father of lights revelation 22 16 member Christ is called the bright morning star as Psalm 84 11 Christ is called the Lord. God is a son s-u-n and a shield in Malachi 4 2 the Messiah is called the son as you in of righteousness because it emphasizes the brightness of his character the purity of his character the unblemished character of Almighty God and that's why numbers chapter 24 verse number 17 says about the coming of Messiah a star shall come forth from Jacob a scepter shall rise from Israel and Every Jew knows that numbers 24 17 is a prophecy about coming Messiah and the Messiah will be a star He'll be a star The Messiah will be a star What led the wise men to Bethlehem?

a what star Not any normal star That star was the Lord God who led them each and every step of the way To where they needed to be God is light. He is unblemished and Because he's light number two.

He is unapproachable Because he is so pure and so holy and so bright you can't even begin to approach him first Timothy chapter 6 Says it this way first Timothy chapter 6 Verse number 14 Paul tells Timothy you keep the commandment without staying a reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ Which he will bring about at the proper time Who he who that is Christ is the blessed and only Sovereign the king of kings and Lord of lords now who is the king of all kings and Lord of all lords?

That's Jesus Christ, right? Listen to this Who alone possesses immortality? There's only one who possesses immortality. That's God himself Jesus Christ is God and dwells in unapproachable light Only one and Jesus Christ the king of kings and Lord of lords dwells abides in Unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see No man can see that light. No man can look at that light and live See, this is a perfect verse to prove the deity of Christ because way back in Exodus chapter 33 What did the Lord God of Israel say to Moses you can't see my face and live why because my glory is so bright You'll be incinerated same thing instead of Jesus Christ in the first Timothy chapter 6.

He is the king of kings He is the Lord of lords who dwells and abides in unapproachable light and no man can see that light and live Jesus Christ is God Undeniable So, what do you have you have the character of Christ Defined as being completely unblemished Because the brightness of his character also because he's so pure and holy he's unapproachable You can't see him and live You can't look upon him and even begin to imagine existing the Bible says in Hebrews 12 29 that our God is a Consuming fire a Consuming fire psalm 104 tells us that our Lord is clothed with splendor and majesty and It's covered himself with light as a cloak Can't see him and live he's unapproachable So what a guy do ah He's unblemished He's unapproachable But yet he unleashed Himself upon this earth.

He unleashed that light so man could see it And that's why Christ said that he was the light of the world That's why the Bible says Very simply that the light has come into the world Enlightens every man who's in the world You see what happened to Luke chapter 2 was that God unleashed that glory.

He unleashed that light In his Son so you and I could see in our world the darkness If that light had not been unleashed we would never be able to approach him ever again Would not Because he is so pure so holy and so true Listen to what the Bible says Back in Isaiah chapter 9 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light And those who live in a dark land the light will shine on Them it's a prophecy about the coming of Messiah and the light of God shining upon them The Bible says in Isaiah 59 these words Justice is far from us and righteousness does not overtake us.

We hope for light, but behold darkness for brightness But we walk in gloom we grope along all the wall like blind men We grope like those who have no eyes we stumble at midday is in the twilight among those who are vigorous We are like dead men But the Lord says the Redeemer will come says in verse chapter chapter 60 verse number one arise Shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you for behold darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples but the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will appear upon you and nations will come to your light and Kings to the brightness of your rising you see it's important to understand that the shepherds Come or the angel come to the shepherds at night And not during the day Because they had to come amidst all the darkness that would surround them and the bright light would shine So they would understand that the glory of the Lord had shown upon them in the midst of a darkened world and listen our Lord unblemished in character unapproachable in character Unleashed his character upon the earth.

