The Manger: A Manifestation of Majesty and Mystery, Part 4

I'm so glad that you're here this evening to celebrate on the eve of the birth of not just our King, but the King, the King of kings and Lord of lords It's a great opportunity for us to reflect once again on the beauty of the Christ child You know, I never in 64 years of living, yes, I know it's hard to believe I'm that old, but I am that I, Christmas has never lost its luster for me over all these years It never becomes old hat for me

There's so much about the Christmas story that is unveiling to us the truth of the gospel and to be able to understand the beauty of the Christ child and all that it, it holds is a, a never ending story And so tonight I, I want to take you back once again to, to the manger We've been looking at the manger, the, the place of majesty and, and mercy, uh, the place to help you understand the ministry and mystery of our Christ It's funny. I want you to see the manger as a place that's, that's all glory and generosity It's a place Yes Of, of mercy It's a place of, of ministry

It truly is a place of authority and adversity and nobility and necessity, but it's a place of glory and generosity Let me say it to you this way For most people, if they were asked this question, they would not be able to answer it What is the glory of the Lord shining all around? What does that mean? In Luke's gospel in the second chapter, when the angels came, it says that the glory of the Lord was shining all around the shepherds

What does that mean? How do you explain that? How does that deal with the manger, the feeding trough of the Christ child? This is all about the glory of the Christ child The glory of God is simply the, the, the presence of God manifested in brilliant, shining, dazzling light You need to understand that It's the presence of God manifested in light The Bible tells us in Psalm 84, 11, that the Lord God is a sun, S-U-N, and a shield The Lord God is a sun and a shield Psalm 104 tells us in verse number two, that the Lord closed himself in light as he would a cloak

Everything about our Lord deals with the unblemished, unapproachable, unending, brilliant light That's why the Bible tells us that God himself is light And the glory of the Lord is the presence of God manifested in that light

So how do we explain that? How do we get to that place? Why is it the shepherds were so terrified when the glory of the Lord would shine all around them? Well, to understand that, you have to go all the way back to the beginning, all the way back to the very first chapter of the Bible, to Genesis chapter one, to help you understand that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth And the very first thing he created on day one was light That was not the sun That was not the stars That was not the moon They were created on day number four But on day number one, he created light

And there's a reason for that It's simply because God himself is light And 32 times in chapter one of the book of Genesis, God's name is mentioned Why? Because everything about the creation centers around God Everything about the incarnation centers around God and the resurrection And of course, it's coming again But everything about creation centers around God himself So he wants to make it very clear that at the very beginning, when he creates light, he's speaking of himself He's helping you understand the beauty and splendor of his majesty from the very early onslaught of time and history

John would record that this way He would say, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God He was in the beginning with God All things came into being through him and apart from him, nothing came into being that was coming to being In him was life and the life was the light of men The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it There came a man sent from God whose name was John He came as a witness to testify about the light so that all men might believe through him He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light

There was the true light which coming to the world enlightens every man It goes on to say that that Word became flesh and tabernacled among us and we beheld his glory Because the glory is the presence of God manifested in brilliant, unapproachable, unending light It's an unblemished light, but I'm way ahead of myself because you have to go all the way back to the early days of the Pentateuch when God would speak to Moses He spoke to him from a burning bush Why? Our Lord is a consuming fire, Hebrews 12 verse number 29

And yet when the Lord spoke to Moses from a burning bush, the bush wasn't consumed And God was speaking to Moses by manifesting his glory to Moses He told Moses that he heard the cry of my people and I'm coming down to them. I'm coming down to deliver them And sure enough, he did He came down to deliver them And as he did, he would lead them every day with a cloud and every night with a pillar of fire Because that was the presence of God among the people of Israel As he led them out of bondage, he led them to the place where he would want them to be

It got so great that Moses said, Lord, I want you to show me your glory Show me your presence manifested in brilliant light That's in Exodus chapter 33 and 34 And God said to Moses, I can't let you see my glory Why? Because I dwell in unapproachable light And if you see my glory, you'll die You'll be incinerated So I hide you in the cleft of the rock. I'll let my glory pass by you And as I do, you can see my afterglow And he began to proclaim that day to Moses that he was a God of mercy and forgiveness and lovingkindness

And so when the tabernacle was built in Exodus chapter 40, the glory of the Lord would come down and rest over the tabernacle For people now had an opportunity to get right with God through the offering of sacrifices When the temple was done in 1 Kings chapter 8, sure enough, the glory of the Lord came down again But Israel began to depart from the true and living God And as he began to depart from him, they were taken off into captivity

