“The Case for Christ - God’s Witness by the Angels”
                    (part 13)

Turn once again to Luke 2:8-14 - Luke 2 and I will start with verse 8: 'And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them: 'Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes 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, good will toward men’.

Last time, we looked at this extraordinary birth announcement of what the angel told the shepherds on the day of Christ's birth.

And we saw the reason for God making this kind of an announcement.

It was God - confirming - with this, His own unique way - His creative act in the Incarnation!

The angels served as His witnesses to the keeping of His prophetic Word, both through the prophets of old and through the angels He had sent to Mary, to Joseph, and to Zacharias.

Angels - a host of heavenly beings, an army of them, for 'host' actually means 'army' - yes, it was a heavenly army -  of witnesses come down to earth to let it be known God was confirming His Word. 

How true that night were the words He had given Isaiah many, many years earlier: 'For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given...'. (Isa 9:6).     

So - '...If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this - that is, in this case, the witness of the angels - for this is the witness of God, which He testified of His Son.'

We surely can see clearly, in this passage in Luke, the Locus, the point of convergence, the focal point of this confirming birth announcement.

It certainly was not the shepherds, it was not Mary, it was not the angels - it was God's Son.

Of Him, we have already seen a number of names and titles given Him by the angels and by prophesy before He was born. Let me just briefly review them before we go on.

To Mary, God had already said, He would be called Jesus Who, one day, would be recognized as the Son of the Highest and was referred to by the angel as that 'Holy Thing' Who also '...shall be called the Son of God'. 
(Lu 1:31-32 and verse 35)  

To Joseph, God had said that Mary's Son would be called '...Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins', all of which would be according to Isaiah's prophecy where the name given Him would also be 'Emmanuel...God with us'. (Mt 1:20-23 and Isa 7:14)

From Zacharias' mouth, God's prophetic word revealed that 'through His tender mercy', that is, His grace, the Dayspring would give light in darkness and 'guide in the way of peace.' (Lu 1:78-79)

Thus, in Luke 2, we clearly know that this 'babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, born in the city of David...', is Jesus Who the angel identified as 'a Savior, which is Christ the Lord'. (verses 11 and 12)

And, we know, according to the angels' praises of God that there is no mistaking that this is all coming straight from the hand of God, from 'God in the highest heavens'.   

And, we know - equally as well - that with each one of the titles given to this Child, there is deep, significant meaning. 

This Child was to be the embodiment of every single one of them - not just an expression of each one but the actual Incarnation of each.

Now - stop to think about that for a moment: for each one - for the name of 'Jesus', for the name of 'Son of the Highest', for the name of ‘Dayspring,’ for the name of 'Holy Thing', for the name of 'Son of God', for the name of 'Emmanuel', this Child was the actual Incarnation of each.

God, at this point, gave His confirmation by the embodiment of His prophetic Word and He gave the witness of His creative act in this unique Incarnation of His Son.

But - the Incarnation does not stop there: He also brought a hidden and infinite mystery concerning Himself and His design into the realm of the finite.

It revealed the further mystery God has designed for men -  a mystery in the form of His divine attributes embodied in the Incarnation.

So - according to this passage, and with the help of Zacharias' prophecy, and with what we can glean from other Scriptures today, I think we can discover three of the most important facets in God's love and mind that are personified in the Incarnation of His Son. 

The first we have already found is in the affirmation of His Word by the angels - His truth - the truth of His Word - that Christ is.  

We have looked into this at earlier times so I will not linger here except as a point of emphasis.

I start, of course, with '...The Word became flesh, became a human being, and lived among us...'; yes, '...grace and truth came by Jesus Christ...'.

Truth - truth about God, truth about His Word, truth about His plan, truth about His Person, truth about His character - the true knowledge of God - the pure, living 'truth' Who came to earth in this 'babe...in a manger'. 

Truth came by Christ that day: whatever else may have happened on that day upon the earth, it paled in comparison when 'truth' came down in Jesus Christ.

Truth - that is the first facet of God's plan that was embodied by the Incarnation.

Along with the Person of truth, peace and good will came down, too.

The angels allied these second and third facets with each other in their glowing praises to the glory of God.

See that in verse 14 of Luke 2: 'Glory to God in the highest heavens, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.'

