Good News of Great Joy

Every Christmas we are reminded of the message that the angel of the Lord proclaimed to a group of lowly shepherds who were out in the field watching over their flock at night (v.8). In Luke 2:10-12 it is written,

“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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (ESV)

What was so “good” about this news? What was so joyful about the announcement of this baby’s birth?

First, the good news of Christmas is that the baby who was born that day was the “Savior” (v.11). And this Savior was not just born, but born “unto you” (v.11). In other words, He was born for our sakes. It is the same language that is found in the Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 9:6-7, where we read:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (King James Version, emphasis mine)

Second, the birth of Jesus was not only the birth of the Savior, but also the birth of One who was and is “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). As God spoke through the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the child who was born “unto us,” and the son who was given “unto us” was none other than “the Lord,” the “mighty God.”

Only someone who is truly God and truly man in one person could accomplish our redemption from sin. Our debt of sin is infinite because every sin is committed against an infinitely holy God. And yet only someone who is also truly a man could die in the place of men. It is only in the person of Jesus Christ that such a Savior is to be found! As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:5,

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (ESV)

And so the manger of Christmas presupposes the cross of Good Friday. The purpose of the incarnation was that Jesus might die to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21) and rise from the dead on the third day for their justification (Romans 4:25).

Do you know the true joy of Christmas? It is only by faith in Jesus that the fear of judgment is replaced by the “great joy” of salvation from sin, and eternal life in Him.

J.C. Ryle on the Wonder of the Incarnation of Christ

The 7-volume set of J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels is a virtual treasure trove of insight into the Gospels.

In vol. 1 of his thoughts on the Gospel According to Luke, he has this to say about the circumstances of the incarnation of Jesus Christ:

“We see here the grace and condescension of Christ. Had he come to save mankind with royal majesty, surrounded by his Father’s angels, it would have been an act of undeserved mercy. Had he chosen to dwell in a palace, with power and great authority, we should have reason enough to wonder. But to become poor as the very poorest of mankind, and lowly as the lowliest, – this is a love that passeth knowledge. It is unspeakable and unsearchable. Never let us forget that through this humiliation Jesus has purchased for us a title to glory. Through his life of suffering, as well as his death, he has obtained eternal redemption for us. All through his life he was poor for our sakes, from the hour of his birth to the hour of his death. And through his poverty we are made rich (2 Cor. 8:9). (p.41)

Such loving condescension and grace really are “unspeakable and unsearchable.” Words fail us in trying to do justice to the mercy of God in Christ. Our deepest meditations on this subject barely scratch the surface of the infinite depths of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

No wonder that at the birth of Jesus Christ a multitude of the heavenly host burst forth in praise to God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14, ESV). Amen.

B.B. Warfield on the Importance of the Incarnation of Christ

It has been said that justification by faith alone is the doctrine by which the church stands or falls. Likewise in his Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin similarly wrote that justification is “the main hinge on which religion turns” (Ford Lewis Battles translation, p.726). In other words, the doctrine of justification by faith alone is in some way the central doctrine of true Christianity.

Benjamin B. Warfield said something similar about another central Christian doctine – the doctrine of the two natures (God and man) in the one person of Christ. He writes,

“[T]he doctrine of the two natures is only another way of stating the doctrine of the Incarnation; and the doctrine of the Incarnation is the hinge on which the Christian system turns. No Two Natures, no Incarnation; no Incarnation, no Christianity in any distinctive sense.” (The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, Vol. III, p.259)

Warfield calls the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ “the hinge on which the Christian system turns.” Why? Because without it there really is no Redeemer, and so no gospel as well. Without the truth of the incarnation of Christ, you may still have a system of doctrine that goes by the name “Christian,” but it will not be truly Christian (to use Warfield’s phrase) “in any distinctive sense.”

In other words, it would be “Christian” in name only, and would then be essentially no different at its core from any other religion known to man, all of which (except for the biblical gospel alone) basically boil down to one form or another of salvation by works. You can either hold to a salvation by works (by self!), or a salvation by a Redeemer. And the only Redeemer (in order to actually be the Redeemer of sinners) must be both God and man in one person.