And so Ezekiel, who was in Babylonian captivity, received a vision from the Lord and he saw the glory of the Lord, the Prince of God manifested in light, departing from Jerusalem Departing from Jerusalem, recognizing that God's presence was leaving Israel And yet everything about the prophets spoke about the coming of the glory of God, the coming of the light of God So the prophets would say these words, Isaiah chapter 9, verse number 2, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them So they had the promise of the coming light

Isaiah 40, comfort, O comfort my people, says your God, speak kindly to Jerusalem, call out to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received the Lord's hand, double for all of her sins The valley will be lifted up, every mountain and hill will be made low Let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed Isaiah the prophet's telling us about the forerunner, John the Baptist, who's going to come and clear the way for the Messiah

And then the glory of the Lord, the manifestation of God manifested in brilliant shining light will come And then it says, and all flesh will see it together When Isaiah prophesied, he prophesied not just about the first coming, but the second coming for in the first coming, all flesh did not see his glory Only a few did, but in the end, everyone will see his glory And then it says over in Isaiah chapter 46, I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you And I will appoint you a covenant to the people, a light to the nations

He's speaking about the Messiah The Messiah will be a light to the nations to open blind eyes, to bring up prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I am the Lord That is my name. I will not give my glory to another Why? Because his glory is his presence manifested in brilliant light And he is the light to the nations Over in Isaiah chapter 60, verse number one, arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you Verse number 19, you will have the Lord for an everlasting light and your God for your glory

So Isaiah would prophesy as Israel would embark on captivity And after 70 years of captivity, they would go back to their homeland and they would begin to rebuild the walls around the city of Jerusalem and they would begin to wait for the arrival of the Messiah And they waited and they waited for the light to come They waited for the glory of the Lord to return And in Malachi chapter 4, verse number 2, Malachi the prophet said the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings and they would learn to anticipate the sun of righteousness

This God who is their sun, this God who is their light, their Messiah who would show them the way And they waited and they waited and they waited And most people had lost their interest Until that night in Bethlehem when all of a sudden that unapproachable, that unblemished, that unending light was unleashed on the world And the glory of the Lord would shine all around Why? Because God was coming down to man God was coming back down to man once again And the glory of the Lord would shine all around And don't think for one moment the shepherds didn't understand that

That's why they were so afraid They were frightened because they knew that God was among them And the angels said, don't be afraid For unto you this day and the city of David have been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord It's no wonder, it's no wonder that Zacharias knew as he gave a song at the time of his son and his birth that the sun rise from an eye shall visit his people Israel Zacharias knew that the Lord God of Israel was a sun, was a light, and his glory would be revealed

And then when Simeon would take the baby in his arms on that day in the temple in Luke chapter 2, he would talk about the light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel has finally come God's glory had arrived God's light had shone down among his people That's why the Lord said, I am the light of the world He's the light of the world, but that's not all there is

There's so much more to the Christmas story because when the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, the words are said in Luke chapter 2, they ask this question, where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen not a star, we have seen his star, his shining, his light in the east and have come to worship him When those Magi came riding into Jerusalem, they were led there by a shining, by the brightness, by the glory of Almighty God And they wanted to know where is he who is born king of the Jews

Now how would they know that? How would they know that the star was the king? How would they know the star would be born in Bethlehem? How do they know? Remember the Magi were the first Gentile converts They were the first outside of God's people Israel to know about the arrival of the Christ child and they would come and want to worship him But how did they know? Again the book of Moses, the 24th chapter, the 17th verse When Moses prophesied that a star shall rise out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel

The star refers to his glory, the scepter refers to his royalty because the one who is all glorious, he is called the king of glory in Psalm 24, right? So he is the one who holds the scepter, he is the one who is all glorious And so they would know from the teachings of Daniel as Tim had spoken about earlier that Daniel as he was in Babylonian captivity who was the leader of the Magi in Babylon would teach them what he knew about the coming Messiah and the light that would soon shine down upon his people Israel And how that light would appear, it would appear in the form of a star

And so he would teach these Magi about the arrival of the Messiah and when it would come and those Magi would pass it down to their children and then they would pass it down to their children so that in Persia the star would appear in the east and these king makers would mount their Persian steeds and begin this long journey following the star to Jerusalem

And the star would appear and then reappear, appear and then reappear and Herod tried to help them understand how is it we know that this is the true star, how do we know this? When did the shining appear to you? And they would try to convey to him how long they had been traveling but it was that star that would lead them to a house and they would fall down at the feet of the Christ child and worship him because he was the light of the world

And so whether it's the glory of the Lord, whether it's the light of the Lord, whether it's the star of the Lord, on Israel's flag they had the star of David, right? The star of David is referenced to David's protector, David's shield, right? But the shield is God himself and the God who is his protector is the Messiah of Israel, the bright and shining star of Numbers 24 verse number 17 And so Jesus tells us in Revelation 22 verse number 16 that he is the bright morning star

