Sunday, December 25, 2016

Things that the Birth of Christ Revealed

(Transcript of a message preached at Hope Bible Church, Locust Grove, GA, on Dec. 25, 2016; hopebiblechurchga.com.)

Texts: Heb. 4:12-13; Luke 2:21-40

·        The word of God is a discerner of men’s hearts. It’s the only book in the world that reads you when you read it. The word of God knows what’s in men and reveals it by their response to it.  

·        Notice how the word is personified in v. 13—“his sight,” not “its” sight; “the eyes of him,” not “of it.” This verse is attributing omniscience to the word of God! Gal. 3:8 does the same thing, where it speaks of the scripture “foreseeing” and foretelling something, and Rom. 9:17 attributes omnipotence to scripture, where the scripture asserts absolutely control over the mightiest monarch on earth at the time, Pharaoh, and over “all the earth” as well. What a book you hold in your hands!

·        Now, the Word (capital W) was also “made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). From our text we see that his appearing also revealed the thoughts in many hearts, and he knows what’s in men too (John 2:25b, “for he knew what was in man”). The Word and the word are so close you can scarcely tell them apart. They’re essentially the same thing, but in different forms, one bodily and the other written.

·        What I’d like to look at today is what the incarnate Word’s appearance revealed in certain hearts, especially the primary figures around him in the first two years of his life.

·        As we survey these revelations, think about (1) what they show us about mankind in general; and (2) what our response should be to the Lord.

1.     Goodwill of God
a.     His goodwill toward Israel had been revealed long before (Deut. 33:16), regarding the kingdom.
b.     Here context includes salvation (2:11) for all men, which must precede the kingdom (1 Pt. 1:10-11); can’t be peace on earth without salvation and glory to God (2:14).



2.     Meekness of Christ, Joseph and Mary (“the royal family”)
a.     This trio is often called the holy family, esp. by Catholics, but don’t forget that they were royalty
                                                              i.      Christ himself was God, and humbled himself (Phil. 2:5-8)
                                                            ii.      Joseph was the son of David and rightful heir to the throne, but he also took the lowly place of carpenter in Nazareth;
                                                          iii.      Mary was royalty—Luke 3 reveals that David was her forefather
                                                         iv.      So these are all noble people, esp. Christ, who took lowly places for God’s sake
b.     Shows their meekness
                                      i.      Joseph submits to Caesar, whom technically he was higher than (Rom. 4:13), and Herod, an impostor
                                    ii.      If Joseph knew the law, then he knew that Christ would soon be born, plus the Romans were lords of Israel and were allowing Herod’s reign; I think all of this together may have encouraged Joseph to bide his time, and sure enough, Christ appeared, in his own family to boot!
                                  iii.      Note also Luke 2:19; wanted to point this out, since it’s only said one other place (2:51). Luke probably got his material on these events from Mary, because both passages says that she “kept” them in her heart. I think that both events attest to her meekness also:
1.     She allows the shepherds to broadcast her son’s birth—could’ve told them to keep it secret, but she didn’t; she knew who Christ was and let them proclaim him
2.     She doesn’t dismiss Jesus’ words to her in the temple, but notices his subjection to her and Joseph; even though she didn’t quite understand what Jesus was saying, she’s spiritual enough to know that it meant something, so she takes it to heart, showing her meekness in turn.

3.     Wrath of Satan
a.     If others didn’t understand, he knew that the promised seed of Gen. 3:15 had finally appeared, in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4)
b.     Instead of seeking reconciliation with his Creator, this fearful being tries to kill that Creator’s earthly manifestation; he, and “the children of pride” (Job 41:34), would kill God if they could, and so destroy themselves, since there can be no life without God
c.      That’s how depraved Satan and men become in their falls—they’re not only out to destroy God, but also themselves, and God’s only remedy for this is to put them in hell. C.S. Lewis wrote a brief but powerful poem about the merciful side of hell that went like this:

God in His mercy made
The fixéd pains of Hell.
That misery might be stayed,
God in His mercy made
Eternal bounds and bade
Its waves no further swell.
God in his mercy made
The fixéd pains of Hell.

d.     Psalm 77:10, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.” Key word is “restrain”; God puts limits on wickedness, though he may let it progress for a time.

4.     Wickedness of Herod
a.     This reprobate tries to kill the rightful heir to throne—he knew who Christ was and owed him worship, but his conscience was seared; see the echo of conscience!);
b.     He goes down in history as one of the most infamous of men, a type of antichrist who tries to slaughter Israel in the great tribulation; note prophecy re: Rachel in Mt. 2:17-18; context of that prophecy in Jer. 31 is you, guessed it, tribulation preceding restoration of Israel;
c.      That’s what this massacre in Mt. 2 typifies: Satan’s enmity of the Jews in action
                                      i.      Satan leads Pharaoh to kill the Israelite babies and is thwarted
                                    ii.      Same true of Herod
                                  iii.      Power corrupts: he kills his own countrymen to preserve his place; religious leaders do the same with Christ (John 11:48-50), and may even have killed Lazarus (John 12:10-11)! When power becomes your god, you will sacrifice anyone to keep it; so take the low road!