Peace is the second attribute embodied in God's Son. We have already spent some time about that through Zacharias' prophecy of the Dayspring Who will 'guide in the way of peace.' 

So - I will not remain on this subject for long either, except to expand its relationship with this story in Luke.

The term 'peace', in this passage in Luke, is often looked upon as a thing or an item that is brought upon the earth by 'men of goodwill', or by men of a good disposition who will work to bring peace on earth.

And, in the earthly realm, that is a good thing - for 'peacemakers' are needed - very much needed in this earth, not only to try to bring about peace among nations, but in families and in all other relationships known to man.

And - there certainly is no question that - since understanding more fully the reason for Christ's coming to earth - it has had great influence to that end.          

Yes - to bring in 'peace' was the reason for a Savior coming but the angels were not speaking of the kind of peace the world attributes to their praises in glorifying God. 

So - what kind of peace did God send at this time?

We find the answer much later in Jesus' time.

He encompassed peace in Himself when He said to His disciples, '...My peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you...' - ‘My peace’.

Peace - God's peace - was embodied in Him when He came that day in Bethlehem. 

The angel called Him 'Christ' - the Messiah, the One Who would 'save' and 'deliver', as Zacharias prophesied in 
Lu 1:71 and verse 74.

By 'remission of sins', that He would give, the way was made clear to 'guide men in the way of peace' - in verses 77 and 79 of that same portion.

He embodied 'peace' - and, for men, it was the reconciling peace He made between men and God.

Now, that is very different from what the world sees in this message by the angels.

Christ definitely classified the embodiment of His peace as one that was not as the world gives - read that for yourself in Jn 14:27 - that is the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 27.

Truth and peace - then - God in His Truth - and peace - God in His reconciling peace - these are embodied in the Incarnation.

And, then, there is the third part given by the angels that I would like to concentrate on tonight and, that is His good will - God's good pleasure that is the prelude to all things.

It centers, of course, in His everflowing grace - in His grace extended in 'performing' and 'remembering' His promises and His covenant - which we saw in Luke 1:72 of Zacharias' prophecy.

The King James translation that I read earlier, and some other translations read: '...peace on earth, good will toward or among men.'

Some translations read: '...among men of good will' and you will find other translations interpreting this phrase in similar ways.

With a rendition such as this, its interpretation, especially by the world, comes to mean man's good disposition that brings about peace throughout the earth, as I said earlier.

But - to grasp the intent of the phrase, and in keeping with the entire meaning of the passage and all that has preceded this event so far, I find it wiser to read it as '...peace on earth, God's will for men.'

The NEB reads: '...for men on whom His favor rests', a translation that seems to bring out the sense best.

It was in the Incarnation that God gave to men the extension of His 'tender mercy', - His grace, - His design, His will which is good. 

The intent of His good will was, and is, that which is profitable, beneficial, something to man's advantage, something for his spiritual gain, something for man's spiritual good.

In other words, for you and for me, it was, and is, God's good will to become beneficiaries of the Incarnation of Himself in His Son He sent to earth.

It was His good pleasure for men to know, to experience, and to live in His 'peace', peace which is among attributes embodied in Christ. 

God’s good will is His favor toward men.  Grace is the undeserved favor of God: so His good will was now personified and confirmed in the Incarnation.

Luke 12:32: 'It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom...', He has '...determined to give you His kingdom', Jesus told His disciples.

'It is His good will, His good pleasure to give you His kingdom, to give you the embodiment of His grace for your own benefit and good' is what we can say.

Look at Ephesians 1:5-10 with me - Eph 1 starting with verse five.

In this passage, Paul talks of the divine salvation plan that includes God's adoption of His spiritual children unto Himself by Christ Jesus. 

It is according to the good pleasure of His will - His good will toward men and it is '...to the praise of the glory of His grace...'.

...To the praise of the splendor of that grace...wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved...with which He has taken us into His favor in the person of His beloved Son...
(verse 6)

...in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace...'

...For God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan...His hidden purpose...according to His good pleasure...

...that in the fulness of the times, that everything would be brought in to a unity in Christ.'