He says in Revelation chapter 2 that the overcomer is able to receive the morning star in order to embrace the Christ child He's able to receive in intimacy with the Lord God of Israel Peter says it this way in 2 Peter 119, when the day star rises in your hearts, in other words when the day star shines down upon you and you're able to see the way to glory and realize who Christ is, you'll be born again

And so on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Lord would unzip his flesh and the glory of the Lord would shine forth, it was emblematic of the coming kingdom of God and the people of Israel would begin to understand that their king had come You see it's so important to realize that when the glory of the Lord would shine all around these shepherds, God had come down And where did God come down to specifically? He came down to that manger in Bethlehem because that was the glory of the Lord encased in flesh because that light is unblemished light, because that light is an unapproachable light

First Timothy 6.16 says, He dwells in unapproachable light Because that light is the light of life, it is an unending life It's not a light that is unavailable, oh it's completely available In other words, this light is a light that truly is unavoidable You can't miss it Oh I know that Israel rejected their Messiah and Israel missed the light of glory, but you know what? When the king returns again, no one will miss him

The Bible says in the book of Matthew, the 24th chapter, these words, immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give its light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven What's the sign? Read on, it tells you, they shall see the son of man coming in clouds of heaven with power and great glory The presence of God manifested in brilliant, dazzling, shining light

And that's why when you read the book of Zechariah, at the end times when Christ appears, everybody is incinerated, why? Because they can't stand in the presence of a holy God But this light that is unapproachable is not unavailable No, it is something that for you and me is unavoidable That is, we must embrace Christ as the light of the world We must embrace him as the one full of glory, full of grace and full of truth We must give our lives to this one that has come down to us because not only is the manger a place of glory, it's a place of generosity

How great is it for our God to come down to man? How great is it for the light of the world to shine upon the darkened hearts of man? How great is it that God would so love the world that he would give his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life? Paul would say it this way in 2 Corinthians 8, verse number 9, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that for your sakes, that though he's rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich

Talk about the generosity of God that he would make himself available to you and me that we might learn to come to him and embrace him as he is the Savior who is Christ the Lord This Christmas season is all about the splendor and majesty of the Christ child He truly is the king of all glory He is the one who manifests himself in the most incredible kinds of ways and when he came to earth some 2,000 years ago, he came down to man God's glory had come down to earth to light the way, to show us the way to heaven. I wonder if this Christmas you have come to understand that

If you've come to grips with the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior of man, if you've come to grips with the fact that he is the light of the world, in him is no darkness at all And this unblemished, unapproachable, unending light was unleashed upon the world and that light unleashed upon the world is absolutely an undeniable light Undeniable Christ is the star Christ is the light Christ is the glory He's the king of glory Psalm 24 speaks about the king of glory It's a messianic psalm

And all Jewish people would understand that Psalm 24 speaks about the king of glory as he comes through the doors of Jerusalem And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, you crucified the king of glory You crucified him In other words, he wanted them to know that you missed your Messiah for your Messiah is God in the flesh Your Messiah is the light of the world Your Messiah is the glory of the Lord having come down The writer of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1, says that the Messiah is the exact radiance of his glory In other words, he radiates with the beauty and splendor and majesty of his God

This Christmas, it would behoove every one of us to go back and ask ourselves, do we understand that God's glory has come down? And do we understand that that glory is something that is available to me, that I might give myself to the Lord, that I might embrace him as my Savior, that I might say, Lord, I want to follow you and serve you because of your great generosity to me who is so unworthy Were we worthy of the Christ child to come to earth? Nope Were we worthy of him to die for us? Nope That's what mercy is all about, right? It's that which we receive It's not something that we achieve

And for that, we are grateful And my prayer for you and for your family is that this Christmas season will be one that's filled with joy Why? Because you've embraced the Christ child and you know who he is And if you understand that, the season never will lose its luster It will be one that's magnificent day in and day out for all your life because Christmas is all, all of our lives as we live for the glory of Christ every single day Let me pray with you

Father, we thank you, Lord, for the opportunity you give us this evening just to reflect back once again on the night of our dear Savior's birth What a joy, Lord, to realize that you bring salvation to man Man that was lost in his sin, walking in a world of darkness, is able to embrace the Christ child, the glory, the glory of his Father and the glory of his people Israel Our prayer, Lord, tonight is that there would not be one here among us who has not recognized you as the light of the world, the star that has shone down upon man

And our prayer, Father, is that we would embrace you, follow you and serve you, not just this day, not just this week, but for the rest of our lives until you come again as you most surely will In Jesus' name, amen.