As the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q.21) puts it,

“The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.”

The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, which we celebrate every Christmas, really is “is the hinge on which the Christian system turns.” Without it, there is no real Christianity.

 

Christmas & the Cross

Christmas and the cross must go together. Without the cross, the manger is essentially meaningless.

In his book, Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?, James Montgomery Boice writes,

Christmas by itself is no gospel. The life of Christ is no gospel. Even the resurrection by itself is no gospel. The Good News is not just that God became man, nor that God has spoken in Christ to reveal a proper way of life for us, nor even that death, our great enemy, has been conquered. The Good News is that sin has been dealt with, that Jesus suffered its penalty for us as our representative, and that all who believe in him can look forward confidently to heaven” (p.105).

The story of the incarnation of Christ that we rightly focus on every year at Christmas, as wonderful as it is, saves no one apart from the cross. The life of Christ, as important as it is, saves no one apart from the cross. Christ certainly calls His people to follow Him (Mark 1:17; 8:34), and so to obey His commands and to emulate His example, but without the cross, the “right way of living” saves no one – it would still just lead to death.

The purpose of Christ’s incarnation was so that He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21), and that means, first and foremost, that He was born so that He might die in the place of sinners.

Shepherds Quake at the Sight (Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas?)

Did you know that there is a scary part of the Christmas story? (I know, I’ve never seen that part included in the children’s Christmas play either.) For the shepherds spoken of in Luke’s Gospel, part of the story was actually downright terrifying. Luke 2:8-9 says,

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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.” (ESV)

Remember, this was the night watch – the shepherds were “keeping watch over their flock by night” (v.8). It was dark outside, probably very cold, and all of a sudden there was before them “an angel of the Lord.” The Greek word in v.9 that is translated as “appeared” in the ESV has the idea of overtaking someone or coming upon them suddenly.  And v.9 also tells us that “the glory of the Lord shone around them” as well. (As if the angel were not enough already!) In Acts chapter 9 we are told that the glory of the Lord was so bright that it actually knocked Saul (later known as Paul) to the ground (v.3-4). Later in Acts 22:6 Paul says that this took place at “about noon” – the middle of the day! How bright would a light need to be at high noon to knock someone to the ground?!? 

So how did the shepherds react to all of this? They were terrified – afraid for their lives! Verse 9 literally says that they “feared a great fear.” Why were they afraid? Was it just because they were startled? The angel himself was certainly a big part of it. You have to understand that angels in Scripture are not little Hallmark card cherubs – the real McCoys would look very out of place on a Valentine. They are powerful spiritual beings. In v.13 when Luke describes the heavenly choir as “a multitude of the heavenly host” he is using military imagery. It was an army of angels. The heavenly host praising God for His glory and grace probably sounded a lot more like a company of Marines drilling on the parade field than a soprano boys choir.

And it was not like the shepherds realized that it was an angel of the Lord and then relaxed, saying, “Whew! It’s just an angel!” Far from it! It is no coincidence that this is already the 3rd time in the book of Luke where an angel appears to someone bearing a message of the gracious favor of God, only to have to tell them not to be afraid (Zechariah – the father of John the Baptist – Luke 1:13, Mary, the mother of Jesus – Luke 1:30). Angels are powerful servants of God who are fearsome to behold.

But the shepherds were also afraid because “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (v.9). They were ultimately afraid because they were sinners in the presence of a holy God. The glory of God is terrifying to sinners – and we are all sinners. Even the prophet Isaiah, when he got a glimpse of the glory of the LORD in a vision, cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”(Isaiah 6:5). When we are faced with the glory and holiness of God we suddenly realize that we ourselves are anything but holy.  Outside of Christ we all have good reason to fear. If you are outside of Jesus Christ, you are unholy. And Hebrews 12:14 says, “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (NIV). In the King James Version 2 Corinthians 5:11 says, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” That is why later in that same passage Paul described himself as an ‘ambassador for Christ,’ imploring with sinners on behalf of God to be reconciled to Him (v.20).

