Christmas gifts sermon 2
The next three weeks we are going to open up the Word around the Christmas story. And the theme this year is “Christmas gifts.”
Luke 2: Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of all [a]the inhabited earth. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child. 6 Now it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [d]manger, because there was no place for them in the [e]guest room. 8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the [f]Lord stood before them, and the glory of the [g]Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. 11 For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is [h]Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a [i]manger.” 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
Gifts
We’re not used to generosity.
A man had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He could receive little company and was not to be excited. While in the hospital a rich uncle died and left him a million dollars. His family wondered how to break the news to him with the least amount of excitement. It was decided to ask the preacher if he would go and break the news quietly to the man. The preacher went, and gradually led up to the question. The preacher asked the patient what he would do if he inherited a million dollars. He said, "I think I would give half of it to the church." The preacher dropped dead.
Unknown.
But I was thinking again this week about the Christmas story, and in particular, the announcement to the shepherds from the angels, and I was thinking about what a great gift God chose to give us on Christmas. It was all we need and want. Listen to these words again.
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
Of course, we know that the big gift that came that first Christmas was Jesus; God in flesh, the Seed of the woman, and the Only Begotten Son.
Along with the big Gift of the Child born, are many, many smaller gifts.
Do you know what gifts the angel said were coming that first Christmas?
The gift of no fear. The gift of good news. The gift of great joy. The gift of glorifying God. The gift of peace. The gift of God’s pleasure.
But before we dive in, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
Before we get into the gifts, let’s just reset the scene of this angelic encounter a little bit.
This is a very familiar story for most of us.
2 Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of all [a]the inhabited earth.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,5 in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child.6 Now it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth.7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [d]manger, because there was no place for them in the [e]guest room.
Now, that’s the background to what happens next; the angelic birth announcement to the shepherds. On the same day that Jesus is born, angels choose to announce that birth to a certain group of people.
8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.9 And an angel of the [f]Lord stood before them, and the glory of the [g]Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
Now it is here that I could talk about another God-given gift. It is the gift that “whosoever will may come.” The announcement of the Lord’s birth came to shepherds. Shepherds were on the bottom as far as stature in 1st century Jewish society. I’ll not elaborate on that now. But that means that God chose to send His announcement to the lowest of people. What that indicates to us is that God is not a respecter of persons. He doesn’t limit His blessings or revelations to the rich, or educated, or aristocratic. He gave His Son that whoever will believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
And it is here that we get a description of the gifts that God was giving to humankind 2000 years ago. And let me tell you, God is a great gift-giver.
The gift of no fear. The gift of good news. The gift of great joy. The gift of glorifying God. The gift of peace. The gift of God’s pleasure.
I. The gift of no fear.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.11 For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is [h]Christ the Lord.
God wants His children to have no fear.1 John 4:17-18 Legacy Standard Bible 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear [a]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
II. The gift of good news.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.11 For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is [h]Christ the Lord.
Psalm 96:2 Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
Isaiah 52:7 How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who proclaims good news, Who announces peace And proclaims good news of good things, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
III. The gift of great joy.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.
Great joy: charas megalas
1 Chronicles 16:27 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and joy are in His place.
Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
IV. The gift of glorifying God.
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
The next gift that the angels announced at the birth of Jesus was the glory of God. The angels had just announced that “A Savior is born, who is Christ the Lord.” Now, the word “Savior” implies that someone is being saved. The word Christ was the word for their Messiah who was the One who had been promised who would save from sin, and ultimately fix all that needs fixing in this world. The word Lord, implies our position of service. All those words would seem to indicate that the emphasis of this event is on us.
We’re being saved. We’re getting fixed. And all the other gifts that we’ve mentioned and will mention are about us; no fear, good news, great joy, peace. But this one, and the last one; God’s pleasure, look at the coming of Christ from a heavenly perspective. The angels are saying, “Not only will you receive gifts of no fear, good news, great joy and peace, But God will be glorified and pleased.
When’s the last time that that was anyone’s concern. If a fireman saves a person from a burning building, how many times have you heard the reporter interview the saved person? “How do you feel?” But how often do they interview the fireman? “Do you feel that you have received the proper credit and glory for saving this person? Are you properly pleased with the response from the person you saved?”
That doesn’t happen. They are just doing their job. But part of the fulfillment of Salvation coming to the world is the world realizing the source of that salvation, and desiring glory and pleasure to God.
I looked up Scripture passages regarding the glory of God and I discovered some interesting truths. The first is that giving glory to God is the natural state of creation. Even our salvation is first and foremost, for His glory.
Now, what does it mean to glorify God. At its most basic, it is giving God the credit for His work. He created it, He made us. He is the source of wisdom, love, joy, brilliance. But it means more than giving God credit. Glorifying God finds its highest expression when we live in the state of obedience and love for God for which we designed. When we “give Him credit” not only with our words, but with our actions, our thoughts, and our very being. There is a verse that kind of explains that.Psalm 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
What that verse is saying is that when you look at the sky, and the atmosphere, and the vast expanse of space beyond that, they, in their natural state point to and glorify God’s power and wisdom. And mankind, in their natural state will see as obviously as the nose on his face God’s power and wisdom in those things.
That is the natural state of our spirits, to see all of creation, and glorify God for it. Another Scripture says,
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
So that’s the first truth I discovered when reading about glorifying God for everything. It is the natural state of humanity. God built it into us as a core function.
The second truth is that when someone stops glorifying God, when they violate that natural state, they don’t just stop giving glory to God, and give glory to no one. They will find someone else to give glory to. Nature abhors a vacuum. If they don’t glorify God, they will glorify nature itself, as though nature somehow sprang up on its own.Romans 1:24-25 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for [a]a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed [b]forever. Amen.
