The Great Birth Announcement, Part 2

Word and the opportunity you give us each and every week to study your word We thank you for the opportunity you give us every day to open your word to read it to memorize it to study it to even sing it And we ask lord that what we hear today through the reading and teaching of your word That lord it would enable us to want to study it and read it and memorize it and sing it all the more because of the truth That it gives us We pray in jesus name Amen Luke chapter 2 is where we are at luke chapter 2 As we continue studying the birth of christ and looking at specifically at the great birth announcement Someone had given me an article this past week about a local In that came out of the local paper About thinking about christmas in july.

So we're not the only ones who think about christmas in july And reads as follows just the other day while working on a christmas gift project I got to thinking that maybe moving the holiday to july might not be such a bad idea. What do you think? Now before you so quickly dismiss the idea consider the benefits This is what she believes are the benefits of having christmas in july number one There's nothing like a little old-fashioned holiday stress to break up those lazy hazy crazy days of summer number two Christmas shopping in shorts and tank tops number three shoppers can take full advantage of those otherwise useless after july 4th clearance sales number four Eliminate the danger of open fires by roasting chestnuts on the sidewalk number five No worries about jack frost nipping at your nose number six a full 242 days between thanksgiving and christmas Number seven no more having to share the spotlight with new year's day number eight holiday blues hardly noticeable in the summer heat Number nine the traditional christmas eve picnic and number 10 watermelon wreaths Now think about that She wants us to think about christmas in july, but never once did she mention the significance of the birth of christ Now that's the way most people think about christmas They think about all the outward trappings all the all the gifts and all the gimmicks and all the things that take place Surrounding christmas, but jesus truly isn't the focus of most people's christmas They don't remember jesus christ Because to remember him would cause them to realize the sinfulness of man And on friday night of their closing ceremony for vbs Entitled bethlehem's village.

We talked about the seven serious sins of the season The seven sins that that keep you from the reality of christmas One was apathy because that's the way the people were in israel. They were apathetic to the coming of messiah It had been 400 years Since an angel had spoken since there had been a word from god and people had gotten pretty apathetic concerning the coming of a messiah people today Are apathetic when it comes to the christmas season not only is there apathy but there's activity that is the overwhelming Activities that seem to encompass us during the christmas season.

We become so busy with the mundane and the meaningless And you think about all those people in bethlehem from the innkeeper to the residents all those people were so actively involved in doing What it is they do taking the census making sure that everybody was registered for the taxation that they Didn't even take time to consider that the young woman Was carrying the messiah We get so involved During the christmas season so involved with everything that doesn't really mean much at all But it consumes our thinking and we miss the reality of the season apathy activity, there's also religiosity Religiosity We are so religious We think that because we go to church on christmas sunday or to a christmas eve service that we've done our part That we're part and parcel to the christmas celebration because we've been a part of a christmas service and we get enamored with religion And the jewish people Were consumed with the rituals of their religion They did their sacrificial thing they kept the sabbath day but religiosity So many times camouflages are thinking about the reality of christmas There's apathy.

There's activity. There's religiosity. There's familiarity Familiarity think about it jesus his own brothers and sisters Didn't even believe in him until after the resurrection They were so familiar with him Even when jesus went back to nazareth in luke chapter 4 and stood up to preach. He said this is this is not joseph's son Isn't this the carpenter's boy? Who is this guy? They were so familiar with him. They were with him so Often every single day That the christmas story meant nothing the birth of the messiah meant nothing to them How many people do you know can recite luke chapter 2 the christmas story?

It's so familiar to them that the essence of what that story means doesn't even begin to penetrate their hard hearts We become so familiar With what takes place at christmas that we think we know all there is to know about the story about the coming of the messiah But we don't That's why we're spending so much time in luke chapter 2 During this month because we want you to understand the essence of that story There's also jealousy Another reason people miss the reality of the christmas season Jealousy king herod was that way when he found out there was another king that was born He wasn't a very happy camper and he wanted to make sure that that king was taken care of So he did all he could to slaughter that king.

