Christ s Birth and Christmas within a Christian Worldview (Lk 2.1-20) WestminsterReformedChurch.org Pastor Ostella December 25, 2016 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was 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 those with whom he is pleased!" 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them (Lk 2.1-20 ESV). Introduction Thoughtful Christians are aware of the fact that Christmas has a meaning that is difficult to incorporate into a Christian worldview. Our culture has taken an event from its original context and transferred into an alien environment. The true meaning of Christmas, we are told, is giving, sharing, and love at best. Or, at worst, as it was put the other day, Christmas is just for children, it is a headache, and I will be glad when the season is over. This question therefore presents itself: can we get Christmas back into a Christian worldview? Should we try to pour new meaning into Christmas trees, candles, and even the birth of Christ? Well, that is a challenge because when people of our culture remember the birth of Christ (usually with very mixed messages), they exaggerate this core truth. By default, they insist on, and strongly promote, an annual day of celebration of His birth when Scripture nowhere commands that we set Christmas (or the 25th of December) aside as a holy day or a holiday. Because of the distortion that results, the true meaning of the coming of Christ, the true meaning of His birth is misunderstood, blocked, diverted, and definitely commercialized. Therefore, today we have to swim up stream, which is difficult to do, but we must try our best to be clear and bold in the proclamation of the good tidings and great joys of Christmas. Therefore, we need to go against the grain as we consider the purpose of the birth of Jesus. At the same time, we must recognize Christian liberty as to how the season may be sanctified to good use in testimony and family tradition. So, then, what is the purpose of His birth? Luke 2.1-20 reveals that the fundamental purpose of the birth of Christ is quite unexpected. The text guides us to two things that we can state in the following simple sentence: the birth of Christ is for the glory of God by the gift of God s good pleasure. To absorb it properly, we must think counter-culturally in careful submission to the word of God. I. First, the birth of Christ is for the glory of God By reflection, it becomes clear that the account ascends in verses 1-13 to a peak in verse
!2 14, and descends from that peak in verses 15-20. The birth of Jesus is such a profound event that it demands one fundamental response in confession and song: namely, Glory to God in the highest (2.14). A. Note how the text ascends to v. 14 The narrator takes us in thought, as it were, from earth to glory. On the day of the birth of Jesus, shepherds are nearby keeping watch over their sheep by night (2.8). They have an angelic visitation in two stages. In stage one, an angel of the Lord appeared to them with these words that interpret the event in Bethlehem (2.10-12): And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." The remarkable fact is that the good news, of great joy, and of a Savior-Messiah-Lord is a baby. The good news is that you will find Him lying in an animal s feeding trough; and remarkably, the baby is a sign pointing away from His birth. So, in stage two of the angelic visitation, not just one but a multitude of angels appear and direct our thoughts away from the baby and manger to the chief and ultimate end of the birth of Christ, which is the glory of God. Suddenly, abruptly, and forcefully myriads of angels gather to unite their voices in praise to God saying (2.14): Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" We have been taken in thought upward from government actions, to shepherds, and to angels who announce the great goal of the birth of Christ. B. Now note how the text descends from v. 14 When the choir of angels dispersed, a solemn quiet penetrated the midnight air as the shepherds go to Bethlehem to see this thing, which the Lord made known to them (2.15-20): When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Notice how the narrative descends from the mountain top of praise in verse 14. The shepherds desire to see this thing that has happened (v.15); an event has occurred in history. God reveals its occurrence through angelic messengers. We have God s interpretation of the historical event. So, the shepherds went over to see what God has made known to them. When they found Joseph, Mary and Jesus, they reported the good news of great joy revealed to them about this child. After they gave their report, people wondered, Mary treasured up all these things in her heart, and the shepherds went back to their fields. But we must consider how these things affected their hearts and lips. Notably, they went glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. The narration peaks with angels glorifying and praising God, and it trails off into the night with shepherds glorifying and praising God with angelic-like echoes. The glory of God in the coming of Christ is a treasure; it is something to be treasured by thoughtful meditative pondering deep down in our hearts, as it was for Mary. II. Second, the birth of Christ is for the glory of God by the gift of God s good pleasure It is all very lofty and wonderful; angelic voices with good news of great joy proclaim glory to God to the heights of heaven. Now they do so with good reason for people in the cities and fields of earth because, as the latter half of 2.14 states, the glory of the coming of Christ in a lowly birth involves peace on earth, but listen carefully: it involves peace on earth to men with whom He [God] is pleased. In other words, we are to glorify God because of His sovereign good pleasure toward restless sinful men. Although an almost forgotten truth, in Luke 2:14, it is the sovereign election of God that ties the loose ends of the passage together. Glory to the highest
!3 interweaves with peace on earth to those upon whom God bestows His electing love. To see this, you need to observe the difference in translation between the King James Version (KJV) and the English Standard Version (ESV). KJV- Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ESV- Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! The ESV reading has the best text critical support (The Text of the NT, Metzger, 239-30). The idea is not peace and good will to men. More specifically, it is not even that God gives peace and good will to men so that they live at peace with one another (showing good will to each other by maintaining the true spirit of Christmas all year round). Instead, the idea is that peace comes to those upon whom God bestows it according to His good pleasure. As Metzger puts it, peace on earth comes to "men of God s good will, i.e. those persons on whom his favour rests, chosen to be the recipients of the gift of his Messiah" (230). The good will of this text is not man s good will but God s good will. After all, it is Christmas not Manmas. In contrast to thinking horizontally on a merely human plane (Manmas), this peace is not first between men. Jesus was born to secure peace between God and sinners; that is what is foremost in this peace. Now we can see the connection between the glory of God, the salvation of sinners, and the birth of Christ: Jesus was born to save elect sinners for the glory of God. If we consider the wider biblical perspective, it becomes evident that the reality of sovereign mercy glorifies God. Thus, His electing love is a huge reason for us to glorify God to the highest. This vision of sovereign grace is fitting, vital, and essential to worship of the best kind. In the book of Acts, for example, the early church addresses God in prayer as Sovereign Lord (Acts 4. 24-28): they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. We are to praise God as sovereign covenant Lord who says, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy (Ex 33.19). Therefore, Ephesians 1.3-6 tells us that God s electing love serves His glory: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. The design of election is holiness (1.4), which has the greater goal, the ultimate and chief goal of the praise of his glorious grace (1.5). Saying all this is still not sufficient for Paul, he has to repeat the point in a slightly different way by explicitly connecting our eternal inheritance to His purpose regarding all things and thus to the ultimate end of His praise (1.11-12): In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Therefore, the birth of Christ for our salvation is for God s glory by the display of His sovereign grace and mercy. We can say nothing in our own favor or defense. We can raise no complaints regarding justice because all people deserve only God s righteous wrath. Therefore, to see the kingdom, to believe that the child of Bethlehem is Christ the Lord (Lk 2.11) is a gift of God s good pleasure that brings peace between God and man. Therefore, the exhortation of angels and the response of shepherds point us in one fundamental direction: to ascribe glory to God in the highest! How can we apply these things?