Listen So you would be unshackled From the chains of darkness Is that what Isaiah said? I mean, I'm sorry Zacharias said in Zacharias Excuse me Luke chapter 1 He said this verse 78 But of the tender mercy of our God with which the Sun rise from on high Will visit us to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace Zacharias knew that the Sunrise from an eye is going to visit us that the Messiah is coming and So therefore when when when the angel of the Lord came to them and the glory of the Lord shone around the angels It was symbolic of the light coming to a dark world So those who are shackled by the darkness of sin would know that there was freedom from it freedom that would only come from the Savior who was born in Bethlehem who truly is and was the light of the world and That is the revelation of the Shekinah the revelation of the shining the unblemished character of God The unapproachable character of God all of a sudden being unleashed upon the world so that those who are shackled would be unshackled by the chains of sin and darkness and That's behind the great birth announcement.

What was the reaction of the shepherds? Absolute terror They were fearful You see when the glory of the Lord shines around you when the presence of God shines down upon you There's only one reaction and it's absolutely sheer unadulterated terror Zacharias had it in Luke chapter 1 remember and the angel said don't be afraid Zacharias Mary had it in Luke chapter 1 and the angel said to Mary Do not be afraid Mary And now the shepherds experience and what does the angel say to them do not be afraid Why You see if you're in sin you need to be afraid If you're not you don't have to be afraid Because these shepherds had experienced the saving work of Almighty God Which is evidenced in how they respond to the message given to them by the angel And you see they they had come to realize They had come to realize that night these shepherds lowly class of people uneducated men unskilled men Knew because they were Jewish knew the Old Testament and They knew that what had taken place that day would transform their lives notice the shepherds asked no questions Asked no questions Why not?

Because they knew Messiah was going to come And they knew what the Old Testament said about the coming of the Messiah being a light to a dark world they probably even knew Micah chapter 5 verse number 2 and So when the angel came and said For unto you this day in the city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord They sit back and say wow tell me some more about that I Don't quite understand what you're saying. They understood They got it Because they were anticipating the coming of Messiah and they believed in what the angel said And I wonder today how many of us are here celebrating Christmas in July?

Still shackled by the chains of sin and darkness Remember Colossians chapter 1 verse number 13 It tells us very emphatically about our Lord for he delivered us from the domain of darkness and Transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins You see he is the light of the world who came to us amidst all of our darkness That we might be transferred Translated from that kingdom ruled by Satan to the kingdom of his dear Son That's a kingdom of light and truth and holiness I wonder this morning if you have been unshackled if you have been set free You know in a few weeks, I know I've gone long today but What's a few extra minutes?

In a few weeks all this is gonna be down It'll all be down and when you come to the auditorium It's gonna be like it's bare almost naked It happens every year in January we take down the decorations in the auditorium And it's a reminder listen, it's a reminder of the unbeliever Who when Christmas is all over? Their barren soul is exposed Because there's nothing there It's empty It's dry It's vacant Because there is no God ruling the heart see for us Christmas is not a day Christmas is not even a season Christmas is our life It's our life So our souls aren't barren our souls aren't thirsty our souls aren't hungry because they've been fed by the bread of life They've been given water to drink by the one who has the living water.

They have been filled by his presence and So when you see the auditorium in its barrenness Because all the decorations are down. It's a reminder of the unbeliever It is barren soul and I wonder today how many of us who are here experience a Barren soul an empty soul a dead soul because there is no life in it You could experience that life By understanding that God number one is light And why he's unapproachable in light.

God is also love which makes him approachable, right? and Because he is approachable you can obtain that life. It's called the eternal life of God That begins the moment you give your life to him he transforms you from darkness To light For he himself is light. Let's pray father. We thank you for this day and thank you for the Word of the Lord Thank you for the the message you gave to the shepherds there in that same region outside of Bethlehem There's so much that needs to be uncovered in these verses We haven't even begun to scratch the surface And yet Lord the magnitude of your mercy is displayed when you came to the shepherds And you shown round about them in your great glory and presence To announce the birth of your son to the angel Who would say today for you?

It's a personal Savior for each of us And I pray that no man or woman Would leave this auditorium today without being unshackled by the light of life In Jesus name we pray. Amen