He slaughtered all the young males two years and under And people miss the reality of the christmas season because they don't want another king to rule in their hearts They are jealous of their own kingship. They're jealous of their own rulership. They want to rule and to have another king Set up residence in their heart would cause them to be submissive to another lord and they don't want to do that Outside of jealousy there's idolatry and that was the roman the roman occupation They were idol worshipers.

They had another god It wasn't that they would serve the the right god in the wrong way. They just served the wrong god in the wrong way And they were idol worshippers and a lot of people today miss the reality of the christmas season because they too have their own idols They have their own idols of power and prestige and popularity. They have their their own desires anything that takes the place of my devotion to christ Becomes my idol And so many times we as christians Without even knowing it spend our christmas season so focused on family That family becomes our idol So focused on being with family and doing things with family.

That's all about family christmas is not about family christmas is about jesus christ our lord But so many times we as christians all we can think about is our family and it becomes an idol that we worship without even knowing it And we miss the reality of the christmas season But the most important one The one that caused there to be great hatred toward the christ is the sin of self-sufficiency I don't need a savior I have a system I have a religion I'm a i'm a son of abraham I am a I am a jew. I am a chosen one And the chief priests and the scribes were the ones who were enamored with themselves They believed that they were sufficient in and of themselves.

They developed their own method of salvation They developed their own laws to incorporate salvation into their lives and they were self-sufficient. They didn't need a savior They would even go to bethlehem to see if if what the the wise men said was true Because they didn't even want to go down that path They were arrogant They were prideful Because they had their own system of religion and that's why That's why the great birth announcement Is about the shepherds That's why they received it Because you see the shepherds were anything but self-sufficient They were weak.

They were meek. They were lowly. They were despised. They were ridiculed They were looked down upon and that's who jesus came to save In fact, the bible says in matthew 5 verse number 20 unless your righteousness Exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees.

You'll never enter the kingdom of heaven You can imagine what the people on that hillside there overlooking the sea of galilee Thought about when jesus said those words Because the chief priests the scribes the pharisees they were the religious elite They were the they were the righteous ones. They were the religious ones. They were the they were the perfect ones in the in the jewish mind And yet their whole religion was based on human achievement And the righteousness of christ is based on a divine accomplishment And christ says unless your righteousness Exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees that is unless you go beyond your self-sufficient lifestyle Unless you go beyond your own religion Unless you go beyond your own way of salvation and come to me and throw yourself upon me and beg me for mercy You'll never obtain my righteousness.

You'll never enter the kingdom of heaven That's why christ said in luke chapter 5. He did not come to call the righteous He came to call the sinners And so you begin to understand the great birth announcement when you realize that in that same region There were shepherds Tending their flocks by night and that's who the angel and the glory of the lord would shine around It would come to the shepherds Because it was a it was a symbol. It was a testimony to the message of salvation That god did not come to the elite that god did not come to the self-satisfied That god did not come to those who don't need a savior He came to save those who recognized their sinfulness who recognized their need for a savior would throw themselves upon him for his mercy And that was the whole testimony of the ministry of christ And that's why the religious Establishment despised him And so when god made the announcement about the birth of a son He made it to the lowly shepherds in the fields of bethlehem Because it was a testimony to how he would save the sinner From eternal damnation And that's where the shepherds come in And that's what we looked at last week.