'Through His tender mercy', the Incarnation brought with it countless gifts, a full stream of attributes, the 'full purpose which He cherished in His own mind of restoring the whole creation to its one Head in Christ...'. - (verses 8 and 10)   

The splendor of God's grace embodied everything in Christ - in Christ, men's eyes were to be opened to the embodied Truth and gain nothing but benefits in the form of grace and peace.

They are in Christ - embodied in Him - and if He is in us, then we, too, have the embodiment of those attributes that He desires to give.   

Jn 1:16-17: 'Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace...grace after grace, favor after favor, blessing after blessing...For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ....grace and reality is through Jesus Christ'.

We have received of 'His fulness...grace upon grace upon grace.' 

So, when the angels were praising God in the Highest, they were also affirming the residence of grace and truth upon the earth, grace and truth to 'guide into the way of peace' in the ‘Savior, which is Christ the Lord’ born that day.

Thus the Incarnation is the 'golden thread' that holds and supports all the knowledge of God that man can possibly see and know of Him. 

I know this can all be so overwhelming when we start to consider seriously and thoughtfully the meaning of this event of the actual Incarnation.

And so we come to the question: what is the practicality of knowing all of this? - what good is it to us now?

Where does the hand of God lead man when he accepts the fact of the Incarnation of Christ?

To help answer that, I would like to leave you with one last thought that concerns the reaction of those in this account who knew about the Incarnation at this point: namely, the shepherds and Mary, those who give the evidence of God's work already beginning in relationship to His Son. 

Look at verses 15 through 20: notice the shepherds first.

Without losing one moment of time, they made their decision to check this all out for themselves - let us go see the things 'the Lord hath made known unto us', they decided.

If the Lord Himself has made these things known 'unto us', how can we possibly ignore that information? 

That seemed to be the reason for their decision - a very wise decision to make!

When they had investigated it for themselves, and saw the reality with their own eyes, they could do nothing else but  'glorify and praise God'!

So, first of all, do not be content with the shallowness of the world's way of thinking about this event in Luke 2.

Let your thoughts, your actions, the intent of your heart reach beyond the usual worldly concept on into the heart of God and, as the shepherds, '...see these things which the Lord has made known unto us.'

That is the first practical point to think about before the Lord.

With Mary, we go on a little further - she already knew the truth of what God had done. And what did she do with these things? - and, this, too, is a wise thing to do!

She pondered them in her heart - she quietly treasured them in her heart, she gave them much thought, she mused upon them, she turned them over in her mind, and often thought about them - that is ‘pondering’.
  
In her, we are given the evidence of God's truth doing its work of grace and peace in the heart of the human being who first experienced the Incarnation.

In the heart - in the deep recesses of men's heart is where it would all take place - that is where the mystery of God would develop in men - the embodiment of His truth, peace, and grace would have its effect there.

That is the second practical point we can glean here: take hold of these benefits as they are in Christ.

Lay hold of Him in His truth, lay hold of Him in His peace, lay hold of Him in His grace.

As 2 Peter 3:17 and 18 says: '...do not fall from your own steadfastness but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.'

Lay hold of and ponder what came forth from the angels' witness that night of Christ's Incarnation - God's truth, peace, and grace or 'good will' embodied in His act of the Incarnation.

It is in Him that the Lord has made known His salvation and has done this wondrous thing of the ‘embodiment of His Son.’

'I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, God's good will for men.'

As Paul said in Acts 20:32, I say now to you:

'And, now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified in Christ Jesus.'

Amen.

Let us pray. (PRAY)

Sing: Medley of songs:
	
(1).	 Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her 				     King!
	 Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and 			      nature sing!
			    (Repeat refrain)			
	
	 He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes 			    the nations prove
 	 The glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His 			       	love.
			    (Repeat refrain)
			    ******************
(2).	 All hail the power of Jesus Name! Let angels prostate 					fall.
      Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord 				    of all!
      Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of 					all!
      Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, ye ransomed from 					the fall.
	 Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, And crown 				Him Lord of all!
	 Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown 				Him Lord of all!
				*****************	
(3).     And - now - unto Him Who is able to keep
        Able to keep you from falling,
        And present you faultless before the presence of 			His glory with exceeding joy.
	   To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and 				   majesty	
	   Dominion and power, both now and forever.
                 Amen!  So be it!