Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, good morning, everybody.
[00:00:02] Are the children gone already?
[00:00:05] They're gone. All right. They know what to do. Well, welcome to this third. I had to count the candles. Third day of Advent. As we look at joy and glad you're here to join us to take part of this. It's hard to preach after the children do their thing. It's just like, all right, so listen to you now for a little bit. All the cuteness is gone. All the adorability is gone, but it's good. Let's pray and then we'll look at joy this morning in Luke chapter two. Heavenly Father, we come now. And Lord, we are joyful.
[00:00:45] We know the truth. We can read the truth, a fact of your good news in Scripture. And we can rejoice in what we have in Jesus Christ. And, Father, as we look at this story again, to remind ourselves of that joy, of what has happened and what will happen when you return for us. And that your kingdom will be established forever. And is established forever, Father. Lord, we thank you for this time. Lord, just bless this word that it would bring glory to your wonderful name. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:01:19] Go back, I don't know, maybe 6,000 years.
[00:01:25] And at that time, in 2,000 years ago, the world waited about 4,000 years for the most magnificent news that could ever be shared.
[00:01:36] For 4,000 years, this good news was prophesied and promised to an expectant people.
[00:01:42] Some who long for a conquering king, others for a restored relationship with their Creator.
[00:01:48] But today, we remember and rejoice in the good news shared about a Messiah to be born who would conquer sin and death while restoring our relationship with the Creator.
[00:02:03] A whole lot of joy there. And the question is, what is biblical joy? If you're to define that, what does it mean to have joy?
[00:02:13] The natural reaction to the work of God, whether promised or fulfilled.
[00:02:19] And for the Old Testament, it was promised. And they lived on that promise for 4,000 years. For us, that promise has been realized. It has been fulfilled. And we look forward to another promise when Christ will return.
[00:02:34] We have to go back, think about the original good news. Where would you think you would find the original good news?
[00:02:44] It's not rhetorical. Where is it if it's not up there already?
[00:02:49] Genesis 3, right? Is it up there? No, it's not good. So you guys knew that. Thank you. Genesis 3, right? After the most devastating act of mankind, to be disobedient and reject God, their Creator, the fall was there.
[00:03:09] But yet you would think, in their mindset, it's over. We're done.
[00:03:13] We're hopeless.
[00:03:15] And as God presented the curse to them in Genesis 3, and in 3:15, he says this.
[00:03:23] I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring.
[00:03:30] He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.
[00:03:36] Where is the promise there?
[00:03:38] Where is the good news there?
[00:03:41] That the seed would bruise the head of the enemy, that the seed would conquer the seed would be victorious and bring restoration back to God and creation.
[00:03:53] So for 4,000 years, the old Testament people who believed this truth and the prophecies afterward had faith in this promise of God. Whether it be Abraham and the patriarchs. Think about Rahab and her promise of this truth. The same truth, the same promise from God. Whether it be Ruth, Boaz, Esther, who had faith enough to step in front of a king, believed in this same promise that originated in Genesis 3:15.
[00:04:24] And then you can look at Hebrews 11 and all the Old Testament heroes that placed their faith in the promise of a coming Messiah and lived and trusted and believed in a God that would bring life to them through Jesus Christ.
[00:04:41] Their joy, the joy that we're celebrating today, right now, the joy of our knowing of Jesus Christ, that he came as a child and he was crucified as a man for our sins. That same joy was found in their persevering faith in what God had promised them all those years.
[00:05:02] Same faith saves today.
[00:05:06] I don't know if you've read the devotional book that the Pastor Duba put out. If you haven't picked it up, it's still worth picking up and reading for the next 25 days.
[00:05:17] The very first devotion is the one on Genesis 3:15.
[00:05:23] And Paul Tripp sums up this chunk of scripture in three things.
[00:05:29] In these first three chapters of Genesis, he says, in the center of this passage is a God of incalculable glory.
[00:05:39] Second thing we see in these three chapters, sin is the ultimate human tragedy.
[00:05:44] Why is it the ultimate human tragedy? It brings death for all humanity.
[00:05:51] Its legacy is destruction and death.
[00:05:55] And three in the same three chapters, we see a Savior that will come and crush the power of evil and provide redemption for all people.
[00:06:05] All in the first three chapters of Genesis, we see these three things.
[00:06:10] And so today, as we look at this idea of joy and why so much joy in this news about a Savior, which is our hope realized today, It's a realization, it is fact today, that Jesus came and died for our sins. It has been realized.