The great birth announcement sent us around the shepherds We also said it centered around the shekinah or the shining the shekinah is that dwelling Of the glory of the lord the glory of the lord would shine around them And the glory of the lord is the presence of god revealed in light And we looked at this was the revelation of god to the angels And that's why they were so frightened. Not only did they see an angel But they saw the glory of the lord shining round about them the presence of god Manifesting itself in light and they were fearful why because they had come face to face with the truth Of the reality that jesus christ is the light of the world And when you come face to face with god you come face to face With a god who was completely pure and completely holy and when you understand his holiness You recognize your sinfulness it causes you to fear it causes you to tremble and they would shake uncontrollably Because of the presence of god around them That was a reaction to the revelation Of god And that leads us to our third point this morning and that is The statement we move from the shepherds to the shekinah to the statement Because the angel would say something He would say something to the shepherds that would give them number one consolation and number two Jubilation It would give them great comfort and great joy to understand the message Let me read it to you verse number 10 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 Do not be afraid They were afraid and rightly so And rightly so A lot like ezekiel was when he came face to face with the living god in the book of ezekiel or isaiah in isaiah Chapter 6 or the apostle john in revelation 1 17 or peter james and john in matthew 17 on the mount of transfiguration They were all afraid and rightly so Rightly, so But when the angel said to them Do not be afraid It was an affirmation That the grace of god had come to them This was about consolation it was not about condemnation It was about the coming of god to comfort the souls of lost sinners And so they come bringing good news of great joy And the angel said to them do not be afraid That little phrase don't be afraid you'll see it in matthew 17 You see it in revelation chapter 1 when the when the lord god touches john and says do not be afraid john You see it in isaiah chapter 6 you see it first of all in genesis chapter 15 The very first time that phrase is ever used is genesis chapter 15 when abraham was fearful after he had rescued his nephew Lot from the from the enemy kings He might have been fearful concerning their retaliation and the angel of the lord comes to him or the word of the lord comes to him it says And says to abraham do not be afraid In fact in genesis chapter 15 the very first time the phrase the word of the lord is used It's in conjunction with abraham not being afraid the first time that phrase is used as well Whenever you are fearful you need to trust in the word of the lord Because the word of the lord brings consolation And so this angel would come and say do not be afraid they come to comfort these shepherds to help them to understand What is taking place the great consolation?

comes to these men and instead of being terrified Of what might happen to them They become excited About what has happened to them You remember uh Zacharias in luke chapter 1 verse number 13 when the angel came to him he was afraid and the angel said do not fear Mary was the same way She was afraid and the angel said do not do not be afraid in luke chapter 5 With peter james and john and the disciples on the boat and christ doing that great fishing expedition And told them to throw their nets on the other side and they did And they got so much fish.

They couldn't put it in the in the boat Peter fell at the feet of the jesus and said depart from me. I am a sinful man And christ said to him peter do not be afraid That phrase do not be afraid is used in conjunction with people who have received the grace of almighty god. These were devout men These are men looking for the coming of messiah These are men true to the testimony of the scripture And so you move from the consolation to the jubilation Do not be afraid why I bring you good news Of a great joy Good news Young galizzo, it's where we get our english word evangelize This is the good news What's the good news?

Well, the good news is about great joy great joy You see sometimes we forget about this we talk about it at christmas We recite the verses at christmas, but we forget that the good news brings great joy And as a christian we are to live a life of great joy Because we have been forgiven of our sins We have been set free from the bondage of of slavery to satan and that brings joy to the individual's heart And so the bible emphasizes the joy of the believer And if there's anybody who wants to celebrate christmas season, it's those who have been released from their sins Because they've experienced the good news that brings great joy And the angel would say to these men This is the greatest of all joy that you will understand The good news and this good news listen It's for who?

all people All people not just some people It's for all people And we'll see about that as we look at earth's first evangelists the shepherds In a few weeks as they embark on this mission to go and tell all that they had heard the angel say And these men Were the recipients of this good news And this good news would bring them great and Uncontrollable joy that would motivate them that would move them to tell other people about the greatness of salvation but this good news as the text says is for All people now that begins first of all with the jewish nation, right?