!4 The proper response to these things is worship with a profound sense that all glory, maximal glory, belongs to God. If we see this and embrace it, then we are well on our way of separating Christmas from our culture. Then, instead of being preoccupied with sentimentality and syrupy relationships between people, our thoughts will orbit around a different center, the sovereign good pleasure of God that establishes a saving relation between Christ and sinners. For this purpose in the coming of Christ, God is to be honored, praised, and glorified. This yields three basic conclusions. 1) The great purpose of the birth of Christ teaches the great purpose of your life Grasping what He has done for you, beginning with His birth in Bethlehem, and knowing that you contribute nothing to your salvation because it is the blessing of God s good pleasure will move you to glorify the Father in heaven maximally, as the ultimate reference point of every aspect of your life. In the words of Paul: Whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). When you recognize that the peace you have with God is the work of God s sovereign grace, wisdom, and mercy, you will give this command priority; you will seek to line up everything in your life in accord with this supreme, chief, and ultimate goal. It will be superior to all other ends; subordinate to none; nothing is beyond this goal, not even your own joy. You thus pray from the depths of your heart "You, O Lord, are worthy of all praise, honor, obedience, and glory both now and forevermore." Turning away from ourselves, we say, Not unto us, not unto us, but to your name give glory, O Lord. Turning from self, you say, Not unto me, not unto me, but to your name give glory, O my Sovereign Lord. The true spirit of Christmas involves faith in the triune God who is sovereign in the bestowal of saving mercy to needy sinners; it involves turning from self-glorification to glorifying God. Consider how important this truth is for the entire orientation of your life. The way to glorify God, to honor and praise Him for His unspeakable gift of Christ is to acknowledge, confess, and proclaim His sovereign grace in saving you and sinners like you who are otherwise willfully lost in sin. 2) The purpose of the birth of Christ teaches you what to treasure The truth to learn from this birth account is that God s sovereign mercy is a glorious treasure. It is something to treasure and ponder in your hearts as did Mary in her heart. Treasuring and pondering this glorious salvation with a submissive heart leads to an experience of awe, of being struck with awe. We might come to a truth like this with tired emotions or with a questioning spirit. Nonetheless, there is a unique core in this experience driven by truth that is God-centered. It may take time for the theme of the glory and perfection of God to settle in; truly, it has to percolate in the heart. But it will overwhelm the heart, and stop the mouth. Then when I can finally say something, I have to say, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, and I cannot attain unto it (Ps 139.1-6). The Psalmist refers to being known by God, to knowing His loving good pleasure as high and lifted up. The simple words, glory to God in the highest, are a great treasure. Pondering them causes mental circuits to start firing all at once, to quickly over heat, and then to shut down in speechlessness and silent praise treasuring them in the heart. 3) The birth of Christ teaches the lesson of songs of praise and words of exaltation The point is that when you take in the glory and take it to heart then you have to long for, and cry out for, a thousand tongues to say, preach, sing, and proclaim "my great, wise, holy, sovereign redeemer s praise." You cannot remain silent. So, remember what Peter says, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet 2.9). Delivered from the darkness, you must praise Him even if it is with feeble lips. Still you must praise Him with wholeheartedness because He has made you whole and given you eyes to behold His majestic sweetness.
!5 We can only fall on our faces and make no claims on our own behalf. This perspective cuts away all man-centeredness. It places everything where it belongs, in the hands of God. Here, you can truly say, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. If there is any other basis of hope then it rests, you rest, on something less. The gap between God and man is so great that it is impossible for man to cross it. It is impossible for man to do anything whatever to help himself across the chasm. The Sovereign Lord must do the work and He does it by electing love in Christ. He is great in this work; by comparison, you must admit your smallness, your helplessness, and your childlikeness. Then you will rightly ascribe glory to God in the highest! So there we have it. At His birth, in the shadow of the cross, in the garden of Gethsemane, on the cross, and in His rule from the throne on high as risen Lord, the chief and ultimate end of all that Jesus did is the glory of God. Wonderfully, our salvation is taken up in that supreme goal as it serves God s sovereign good pleasure and our eternal good. My we bow down before the majesty of our God with these words continually upon our lips: glory to God in the highest, and may the Holy Spirit teach us that through the birth, the person, and the work of Christ, God displays His glory on earth, by giving peace among those upon whom He bestows His sovereign mercy! Glory to the triune God, now and forevermore, amen.