Glory to the New-born King
Luke 2:14-21
What is the right response to God for His Christmas Gift?
- In the Jewish tradition, part of the expression of thanks was as an extended re-iterating of the qualities and benefits of the Giving Person
- In Luke 2:14, we can see the most appropriate response possible to the birth of Christ…. made by the angels:
- Glory to God in the Highest!
- That is The Highest Concern of all Angels: Glorify God
- To glorify means to make great, to make heavy, weighty
- U could say it means to reflect & indicate the high value
- The angels were created, and do exist,
- to Glorify God in continual worship, and
- to be ministering servants of God
- In 4:8, they never cease to cry-out, one to the other, in a perfect, resounding, harmonious symphony of angelic voices
- Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.
- They Glorify God by continual obedience to God; by expressing in words of worship the greatness of His person and attributes
- 14 they Glorify God by Announc. His Birth to the Shepherds
- They Glorify God by describing what He was going to bring:
- Peace & Goodwill among men with whom God is pleased
- But, not only were the angels Created to Glorify God, so are we
- God Created us for the Glory of His Name!
- But, sadly, as we all know, Sin prevents us fr. Glorifying God.
- We have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God
- In effect: we’ve sinned & therefor we fail to glorify God
- But God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to deal with our Sin
- so that we could be freed from sin’s curse & plague
- to live lives that Please Him & Glorify Him & Savour Him as: All-Satisfying to our souls
- Notice the three examples set before us today:
- Zacharias Glorified God, thru
- Repentance, Belief & Blessing
- Mary Glorified God, by
- Belief, Submission and Magnifying the Lord
- The Shepherds Glorified God by
- Obeying – they went and saw, and
- they returned, Declaring what they’d Seen and Heard
- Let’s consider very very briefly this Christmas morning: these 3 respons. to God for: birth/gift Jesus, who is Christ the Lord.
First) Notice: Zacharias’ Response to the coming birth of Messiah
- We know his sad, unbelieving response to Gabriel’s Announce.
- But for little over 9 months I’m sure he repented & renewed his belief & gave thought to His 1st words after John was born.
- After John’s birth & his name being determin’d by Zac’s writing
- he was filled with the Holy Spirit and He Blessed God…
- That blessing means: “to speak excellent words about”
- Zacharias Spoke excellent words re: God’s works for His people
- In 68, he blessed/glorif’d God 4 visit’g & redeem’g His peopl
- 69, Zac. blessed/glorified God for raising up a horn – a strength of salvation for us
- 71, Zac. bless’d-glorif’d God that: Horn of Salvation He’d raised-up, (referring to Christ), would save us fr. our enemies
- 72 he bless’d-glorif’d God: thru Christ, God would sho mercy
- 73, he bless’d-glorif’d God that He’d rememb’d His coven’t
- 74, Zac. Bless’d-glorif’d God that He had granted to us, that we might serve Him w/o Fear, In Holiness, In Righteousn’s, all our days
- Everything Zach. spoke of, related 2 the Messiah – not John
- He knew His prayers had been answered
- But, He also knew the birth of John was a dim, flickering Candle-Flame compared to the Blazing-Sun of Messiah’s birth
- He knew that God was about to accomplish something infinitely greater than Elizabeth’s pregnancy
- He knew that God was going to Save His People
- And He Glorified God in response
Secondly: Mary’s response to the birth of Messiah
- Luke 1:46-55
- I know we looked at this passage last Sunday
- So, I just want to emphasise again, her glorifying of God
- She magnified & exalted God for His great works in her life
- Notice her words:
- 46, My soul exalts the Lord…
- My Spirit has rejoiced in God, my salvation
- 49, The Mighty One has done great things for me…
- Holy is His Name
- Mary Glorified God by declaring her joy in God and the greatness of the things He had done for her
- Glorifying God is to make much of God, for His good works
- Glorifying God is to rejoice in God & His Good works to/for us
- But, Glorifying God does not stay there, it must rise further…
- Glorifying God reaches its peak when we simply:
- Delight in God, Himself and when we
- Rejoice in God, regardless of His Blessings to us and when we Savour God, purely for His Person
- Mary comes so close when she says
- My Soul has-rejoiced in God my Saviour…
- Mary Glorified the Lord by rejoicing in Him
- God is glorified by us when we thank Him for His great gifts
- But, God is even more glorified by us
- when we just delight in Him…
- when we magnify Him for His attributes…
- when we exalt Him for His Holiness…
- when we marvel at Him for His grace…
- when we rejoice in Him coz He’s the fountain of all joy
- John Piper is exactly right when he says, God is most Glorified in Us when we are most satisfied in Him – not just in His gifts
- Mary also glorified God by her loving care for Jesus…
- She did all that any mother would do for her new-born
- She gave birth to Him
- She wrapped Him in cloths
- She laid Him in the Manger – gave him her best
- She raised Him in the fear and admonition of the Lord
- She followed Him thru His ministry
- She witnessed Him during His suffering & death – cross
- She witnessed Him at His Resurrection
- She eventually believed on Him as Her Messiah, and Her Lord
- Her response to all that God had done for her: Glorify God
- She Glorified God in
- Her Total Submission to God and…
- Her song of praise to the Lord and…
- Her life of obedience to the Lord
Thirdly: The Shepherds Glorified God for the News they Rec’d.