it begins first of all with the jewish people because Salvation is of the jews and the jewish people were the vehicle by which the world was to receive the truth of the coming of messiah That's what the old testament's about israel was that vehicle that god would use to to convey his saving purposes And now he comes to these jewish shepherds that they would understand that this good news is now for not just them As jews, but for all people And is that not what simeon said in luke chapter 2 verse number 38 days after the birth of christ for my eyes Has seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples a light to bring salvation To the gentiles and the glory of your people israel simeon knew simeon knew the old testament He knew that this was a light of revelation to not just the jewish nation but to the gentiles as well And over in isaiah chapter 61 or excuse me isaiah 60 It was a prophet isaiah who said arise shine for your light has come And the glory of the lord that is the messiah is risen upon you for behold The darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness of people But the lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you and the gentile shall come to your Light that is the gentile shall come to the messiah You see that's what the old testament conveyed That jew and gentile alike would understand the saving purposes of god And when the angels came this day and the glory of the lord would shine around about them We told you last week that the glory of the lord is the presence of god revealed in light And that's why john said in john 1 14 and we beheld his glory The glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth The glory of the lord had come down to earth back in ezekiel.

The glory of the lord had departed from the temple And now the glory of the lord had returned to earth not in a cloud But in the form of a baby The baby born in bethlehem Who would be the light of the world? And the glory of the lord had returned to earth See the shepherds I believe understood the old testament. They were jewish jewish men They they were were taught the law of god And they seen the glory of the lord shining all around them would realize that back in ezekiel The glory of the lord had departed and now it's coming back God is coming back to man And And so they would begin to understand More and more about the reality of the old testament prophecy as the angel would speak to them about not being afraid Because what we have for you is good news And this good news is about great joy.

That will be for all people not just certain people but for all the people who understand the significance of the savior Who is christ? The lord So we move from the shepherds to the shekinah to the statement To the savior luke 2 verse 11 says this For today in the city of david there has been born for you a savior who is christ The lord now we'll stop right there This is the thesis of the paragraph this is the essence of the gospel this is Redemption realized this is what it's all about That in the city of david there has been born for you a savior who is christ the lord You must understand the saviorship of christ The messiahship of christ and the lordship of christ or there is no salvation for you That's who's been born a savior who is christ the lord Christ being a savior Is not a new testament concept It's an old testament concept Because christ himself is a savior god is a savior and the jewish people More so than any other people understand the saviorship of god They saw him as a savior Remember way back in exodus chapter 3 When god revealed himself to moses in the bernie bush He said this exodus chapter 3 Verse number 7 and the lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people Who are in egypt and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters For I am aware of their suffering so I have come down God says I have come down to do what To deliver them from the power of the egyptians and to bring them up from that land To a good and spacious land to a land flowing with milk and honey God says I have come down and the reason I have come down is to he says deliver them And so when moses later on in his conversation with the lord says What is your name?

They're going to ask me what your name is. And what am I going to tell them? And the lord god said you tell him I am sent you that tetragamaton that that that name for god yave You tell him I am sent you and christ goes on to say these words in verse number 17 The lord the god of your fathers the god of abraham the god of isaac and the god of jacob has sent me to you This is my name forever. And this is my memorial name to all generations How many times have we told you that the memorial name of god is?

He is a deliverer He is a savior. So all jews understand god as deliverer because that is his memorial name yave Is equivalent to deliverer to redeemer to savior He came to save his people from their sins And that was accentuated in the passover, right? In the passover it was accentuated. Why because that's how they were delivered. How was israel delivered from egyptian bondage? They were delivered because the blood that was poured on the doorposts of their house So they knew that deliverance came through the shedding of blood She don't think the jews are stupid They're not stupid They understand The deliverer ship of god.

