“The Case for Christ - His Importance” - (part 3)

How important is Jesus Christ?

Last week, I hope we all grasped the fact that the all-knowing God, from creation onward, had given prophecies, types, and signs about His salvation plan in Christ.

For centuries before His Son appeared upon the earth, He gave minute details about Him, His life, and His history that were all perfectly fulfilled.

Never - ever - in all the history of mankind - have such detailed predictions been made of a personage before his actual birth upon earth, and each prediction perfectly fulfilled by that person!

I hope you were able to think about this! 

Surely, this fact alone is worthy of man’s considerations of the supreme importance of Jesus Christ - is it not?

Our thrust of study on this subject is very timely for our present world thought.

Did you notice the article in the newspaper last Sunday in which this very topic was addressed?

Ella and I had been discussing it all through the week prior to last Sunday’s message so seeing it in the paper that very day caused us to be so thankful for the quiet, steady influence of the Holy Spirit in leading us all along in the fuller revelation concerning God’s Son.

That is the Holy Spirit’s ministry, you know.

Jesus told His disciples in John 15:26, ‘...I will send you from the Father...the Spirit of Truth Who comes from the Father: [it is He] Who will testify of Me.’

And in 16:13, He said, ‘...when the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth...’.

So, in following that ministry of the Holy Spirit, we can never go wrong.

Just as it was in Simeon’s case who was so right on when he prophesied about Jesus.

He saw, by the Holy Spirit, Christ’s importance as he held the Child in his arms.  

This incident is found in the book of Luke and we will follow Simeon’s prophecies through as we continue on in this subject of Christ’s importance tonight.

If you would like to turn to it, I am reading from the second chapter, starting with verse twenty-five.  

Luke 2:25-34: ‘Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout,  looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the Child, Jesus, to do for Him what was customary under the law, Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Sovereign Lord, now You are dismissing your servant in peace, according to Your Word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a Light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people, Israel.

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about Him[Christ].

Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother, Mary, ‘This Child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many shall be revealed...’.

This evening, as we trust in the Holy Spirit to minister, I would like to concentrate on the first part of Simeon’s prophecy of: ‘...mine eyes have seen Your salvation...a Light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people, Israel.’

Simeon, as the Scripture states, was a righteous and devout man.

He was part of God’s remnant who carried within himself a hope for the consolation of Israel.

That is, he was looking forward to the time when God’s people would be restored - to the time when the redemptive plan that God had been making known down throughout Israel’s history would be fulfilled.

Here, in Luke 2, when Simeon saw the Child, Jesus, he instantly recognized Who it was he was seeing and holding in his arms.
This was no ordinary Jewish child here before his eyes.

This was the One - the promised, long-awaited Redeemer.

By the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Simeon knew that this was the descendant ‘...out of the seed of David, according to the flesh’, the One Who would make atonement for all mankind. (Rom 1:3)

The salvation He would bring would be Israel’s ultimate glory - ‘...a light...for glory to Your people, Israel’, he prophesied.

This was the nation’s highest honor: that Mary, a Jewish woman, had given birth to the One Who would become ‘salvation.’

It was He, ‘Savation’, Who was ‘...[to bring] praise and honor and glory...’ to Israel.

Thus God, through the Holy Spirit, had shown Simeon that He had chosen and honored the nation of Israel to bring forth His glory in the birth of His Son through a Jewish woman. 

In Romans 9:4-5, Paul recited this glory that Simeon saw.

In verse 5, he spoke of Christ having been born a Jew when he said: ‘...as far as His natural descent was concerned, from them [Israel] came the Christ...’.

And, in line with Simeon’s first statement of ‘a light to the Gentiles’, Paul began his review, in verse 1, by pointing out the place of the Jews in God’s history, ‘...for they are Israelites, and to them belong God’s adoption[as a nation] and the glorious Presence (Shekinah)...’

God had given them the great honor in choosing the nation as the vehicle for communicating His glory so that the other nations could behold the glory of God in them. (Isa 49:6; 60:1-3; Zech 8:20-23)

Israel was acutely aware of this fact, for it was the glory shown in the Shekinah glory, or that ‘cloud’ of light that was the manifestation of God’s presence to Israel. (Ex 40:34-35) 

Other nations could not boast of this.

Simeon perceived this same light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

It was the Light God was now commanding to shine out of darkness. (2 Cor 4:6)

And the Light was ‘...for revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was before unknown]...’., Simeon said.

What was it that the Gentiles did not know?

Think of the Gentile world as it existed then with their various religious practices and customs.

Were they not trying hard to find the mystery of life in them?

Were they not ‘religious’ in the formal sense of the word?

Were they not looking to satisfy that certain deep-rooted void that every man has within him in all of their religious fervor?

Was not the way they practiced their religions good enough to please the Most High God?
It is true that their curiosities of powers beyond themselves were being explored so much so that their cities were filled with objects of worship.

Paul found it so when he reached Athens.

They had their philosophies, their ideas, their many customs and habits, their routines that they followed rigidly and conscientiously to worship their gods. 

But they were plagued with unrelenting fears of death - of what could or might be beyond life.

And there were the fears of what might and could happen now if they did not gratify or sufficiently appease these gods.

They looked for glimmers of hope here and there, but could find nothing - absolutely nothing except ‘death - final, complete, damning, hopeless death!’

Acts 17:18 pictures their curiosity in the mysteries of life when an intellectual group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered Paul and his preaching.

And, of Paul, ‘...some said, ‘What would this babbler say?’ or, as Moffat translates it, ‘Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning?’