- 1) They Glorified God by Hearing the Messenger’s Words
- we know that they heard the message because their reaction was entirely consistent w/ the Angels words….
- The angel said: You will find…
- The shepherds: went, looked & found the promised Babe
- Hearing the Word of God, glorifies God
- Hearing is the mind’s attempt to grasp the truth of message
- 2) They Glorified God by Recognising the source of Message
- 15, “The Lord has made known to us…”
- That recognition honoured and exalted God…
- Whenever we recognise and honour God for His Word given and spoken to us, that Glorifies God
- 3) They Glorified God by Obeying the Messenger’s Word
- Obedience to God’s Word glorifies God
- Obedience is the determined choice to conform my will, my behaviour, and my actions to God’s will
- Obedience is the transforming of belief into action
- Obedience is the necessary outflow of all genuine faith
- Faith without obedience is not faith, it is dead
- Genuine Faith always follows through with Obedience
- 4) They Glorified God by Hastening to see Truth of Message
- They wasted no time in going to see the truth of the words they heard – There was an urgency
- 5) They Glorified God by Seeing the truth of the Message
- they beheld with their own eyes the wonderful truth of Jesus, who is Christ the Lord, lying in a manger
- we do not see Him with the physical eyes,
- We see Jesus with the eyes of faith
- We believe in Him and we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
- 6) They Glorified God by Making Known the Good News…
- Following in the footsteps of Zach. & Simeon. & Mary they exalted and glorified the Lord by making known the truth of all they had seen…
- 7) They Glorified & praised God for the truth of the Message
- We hear the message
- We obey the message
- We Give Thanks to God
- We Delight in God, all of which: Glorifies God
Fourthly there is Simeon’s response to the birth of the Messiah
- {Pause & check watch}
- ….aaaand, we’ll look at Simeon, some other time!! J
So, What is the Message for us, for today, from this Text?
- How do we respond, How should we respond to this Greatest Message, besides the message of the Cross?
We respond, like the three figures we briefly considered!
- We Follow Zac’s example: who Glorified God,
- Thru Repentance,
- Thru Belief,
- Thru Exalting God in His Song/Prayer/Meditation
- Brothers and Sisters, Christ has Come and Purchased our salvation – He is returning again, very soon!
- Be ready for His return! Repent of Sin & Believe in the Lord Jesus!
- We Follow Mary’s example: who Glorified God
- By Her Submission to God
- By Her Obedience to God
- We Follow the Shepherds example: who Glorified God:
- By Hearing the message
- By Recognising its divine source
- By Obeying God’s Commands
- By Seeing the truth
- Be Making Known the Good News…
- And We are able to see and imitate these examples, becoz Christ has come, been born, and He has died to take away our sin, so that we can truly repent
- we can truly believe
- we can truly submit to God
- we can truly obey God
- we’ve heard the message of His Birth, His life, His cross
- we’ve seen the truth of it, worked out, in our own lives
- So, we go, to tell others, to make disciples, of all nations!
May God the Holy Spirit help us this day to Glorify the Lord for the Birth, the Life, the Death & the Res. of Christ.
Amen.