[00:06:33] An example of this before we read this passage, a real tangible example, maybe for a Few people think about a prison cell in which one waits, one hopes, and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be reopened from the outside.
[00:06:54] Is not this a bad picture, not a bad picture of the Advent?
[00:06:59] Diedrich Bonhoeffer put those words into perspective.
[00:07:05] And you think about the anticipation, the long expected Jesus for 4,000 years and the time. I can't imagine the angels thinking, is it time yet? Is it time yet? Is it time yet? Can we announce this news?
[00:07:21] Can we announce the good news of a Savior to a world that is living in darkness and in sin?
[00:07:29] And then we have this passage in Luke 8 or Luke 2, verses 8 through 10.
[00:07:35] 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.
[00:07:52] Can't imagine no night lights, no streetlights, nothing but stars, nothing but a moon, maybe a trickling left of a campfire, but just complete and utter darkness that they are sitting in.
[00:08:06] And then the whole sky is just lit up as noontime.
[00:08:12] The glory of the Lord is showing upon these shepherds.
[00:08:19] 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.
[00:08:42] Why do we have so much joy in this story? Why were there so much joy to be communicated to these shepherds? Why do they leave with so much joy in running back to see what the angels were talking about?
[00:09:00] And this applies to all of us.
[00:09:02] Why should this elicit so much joy in each and every one of us today? And the first point it should, it kind of relates to Bonhoeffer's quote, because in fact, that we're kind of all born into a prison cell of sin, aren't we?
[00:09:20] We are all born into sin. And that's the first point. And we're all born separated from God. We're all born sitting in darkness, just like those shepherds were sitting in darkness themselves.
[00:09:33] And for some of you, maybe this is the first time you've heard the gospel, hear the good news, that this truth, this joy, this honest fact is presented to you today. And this could be your moment in a dark field where light has come upon you and you realize that a Savior has been born to you and that you need salvation.
[00:09:57] We, all of us, like the shepherds, have sit, or am sitting perhaps in darkness today, because we've been born into that darkness.
[00:10:10] Not only born into it, but we've continued to fall, believing the lies of Satan. That we have been enlightened and through sight we can solve all the ills of the world. We don't need a God. And we continue to live in darkness in this world they call the Enlightenment.
[00:10:27] But it was all about themselves, all about man.
[00:10:32] And then through science, we can solve all the ills of the world, whether it be economic, social or health. Man can solve it all. We don't need a God. That's utter darkness.
[00:10:48] Paul explains it very well. The result of this in Romans 6, 20, 23.
[00:10:55] When you were slaves to sin or prisoners to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. Think about that. You can do whatever you want, whatever your mind thinks of you can do.
[00:11:08] And what was the result?
[00:11:10] You are now ashamed of those things you used to do. Things that end in eternal doom.
[00:11:17] There's no hope in living for yourself.
[00:11:21] There's no hope living in darkness. There's no hope living thinking that you can get by on what you can muster up yourself.
[00:11:30] Those end in eternal doom. But big break there. Now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God.
[00:11:41] Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life instead of eternal doom.
[00:11:48] Why? Because the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
[00:11:56] These angels, it's like, I don't know, there's always one person in a marriage or a family that they just can't wait to give the present, right? Like they give it to you on Christmas Eve or three days before Christmas. They just can't wait to give it to you. You're so excited. I want you to open this.
[00:12:11] Is that you? Yes.
[00:12:15] You buy it. You have it in the house for so long and you just can't. And you give hint. Well, it could be this. And they finally guess it. Then you're kind of like, oh, you guessed it. What are you doing? But that's the point. You just can't wait. You can't wait. And I mean, we can't put ourselves in the place. I mean, God waited 4,000 years to offer this gift to us.
[00:12:37] He had a plan.
[00:12:40] And you think, why did he wait 4,000 years? I don't know. Ask him someday.
[00:12:45] But he waited and he waited and he waited and he waited.
[00:12:50] But he offered a hint, right? He sent prophets to offer hints over and over and over again. This is what I have for you. It's going to come. I promise. This is it.
[00:13:00] He actually told you what it was? He told us exactly what the promise was. The Old Testament is so clear. And that's why I like about reading this devotion is that the author just brings out book after book, verse after verse of everything pointing towards Jesus. There's no excuse.
[00:13:20] These shepherds knew it, right?
[00:13:23] They realized it, they heard the news, they knew what it was all about.
[00:13:28] And they went and they worshiped with joy their Messiah.