So why then was the angel able to rightly tell the shepherds not to be afraid? Was it because they were actually really good people? Was it because they were religious enough? Were they wrong to be afraid? None of the above. The only reason that the shepherds were rightly able to “fear not” (v.10) was because of the message that the angel brought. In v.10-12 we read,

“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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.””

Who was this baby Jesus and why was His birth such good news for sinners? First, He is the “Savior” (v.11). He came so that sinners like you and me could be made right with a holy God. And He did that by dying in our place on the cross and taking the wrath of God that we deserve upon Himself so that we might be forgiven and accepted as righteous in God’s sight! Second, Jesus is the “Christ” (v.11). That is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word, “Messiah,” which means “anointed one” or “chosen one.” Jesus is the One who was the foretold and promised Redeemer all through the pages of the Old Testament. He is the centerpiece of all of human history, and the only Mediator between God and man. Third, this Savior is also “the Lord” (v.11). This baby in the manger who would grow up to be a man, lead a perfectly sinless life, suffer under Pontius Pilate, be crucified, die, be buried, and rise from the dead on the third day is none other than the Son of God Himself! That is the good news of the gospel! God is for us in the Savior, Jesus Christ!

That is the good news that turned the “great fear” of the shepherds (v.9) into great rejoicing in the Lord (v.20). Only the gospel can do that! Only the message of Jesus Christ can take away the terror that sinners rightly feel in the presence of a holy God and replace it with great joy in His presence at being forgiven and accepted by Him through faith in Jesus. Only the message of true peace on earth (v.14) can bring such joy to the heart of a sinner.

The Supreme Mystery of the Gospel

“[T]he supreme mystery with which the gospel confronts us . . . .lies not in the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of Incarnation. The really staggering claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man – that the second person of the Godhead became the “second man” (1 Cor 15:47), determining human destiny, the second representative head of the race, and that he took humanity without loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly and fully divine as he was human.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p.53)

The Disgrace of the Nativity

We tend to have romantic notions about the birth of Christ that don’t fit the facts of the actual circumstances involved.  For example, when we see a nativity scene at Christmastime we probably find them beautiful.  After all, people do use them for decorations, don’t they?

While the nativity should certainly remind us of the love of God in Christ Jesus (which is beautiful, to say the least), there is really nothing outwardly beautiful or attractive about the nativity.  If we gave the scene much thought at all, we would be shocked and appalled. We would be outraged to hear of a baby being born in such conditions today, and rightly so.  And how much more so when the baby being born was the Messiah -the Son of God Himself!

J.I. Packer writes,

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us in some detail how the Son of God came to this world. He was born outside a small hotel in an obscure Jewish village in the great days of the Roman Empire. The story is usually prettied up when we tell it Christmas by Christmas, but it is really rather beastly and cruel. The reason why Jesus was born outside the hotel is that it was full and nobody would offer a bed to a woman in labor, so that she had to have her baby in the stables and cradle him in a cattle trough. The story is told dispassionately and without comment, but no thoughtful reader can help shuddering at the picture of callousness and degradation that it draws.” (Knowing God, p.54).

One can’t help but think that this was the last kind of circumstance that Mary or Joseph would have imagined the Son of God would be born into – you could forgive them for wondering what might have gone wrong. This was the polar opposite of the glory He deserved.

The Son of God, the Savior of all mankind, the King of Kings was born not in a palace, but in a barn of sorts.  As the Christmas song goes, he had “no crib for a bed.”  His bed was a “manger” (Luke 2:7).  In other words, his bed was a dirty food trough that was used to feed likestock.  Not exactly the kind of thing one shops for at Babies-r-us.

So when you consider the birth of Jesus, remember the humility of the Son of God in His incarnation.  Consider what Christ did and suffered in order to save sinners.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV)

The Message of Christmas

What is the message of Christmas?

J.I. Packer writes,

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear. (Knowing God, p.63)

You cannot truly understand the manger apart from the Cross.  And so you cannot truly understand Christmas apart from the gospel.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV)

What Christmas Is All About

Charlie Brown had the right question.

And after all these years, Linus still has the right answer.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
(Luke 2:8-14 ESV)