Maybe that's not even a word deliverer ship if it's not maybe it should be that's a good word They understand that god is a savior and a deliverer. They grasp that because they've been delivered And they were delivered And think about it read it read throughout the history of israel. They were delivered from egyptian bondage, right? God saved them through the wilderness the 40 years God saved them as they embarked on the promised land and began to fight the enemy And god has preserved them and saved them throughout the history of the world So when they go to fight hezbollah and lebanon, are we afraid that they're going to be destroyed no Because god will always preserve his people And israel will always be preserved Because god is a deliverer he's a savior of his people Now The shepherds do that Because you will know the shepherds didn't ask any questions about a savior A savior, what do we need to save you for?

Save us from what? Oh As we go through luke, you're gonna understand what god saves you from And it's not listen from your sin But you need to understand what he saves you from it's not your sin he saves you From him See we don't understand the saviorship of god who's god saved you from what's god saved you from it's he saves you from himself He saves you from you experiencing his wrath That's what saviorship is all about And when he saves you from his sin he does so so you won't experience the condemnation of god That's what saving is all about god saves you from his sin That's why when they ask later on luke are there many being saved lord?

Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of almighty god And See, we don't understand saviorship. We think we do because we're saved We're because we're born again. We think we understand what it means that jesus christ is a savior But i'm not too sure that we we we we get it I think we're kind of you know, uh confused upstairs as to what it means that jesus christ is truly the savior of the world And how it is he goes about saving man and what he saves them from He saves them from his own wrath Because he is a merciful kind and loving god I'm afraid That we have forgotten that It's important to note That That every false religion listen every false religion That means every religion outside of true christianity Every false religion is based on me somehow some way Doing something to appease god by my own efforts by my own works And thus be able to save myself That's what false religion is all about That some way somehow somewhere i'm going to be able to do enough good things So that god will see me he'll be pleased and through my works Gain acceptance to god thus saving myself every religion Teaches that except christianity Because christianity is about a relationship with the living god of the universe That comes through not our works, but his work at calvary's cross Now think about it this way In in in the days of the old testament in the days the new testament There were two main false gods.

One was baal Baal and the other one was the false god Moloch And you know baal very well because you know the story of elijah on mount carmel and how he would slay those 450 prophets because of their false god And remember the whole scenario when when they were trying to to to get their god To call fire down from heaven And remember what elijah said to them You know, maybe your god's asleep Maybe maybe he's taking a nap Or maybe he's on vacation Maybe he took a break. Maybe he went to tahiti for a week.

He can't hear you as you call out to him and cut yourself You see that's the best a false god can do That is he's indifferent to your cry He doesn't pay attention to your need Yeah But that's the best Elijah could offer as to why? There was no answer now baal doesn't exist. There is no false god. There's only one god. It's the true god of the universe But it was their work to try to appease their god to get him to respond to them But they couldn't do enough things to get him pleased so he would respond Because there is no god like baal There's only the one true god of israel Moloch is the other one.

He was the hostile god. That's the one where they had to offer the children up as sacrifices And and burn them alive in order to appease the hostility of the pagan god You see every false system is like that It's like that and the worst thing about it is that we think we're serving the real true god In trying to appease him Thinking that if I say it right enough things and do enough things that and and and be at the right church long enough That that god will be pleased He'll look upon me and say you did a good job You can get in But that's just not true That's just not true Because you see in in the depths of our souls we are thinking That we're good enough and I shared this on wednesday night I want to share it with you again this morning because you need to understand this people say why Do bad things happen to good people?

The answer is they don't They don't Why because there are no good people Romans 3 there is none good. No, not one, right? So the right question is why do Good things happen to bad people That's the right question see we got them reversed we got them all mixed up We are so worried. Oh, there's just so many bad things happen. I'm a good person These bad things shouldn't be happening to me. I don't deserve this. I'm a good guy. I go to church I carry my bible. I don't beat my dog. I don't beat my wife.