And if they don’t elevate nature, they will elevate and glorify themselves, as though they are the end all, be all of purpose in life. They glorify themselves.
John 5:44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only God?John 12:42-44 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, [a]for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory of men rather than the glory of God.
The third truth is that there is judgment against anyone who takes the glory due to God.
Daniel 5: 18 [u]O king, the Most High God granted the kingdom, grandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.19 And because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue feared and were in dread before him; whomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he kept alive, and whomever he wished he raised up, and whomever he wished he made low.20 But when his heart was raised up and his spirit became so strong that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him.Acts 12:23 And immediately an angel of the [a]Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
And that judgment can be the special judgment of God, if the sin is egregious enough, or it can just be the natural decay that comes when a person removes themselves from the light of God. It is their natural and most flourishing state to be in God’s presence, acknowledging and honoring Him. But when they refuse to honor Him, and/or give His glory to someone else, they remove themselves from the place where they can thrive. Like a flower that is removed from the light of the sun, and the nourishment of the rain, will wither and die.
So, it may not seem so, but the angels were declaring another gift of God at Christ, “Glory to God in the highest.”
In other words, at the coming of Christ, and he salvation He would bring at the cross of Calvary, it is now possible for every person who will put their faith in Him to get to their created and natural state; perfect harmony and worship of God.
The gift of no fear. The gift of good news. The gift of great joy. The gift of glorifying God. The gift of peace. The gift of God’s pleasure.
V. The gift of peace.
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
Peace on earth. Peace on earth. That was always the one promise or gift of Christmas that seemed empty. How many Christmases have gone by? 2000 plus. And every Christmas we sing and say that Jesus was to bring peace on earth. But out of those 2000 plus Christmases, how many have had peace on earth? In terms of worldwide peace, none. I asked the question online, how many wars have there been in the last 2000 years, I came up with a list of 125 groupings of wars. For example, from 1900 to 2000 there are 37 groupings of wars. They include the Mexican Revolution, WW1, WW2, and all Arab-Israeli wars, which each were categories of multiple wars and conflicts. So, it seems that peace did not come. But let’s break down what kind of peace we are talking about.
There are three kinds of peace. There is first off peace in the world. But Jesus Himself said that there would be no peace in the world until He returns the second time.
Mark 13:7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.
The second kind of peace is peace between people. Until Jesus returns there is no promise of that either. Matthew 10:35-37 Legacy Standard Bible
35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
But, we can get a taste of God’s peace in this world. When two people, husband and wife, brother and sister, parent and child, neighbor and neighbor both surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord, then they both can have peace with each other. Because they have the Spirit of God in them.
Isaiah 32:18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
Proverbs 3:33 The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.
But the third kind of peace, and the kind of peace that takes immediate effect when Christ comes into the heart of a person is peace with God. And that kind of peace was the peace that came as God’s gift right away.
Many people do not realize that if they have not believed, trusted and surrendered to Christ as Lord and Savior, God is not their friend. God is their enemy.
Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9 Much more then, having now been justified [e]by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved [f]by His life.
Colossians 1: 20 And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in [y]heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds,22 but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
But through the angels were announcing a gift that God was giving; a peace treaty. Do you know what the first term of the treaty are? You surrender. You give up. You humble yourself before God. You acknowledge Jesus as Lord. You acknowledge that you owe a debt to God that you can’t repay, and you plead for forgiveness. The second term of the treaty is restitution. The debt has to be paid. Punishment must follow sin. But that’s the most beautiful thing. You will never be able to pay the debt incurred because of your sin. So, God pays the debt for you, by His Son’s death on the cross.
With Christ comes the gift of peace.
John 16:33 ~ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Isaiah 26:3 ~ You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
John 14:27 ~ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
The gift of no fear. The gift of good news. The gift of great joy. The gift of glorifying God. The gift of peace. The gift of God’s pleasure.
VI. The gift of God’s pleasure.
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
Some people live their lives, even as Christians, thinking that God is never pleased with them. They live their Christian life in fear that God is perpetually angry with them, or at best, He puts up with them. But listen to what the angels said,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
Those with whom He is pleased. This was probably a shocker, but there are those with whom God is pleased.
Imagine this, not only can you have peace with God, you can hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” God can be pleased with you. Some people spend their entire lives trying to get the approval, the good pleasure of someone else. It may be their parents, or their spouse, or their peers. They want somebody to say that they have value, that they did a good job, that they are worth something.
But despite people seeking that approval, people live lives of self-doubt, confusion, even self-loathing. But guess what, you can get the approval of the God who created the universe. You can be valued by the One who designed you and gave you your purpose. The angels announced a last gift.
And on earth peace among men [j]with whom He is pleased.”
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in
love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will,
https://redeeminggod.com/god-is-happy/
5 Reasons God Is Happy And How You Can Be Too
Have you been to the psychology section of your local bookstore lately?
If you have, you have likely seen tons of books available on the subject of happiness. Each one promises a “secret” to it and places it within reach … well sorta.
It should come as no surprise that a market is out there to help us tap into what we want the most. With all the resources and experts out there telling us what we need to do to feel better and smile more, you would think that would be, right? Evidence shows that the reality is quite to the contrary. We are miserable.
God isn’t.
Straight out of the pages of Scripture we see that God is a happy God. Not that you won’t see some other aspects of God as he has to deal with us on numerous occasions, but the default character of God isn’t anger or wrath. Theologians tell us that for an attribute to be an attribute, it has to be what God was like before he created anything. And before God created anything he was happy. God is happy by default:
“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Ps. 16:11 (ESV)
How can you be happy? Receive the gifts He wants to give you.
Isn’t God a great gift giver?
The gift of no fear. The gift of good news. The gift of great joy. The gift of glorifying God. The gift of peace. The gift of God’s pleasure.