[00:13:35] But with this, maybe you today, do you have a healthy understanding and fear of God's view of sin and the result of living in darkness of sin. As Paul says, it's eternal doom, not temporary doom.
[00:13:53] It's not like you get out of jail free card after so many millennial eternity. No, it's eternal.
[00:14:04] And I hope that the world hasn't jaded you in thought that this isn't true.
[00:14:11] That the words of Paul, the words of God, the words of Jesus tell us that when we live in darkness and for ourselves that there is no hope of life with God.
[00:14:23] We have to have a healthy understanding. And that motivates us just to love God even more every day, to be thankful for the grace that he has shown us.
[00:14:37] Should it and does it motivate us to respond in loving service to our Lord Jesus and our Savior? That's our responsibility. Does the reality of what we were rescued from something outside of ourselves, like Bonhoeffer said, it had to be external. It had to be something else opening the door, somebody else setting you free because you had no way of doing that yourself.
[00:15:09] It should motivate us to respond in loving service and compel us to view each other and those sitting in darkness with love of Jesus.
[00:15:19] That when we go out into the world every day and we view people as Christ views them and what he did for them, that he died for that person that you're working with, he died for the neighbor that you maybe quarrel with. He died for the relative that you've shared the gospel with over and over again. And yet they yet have their eyes open to him, but still look at them with the love of Jesus.
[00:15:41] It doesn't matter who it is.
[00:15:46] The realization that we're all born into sin and what the news that they were bringing that yes, a Savior was born.
[00:15:58] Why was Jesus called a savior?
[00:16:04] There was an entire world that needed to be saved.
[00:16:12] We can be joyful in knowing that this good news is truth.
[00:16:20] Can you imagine going back to Bonhoeffer, anybody who is, and they promise you a pardon. They promise. And he Gets you. Ah, no, sorry, not this time. We were just joking.
[00:16:37] We really not going to offer you that.
[00:16:40] That would be kind of sick, wouldn't it? Or someone offers you a million dollars and say, no, I'm just kidding. There'd be no joy in hearing that news, right? If it never came to reality.
[00:16:54] The joy that we have, there's hope. And that hope is wonderful. And it was hope that came to realization in Jesus coming as a baby for us.
[00:17:07] If it was a lie, the promise was useless. It's worthless. It's not true.
[00:17:13] But the promise that God gave us in Genesis 3 is true.
[00:17:21] It came from God and God brought it to fruition in reality for us, in Jesus Christ.
[00:17:30] The same can be said about the Gospel and the record of the good news proclaimed on that starry night.
[00:17:36] What a sick joke to promise something that would be nothing but a hoax.
[00:17:42] All we would have would be warm fuzzy stories that would temporarily make us feel good. Temporarily.
[00:17:49] Like a Hallmark movie, right? You feel good for a while, then you watch the next one.
[00:17:55] But it's true. It's reality.
[00:18:00] It's not a made up story. It's not make believe. It is reality. How do we know this?
[00:18:07] We look in the same first two chapters of Luke.
[00:18:11] Luke wants us to know that this news is true. This good news is reality. He says in verse three of chapter one. It seemed good to me also having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, Most excellent Theophilus. He states that he had investigated everything carefully from the beginning.
[00:18:35] As the Holy Spirit led Luke to record these events he studied. He wanted the exact truth that took place so that we could hang our faith on this truth.
[00:18:49] Even Mary, knowing that the Gospel of Luke was the fruit of careful research. And a lot of scholars believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was Luke's direct source of information.
[00:19:04] And we know right after this story in Luke 2:19, what does Mary say? Or what does Luke say that Mary did? But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
[00:19:19] The reality of what took place, the reality of the conversations with God herself and what God told her about the Son that she would bear the Messiah, Emmanuel. That God would be with us all the time.
[00:19:40] If you ever watch the Chosen, there's a Christmas one out called Whole Holy Night and it's all about Mary and her remembrances of. They did a great job.
[00:19:53] She stored up everything that took place that one night, from the shepherds to her and Joseph. The fact that this is a true Story is something that we can take joy in.
[00:20:10] Jesus himself tells the disciples that he is the realization of this truth.
[00:20:17] In John 14:6, what does he say? I am the way and I am the truth.
[00:20:24] This good news based on my life is the truth.
[00:20:29] I am the way. No one comes to the Father except through me.
[00:20:37] Why is it good news? Why is it joyful to know and hear what the angels had to say 2000 years ago? Verse 11. What do they say? For unto you is born this day, the city of David. A savior who is who may be, or who might be, but who is Christ the Lord?