I don't kick my kids. I'm a good father And and all these bad things are happening i'm a good person No, you're not Because the bible says there is none good no, not one that's what's so great about uh, jacob's prayer in genesis 32 That's why you need to get the tape from wednesday night because jacob appealed to god based on the fact that he was unworthy He says I know that I am unworthy of All your loving kindness and all your faithfulness to me See our problem is that we think we are worthy of god's loving kindness And we are worthy of god's faithfulness because we think down deep we are good and that's the problem with our prayer life We expect god to come through for us because of who we are We're good people and god and we demand god to answer our prayer And jacob says I am unworthy I'm unworthy of all your loving kindness.

I'm unworthy of all your faithfulness and he was right and he was the promised promised line of the messiah He was the one who was the inheritance inheritor of the blessing he was the the father of a great nation israel See Yet he recognized he was unworthy Of the loving kindness of god of the mercy of god You see what sets god apart from every other false god Is that our god is kind our god is compassionate Our god is loving and our god is merciful because he is a savior by nature He's a redeemer he is a deliverer And the shepherds knew that i'm convinced the shepherds knew that there was no question asked a savior Do we need a savior?

Savior yo billy bob. We need savior. I don't know joe. What do you think you think we need to say? We don't need a savior messiah Who's messiah? Who's christ? And it's christ the lord, how can the messiah be the lord there was no question There was no confusion on the part of the shepherds Because they would be anticipating What the old testament said? that the messiah truly was god in the flesh And god by nature Is a savior of man So they got it But somehow in 2 000 years We've missed it We don't see it as they saw it but we need to to understand that god is A savior remember way back in deuteronomy chapter 20 verse number four It says this verse one when you go to battle Against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you Do not be afraid of them for the lord your god who brought you up from the land of egypt is with you Now it shall come about that when you are approaching the battle The priest shall come near and speak to the people and he shall say to them here.

Oh israel You are approaching the battle against your enemies today Do not be faint-hearted Do not be afraid or panic or tremble before them for the lord Your god is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you You see israel saw god as a savior he goes before you to fight your battles because he is your savior How do you know you understand the saviorship of god? It's that you have no fear of your enemy. That's how you know Because you know your savior goes with you because he's there to save you over in psalm 25 It reads as follows Psalm i'm, sorry psalm 24 verse number five He shall receive a blessing from the lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation chapter 25 verse number Make me know thy ways oh lord teach me thy paths Lead me in thy truth and teach me for thou art the god of my salvation For thee I wait all the day the psalmist knew that his god was a saving god And therefore he would wrap his trust in him He would wait for him all day if need be because he knew he couldn't save himself So he had to depend upon the god of israel to save him over in psalm 79 Psalm 79 verse number 9 Reads this way Help us.

Oh god of our salvation For the glory of thy name and deliver us and forgive our sins for thy name's sake Now you see the psalmist knew that the reason they were forgiven of their sins Was for the sake of the god of their salvation It was for his name's sake it was for his character It was for his nature that god would save them and deliver them the psalmist knew that So the jewish mindset is that god is a savior. God is a redeemer. God is a deliverer I will wait for him to save me because I cannot save myself If you go on and read throughout the old testament judges chapter 3 judges chapter 6 second samuel 3 18 second kings 13 5 nehemiah 9 27 obadiah 21 It goes on and on about how god would raise up men To deliver his people because our god is a god who delivers his people from their distress from their difficulties Because our god is a saving god Israel knew that They understood that psalm or excuse me.

Isaiah 61 61 i'm, sorry. Isaiah 63 verse number 8 For he said surely they are my people sons who will not deal falsely So he became their savior in their affliction He was afflicted and the angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his mercy He redeemed them and he lifted them and carried them all the days of old See they saw god as a redeemer. They saw god as a deliverer. They saw god as a savior So when the angel appeared to the shepherds and said we got good news This good news is about joy.