5.     Wisdom of the wise men
a.     Why were they wise? They knew the scriptures (Num. 24:17—his Star and Sceptre; Dan. 9:24-25), but not perfectly; OT revealed place of his birth (Mic. 5:2), which the religious leaders filled in (Mt. 2:4-8).
b.     Who were they? Three kings; no—that’s tradition.
                                      i.      I believe they were Jews that remained in Babylon in the days of Cyrus; not all Jews went back; actually a remnant; many, if not most, stayed in the east;
                                    ii.      1 Pt. 5:13—apostle Peter actually visits them during the Acts period, and a church of kingdom believers is formed
c.      Lord also gives them wisdom in dealing with Herod
                                      i.      They don’t realize how wicked he is, but their obedience to light, either by scripture or dream, steers them clear of his wickedness
                                    ii.      He probably would’ve killed them too for thwarting him, but “the right road leads out at the right place”; if you are earnestly seeking God’s will, he will take care of you; doesn’t mean you won’t have trouble, but he will look after you and lead you where you need to go

6.     Zeal of the shepherds
a.     This stood out to me in this study more than ever. Keeping watch, just like Simeon and Anna later on
b.     God speaks to watchful and employed: Simeon was “devout” (2:25) and Anna “served” (2:37)
c.      Likely these shepherds were also of those “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (2:25) and “look[ing] for redemption in Jerusalem” (2:38), since they don’t balk at the announcement but rather run to confirm it and then to proclaim it. Praise God, there was a remnant waiting for the Lord to arrive, when their might have been none.
d.     Not sure what the impact of their testimony was, but I think that God meant to use it like John’s (which it preceded by 25-30 years): to prepare the people for their king
e.     Curious, if not sad, that despite the shepherds’ zeal, none of the people who “wondered” (2:18) go to seek the child, only Jews from outside the land. Strange indeed, but often those nearest us physically are farthest from us spiritually; one of those ironies of life that only God understands.

7.     Patience of Simeon and Anna
a.     The Lord had not spoken to Israel for 300-350 years when these two were born, yet they believe his word and spend their entire lives waiting for Messiah
b.     While Anna may have been widowed longer, the dominant thing about both of their lives was their faithful waiting
c.      Isn’t that the same for us? Rom. 8:23-25; Gal. 5:5; 1 Thes. 1:10
d.     It takes grace to wait—notice in Gal. 5:5 that it’s the Spirit that enables us to wait for the Lord’s return; you can’t maintain that hope in your own strength; you will turn to the world like Demas did, because your old man still loves this world and always will; that’s why he must be mortified by “set[ting] your affection on things above” (Col. 3:2-3).
e.     Couldn’t Simeon and Anna given up and settled down in the world? Couldn’t Anna have found herself another husband and “lived the American dream”? No, instead she chose solitude, “fastings and prayers night and day” (2:37).
f.       She lived for a dream way beyond the silly American dream. She lived for a “blessed hope” like ours (though not the same): “redemption in Jerusalem” (2:38). As a heavenly people, we look for the “redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23) that will prepare us for our heavenly reign, while she, Simeon, and the other faithful “looked for redemption in Jerusalem,” the “city of the great King” (Mt. 5:35), to restore Israel’s earthly reign over the nations (Acts 1:6).

Conclusion
·        Today we saw seven different things that the Word revealed when he appeared. So much was brought to light wasn’t it? I didn’t mention the joy and praise of the angelic host, the ignorance of the religious leaders, and no doubt there are many others.

·        But I think these seven prove that the birth of Christ was a huge event in the history of the universe. The Creator was “found in fashion as a man” (Phil. 2:8) in an “evil world” (Gal. 1:4) “to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15), both Jew and Gentile. Some had the right spirit about this, and some did not, just like they do with the written word. Contrast the Bereans and Athenians in Acts 17: one group are “noble” and “receive the word with all readiness of mind” (Acts 17:11) while the Athenians, for the most part, mock or balk at the word (Acts 17:32-33).

·        What has the Word/word, in both its forms, revealed about your heart?
o   Is it revealing your sin and need for salvation? You can have that today by simply believing in your heart that Jesus Christ, the Word of God in flesh, died for your sins and rose again the third day to give you salvation as a free gift.
o   Or has the word revealed the need for changes in your heart as a believer? Don’t be surprised if it has: we’re all works in progress (Eph. 2:10; Phil. 1:6), and if you go on with the Lord, you’ll have many changes of heart, not just a few. Beware of people who pride themselves on not changing their views: mature believers don’t waver on their fundamental beliefs, but they do maintain a readiness to learn and grow in their understanding of things, even if that means changing views previously held, even for a long time. You need to be stubborn about your foundation, but not about everything. That will stifle your spiritual growth.

·        So let the word reveal what it will in you, and respond to what it shows you. If you’re a sinner in need of salvation, please respond by trusting Christ today. If you’re a saint in need of change, don’t resist it to save face or because it’s inconvenient: obey, and let the Lord’s life develop in you even further. 

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