Others said, ‘He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities’ because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

And they took hold of him and brought him to the council  seat, saying, ‘May we know what this new teaching is which you present? For you bring some strange things to our ears; we wish to know therefore what these things mean.’

So Paul...said: ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious’.

Paul started his discourse at a wise and good place - where they were in their interests.

And, then, he pointed out to them that an inscription on one of their idols said: ‘To an unknown god’.

And from this point, Paul spoke to them of God, the one true and living God, the maker and master of the universe, the Lord of all nations, the source of all life, ‘the One in Whom we live and move and have our being.’ (v 28)

What did Paul do?

He opened the door so their religious capacity could be enlightened.

They were worshipping unworthy gods, gods without substance or life, gods that could do nothing for them except keep them deep in darkness and death.

The message of light to them was that this ‘unknown’ God ‘...now, is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.’ (2 Tim 1:10)

‘...He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.’

Simeon saw something of that when he saw God’s gracious purpose in this special Child he was holding. 

This Child had been concealed within eternity to be revealed now in time.

And it was His life that would give the ‘knowledge of the light of God in His face...’ to the Gentiles. 

In becoming Incarnate, He would abolish death through His resurrection and show that His life is of an immortal and an incorruptible nature.

And He would show that His life has sovereignity over the temporal world of change and death.

You see - He linked life and immortality together: death was not the ultimate end of life - it no longer had a curse on it! 

This was Life, with a capital ‘L’ - that is everlasting - life that is eternal - life that is incorruptible!

We say that life, with a small ‘l’ - has to do with what is now - it is certain to us and something we can understand and grasp to a degree.

And we say that immortality is future - has to do with another world - something we can not fully grasp nor understand.

But Jesus made immortality credible - He bridged the gap between life and immortality - made them into one, enduring reality - the imperishable Life, with a capital ‘L’!

Life that has purpose and activity now because it has fellowship with God would go on after death in that same fellowship with Him, that same Life.

This was the Light for the Gentiles to see and understand  - this is what they had not yet known.

He brought Light to earth: not only was it set before them, but it was offered to them by the Gospel News!

If ever a statement jolted His contemporaries, the statement of Jesus in Jn 8:12 certainly did.

There He said: ‘I Am the Light of the world.’

He was implying the gross darkness that covered the earth was the darkness of sin and alienation from God the Father.

He, the Light - was set before them, when He said: ‘I am the One Who is the Light - Who banishes the gross darkness.’

Would this not all be Good News to the Gentiles?

For centuries, except for a smattering few proselytes, they were as though they were existing in a dark, windowless room - all the walls were black - the ceiling was black - the floor was black.

It was absolutely dark and they were shut in there with no light at all.

They were impoverished spiritually, limited, caged in an existence of darkness and hopelessness, not understanding what light was.

And, now, something has happened where they will be shown the opposite of the dark - where they would know that the door to the revelation of Light was not locked.

They only needed to give the door a push, open it up wide, and walk into God’s light in Christ - walk into that place of liberty and freedom where the indestructable Life was brought to light.

It is no wonder that - when Paul and Barnabas opened the door for the Gentiles - they jumped for joy!

Look at Acts 13:46-50, as the missionaries declared the news.

Acts 13, starting with verse 46, where the Jews were being addressed first:

Verse 46: ‘And Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly and boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that God’s message[concerning salvation through Christ] should be spoken to you first. But since you thrust it from you, you pass judgment on yourselves, that you are unworthy of eternal life and out of your own mouth, you will be judged. [Now] behold, we turn to the Gentiles(the heathen).

For so the Lord charged us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles that you may bring eternal salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’

Now - listen to how the Gentiles received the Good News in contrast to the rejection of it by the Jews:

Verse 48: ‘And when the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified(praised and gave thanks for) the Word of God and as many as were destined(appointed and ordained) to eternal life believed(adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Jesus as the Christ and their Savior).

And so the Word of the Lord[concerning eternal salvation through Christ] scattered and spread throughout the whole region.’
These Gentiles accepted the Word with complete approval, without hesitation, and with great joy.

For them, not only was the door opened, but it was flung wide open so that all darkness was dispelled forever!

How could it have been otherwise?  

The Gentiles knew what real darkness and death was.

The mystery of life is solved - the void is filled!

The terror and the curse of eternal death is vanquished!

All fears are gone in Jesus Christ!

Now - they heard the Good News and held to its saving strength like a drowning man, thankfully and happily relieved, would cling desperately to a life preserver that has been flung to him from a distant shore!

Life and immortality had been brought to light by this Child that Simeon had held in his arms some years before.

He is indeed, the ‘Light to lighten the Gentiles...’!

Now - to we ‘Gentiles’ who have accepted the Light of Christ, the writer to the Romans counsels, in Rom 13:11-14 the following that is just as true for us as when it was written, and please listen carefully: 

‘...you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time for you to wake up out of your sleep(rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed in...Christ.

The night is far gone and the day is almost here. Let us then drop (fling away) the works and deeds of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.

Let us live and conduct ourselves honorably and becomingly as in [the open light of day], not in revelling (carousing) and drunkenness, not in immorality and debauchery (sensuality and licentiousness), not in quarreling and jealousy.

But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ...and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh [put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to [gratify its] desires(lusts).’

And in Eph 5:8, ‘...For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [lead lives as those native-born to the Light].’

AMEN!

Song: “Open my eyes, Lord, I want to see Jesus...”!
  
I leave you with this tonight to take before the Lord and consider it in the light of His enduring Word.

Next week, Lord willing, we shall go on with the next part of Simeon’s prophecy: ‘to the fall and rising again of many - and a sign - which shall be spoken against;...that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’

Let us pray.     [PRAY]