Christmas
Day
25
December 2014
Luke
2:1-20
Christmas
Without Christ?
Luke sets the events of the gospel against the background of world
history. The pagan emperor's decree about a census created the situation in
which the Messiah was born in David's city of Bethlehem.
Jesus did not bring political peace to the world, but he made it
possible for men and women to have peace with God. Charles Wesley (1:183)
interprets the message as “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners
reconciled.” Yet, to a skeptical world, this is too much! Have you grown tired
of Christmas? Do you believe possibly that Scrooge was right? Consider our text
for today.
Christmas is bunk, unless…
- Christ is born anew in us. “For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord.” Luke 2:11
In worldly terms, Christmas is a happy time
in terms of parties, banquets, gifts and friends. This is happiness that may
wither with the Christmas tree, which is discarded soon after Christmas day.
Our joy is different. In fact, joy is
far different then happiness. It is deeper because it is based on good news. A
Savior is born to save us from our sin. A joy remains long aft the Christmas
celebration is over. For this reason people who are unhappy at Christmas
because of unfortunate circumstances can still have experience this Christmas
joy.
Transition: Christmas is bunk
unless Christ is born anew in us. You must also experience the worship of
Christ.
2. Worship of Christ
child is experienced. “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone
away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go
even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord
hath made known unto us. And they came
with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” Luke
2:15-16
With a heightened sense of excitement and
determination, the shepherds rushed off to the baby's side. Notice the
missionary interest of Luke in the spread of the gospel, this thing..., which the Lord
has told us about. (v.15)
In the recorded history of the world, there
have been few years of universal peace. There has been very little peace among
nations since the first Christmas. How can Jesus then be called the “Prince of
Peace”? The peace Jesus brings is not necessarily peace among men but peace
between God and humanity. Only when spiritual peace prevails will there be
peace among nations. There will not be peace between God and people until
Christ is accepted by faith.
Transition: The bunk of
Christmas disappears when salvation’s joy is found.
3. The joy of Christmas is the joy of salvation. “And the angel said unto them,
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to
all people.” Luke 2:10
The angel's announcement includes several of the most frequently used
words in Luke's gospel: " I bring . . . good news," "joy,"
"today," "Savior," and "Lord." This shows the
tremendous importance of the angelic pronouncement.
It is a bold proclamation of the
Gospel at the very hour of Jesus' birth. The time has come for the fulfillment
of the prophetic expectation of Messiah's coming.
Christmas was a communication event. The shepherds told the Holy Family
what the angel said. If Christmas is good news, it must be told. It is told
spontaneously. Here is good news! What has been promised and longed for over thousands
of tears has at last happened.
The cradle of Christianity is evangelism –
the telling of good news to sinners that they might have life in Christ. This
leads to a joyous celebration because for us a Savior has been born!
Words – 644
Passive Sentences – 17%
Reading Ease – 72
Reading Level – 6.4
No comments:
Post a Comment