You will receive because for you this day in the city of david There has been born a deliverer a redeemer a savior who is christ the messiah Who is the lord no questions asked by the shepherds? They knew God Had arrived On the sea They knew that And they understood their god as a savior Mary did luke 1 47. She rejoiced in god her salvation Zacharias did in verse number 69 and has raised up a hoard of salvation for us in the house of david his servant So zacharias understood the salvation of god. Mary understood the salvation of god excuse me simeon in in Luke 2 25 and 30 understood the salvation of god and anna In verse 38 she had the two understood the redemption of jerusalem That the savior had arrived See these people knew They knew the character of their god That he was a savior and that's why the bible says in first timothy 4 10 what That our god is a savior of all men, especially of those Who believe Let me tell you something god whether you are a believer today or not is your savior Do you know how I know that?

Because you made it safely to church today You made it safely to the night you've lived as long as you've lived God is a savior God is a savior because when you sin you don't die you still live God said to adam and eve the day you eat you shall die They died spiritually, but they still remained alive physically, didn't they? Why because god by nature is gracious loving kindness merciful and compassionate He allowed them to live the bible says in romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death The wages of sin is death you sin you die Ezekiel 18 4 the soul that sins it shall die and yet God is so wonderfully kind and merciful and loving you are still alive today Our god is the savior of all men physically And temporally is he not Sure he is Because when man sins he still breathes now some people sit and they die But Every time you see someone walking around That's the mercy of god That's the grace of god The long suffering of god the compassion of god Because our god's a savior see He doesn't want you to die your sins He doesn't want you to die he said he is completely opposite of what people think of god He's an ogre.

Why do innocent people suffer? Why do good bad things happen to good people? They don't happen. They don't Because our god is good and kind and loving and compassionate and merciful And every breath you take is because of the grace of god His wonderful mercy Our god is the savior of all men Especially of those Who believe So not only are we saved temporarily and physically from the consequences of our sin We still remain alive god because he's gracious is not willing that any should perish But that all should come to repentance and for those who believe they now become saved eternally and spiritually, right?

They receive eternal life They receive spiritual life. They receive the new life That comes only Through the saviorship of jesus christ our lord And that's why the bible says in matthew chapter 1 verse number 21 That this virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name jesus for he shall save his people from their sins That's why in luke 19 10.

He had the theme verse of the book of luke Which is he came to seek and to save that which was lost. That's why in john 4 42. It says we know that this one Is the savior of the world And that's why it says in first john chapter 4 verse number 14.

We have beheld and bear witness That the father has sent the son to be the savior of the world Folks this is the good news That brings great joy And the good news is this that our god is a savior And he allows people to live He allows him to breathe He allows him not to face the immediate consequences of the sin that is death physically So that they might somehow understand that he died for their sins That they might somehow give their lives to christ And receive his forgiveness That they may somehow understand that his life is available for them That's what it means to understand that jesus christ is a savior and the angel said Today this day david has been born for you a savior And I wonder for those of us who are here today If we've experienced the personal saviorship of christ in our lives That we've been saved from our sin You see that that's that's what it's all about And the only way that we can be saved eternally and spiritually is if messiah comes in Because every jew knew That messiah would die It says in zachariah 12 zachariah 13 daniel 9 psalm 22 Every jew knew that messiah would die And messiah is The lord The lord The lord That is The savior is the messiah and messiah is god And the only way god can die is if god becomes man And that's the essence of the birth of christ the great birth announcement And the most amazing thing is the decide the shepherds didn't scratch or anything I don't understand I don't get it What do you mean could you explain it to us No explanation necessary Because they knew The question is Do you know If you don't know Don't leave today Without knowing for certain That in the city of david There's been born for you a savior Who is christ the lord?

Let's pray Father we thank you for the truth of your word And the joy it brings Because that truly is the good news And my prayer is that everyone in this room would have experienced that great news That brings great joy That jesus is a savior Who came to die in our stead That we might not have to pay the penalty for our sin I pray that no one will leave this room today Without recognizing the fact they need a savior And give their lives to christ I pray in the name of jesus christ our soon coming king Amen