[00:21:00] Just those words. As the angels said these things to these shepherds, they're telling these shepherds that that baby that you will find lying in a feeding trough in a cold, dank place, this is. This person is no other than Christ, the Lord.
[00:21:21] Angels of God proclaiming this truth to these shepherds.
[00:21:27] Christ. Who is this Christ? The Lord Christ. He is the Messiah. The king sent on a mission to establish a kingdom of eternity, a kingdom that will never fail, a kingdom that will never be overthrown. A kingdom that we have been gifted to by Jesus Christ to be spiritually part of now and fully complete and glorified one day in his return.
[00:21:52] That's the Christ who was born.
[00:21:55] He's the Lord. The same word for Lord here was used in verse 11, is also used in verse 143 in chapter 29 and 223 to describe the Lord God in Bethlehem. That night. That night, God in human flesh came to save and restore his creation to himself.
[00:22:16] The words that he spoke in Genesis 3:15.
[00:22:19] God Himself speaking to the enemy. Adam and Eve, came as a human.
[00:22:30] The only way possible for him to open the door for us to be free from sin.
[00:22:36] Came to save and restore his creation to himself.
[00:22:42] It's what he longs for.
[00:22:45] God wants restoration with you.
[00:22:49] God wants your relationship to be reconciled with him, to have that for now, to enjoy now, and to enjoy forever. He wants nothing more from that. And for us to love him in return and to glorify his wonderful name.
[00:23:07] He came.
[00:23:09] He was born in Bethlehem as a human. He did not descend from the sky. He was not. Or he was conceived miraculously in Mary's womb and went through the stages of the development just like any human baby.
[00:23:22] What a wonder as a man, the representative man, he could bear the sins of the human race.
[00:23:29] God had to. Jesus had to step off his throne, as Paul says, empty himself of all his royalty, all his deity as a God. But he's still God. As a man come, comes down and has to be a man to take upon our sins so that you may have life.
[00:23:54] And it's for all people.
[00:23:58] Angel verse 10 and the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all, all the people.
[00:24:14] Luke says in 2:32, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people in Israel. Both Gentiles and God's chosen Israelites, man and woman, all are called by God for this reconciliation.
[00:24:34] Romans 10, 11, 13 for the Scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.
[00:24:43] For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is the Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
[00:24:59] No one here is excluded, no one here is excluded from this promise.
[00:25:06] And no one here is not in need of a Savior.
[00:25:13] Don't let the enemy tell you you don't need anything.
[00:25:17] Don't let your own accomplishments, don't let your own life, your own good feelings about yourself let you believe that you don't need a savior because a Savior was born.
[00:25:33] He is a savior because a whole world needed to be saved from their sins.
[00:25:39] And none of us are excluded from that.
[00:25:43] And the enemy does a great job of telling us we don't need it, that we're okay, or just a flat out lie that there is no God.
[00:25:56] All you have is now.
[00:26:00] All you have is the life you live for whatever time period there is.
[00:26:06] Don't fall into that trap either that we've all been born, as Solomon tells us, with eternity on our mind.
[00:26:18] And we all have living souls that will live forever, either with God or apart from God.
[00:26:29] And the good news is that Jesus is offering his righteousness for us that we can approach and have this relationship because of him, his blood, his sacrifice and the hope in his resurrection that we too will one day be renewed perfectly body, spirit and mind.
[00:26:58] Short story Forget where it came from, this fact of history, that the Gospel applies to all and it transformed all who believe.
[00:27:08] Savage cannibals had been converted into peaceable missionaries through the good news of Christ.
[00:27:14] I read of a skeptic who was on South Sea Island. He was mocking Christianity.
[00:27:21] A local tribesman said to him, if the missionaries had not brought us the gospel and we had not believed, we would have eaten you for dinner by now.
[00:27:34] Wherever it goes, the gospel transforms sinful hearts.
[00:27:39] The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and that's the joy of the good news that we are celebrating today.
[00:27:51] Let's pray.
[00:27:58] Father God, we do praise you.
[00:28:03] We thank you for the hope, the joy realized in Christ Jesus, the fact that he came and died for our sins, resurrected so that we can have that same hope and joy. Looking forward to his return, Father. We can rejoice in that good news as well.
[00:28:29] Thank you for your time. Thank you for your spirit here that is moving, touching hearts, opening eyes, showing people the need for a savior today.
[00:28:44] Lord, we love you. We thank you. We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.
