Christmas Eve 2024

Father in heaven, we thank you for this wonderful declaration given by heavenly hosts,

not given to kings or dignitaries, but to lowly shepherds.

Lord, we thank you that you remember the lowest among us.

And if we're honest, because of the sin and the brokenness in our own lives,

we are amongst the lowest.

And yet you have come to us.

Lord, we thank you for the gift that is the incarnation.

We pray that you would help us to understand in a deeper way the beauty that is Christ coming to us,

being born of a virgin, living and dying, and then rising again.

And we pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.

We'll be looking at Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

So if you have a Bible, please turn with me to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

I think there's a few more still at the back welcome table.

You can grab one at any time.

At Christmas, we reflect on Christ's humility, and rightfully so.

The doctrine of the incarnation represents God's condescension or God's humility in becoming a man.

He takes on human flesh, fully man and fully God.

So we can think of certain verses or chapters in the Bible like Philippians chapter 2 or 2 Corinthians chapter 8 or Hebrews 12.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

All of these portions of Scripture speak to God the Son humbling himself, becoming poor and suffering by his own will.

God becoming man, lying in a feeding trough, being a laborer, walking great distances, breathing in Judean dust,

walking dirty roads, breathing, all sorts of smells,

going hungry, braving choppy Galilean waters, battling crowds,

struggling with naysayers, being misunderstood, doubted by his friends and family,

being hung on a Roman cross, being treated as a political pawn by a less than noble Roman governor.

Jesus was God, the Son of God, with fully man and fully God on earth.

He was humbled.

The incarnation begins in Bethlehem, and it was indeed a humble one.

God became man.

God became poor.

God became vulnerable.

God became humble.

But why did this have to come to pass?

Why did redemption have to come about this way?

I mean, surely God being all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect in every way,

could have found another way for us to be redeemed and ransomed and made right.

But why did it have to be with God humbling himself, taking on in himself human flesh?

Why did this have to be?

The incarnation, which is what Christmas is all about,

it is a key doctrine to the Christian faith.

It is orthodoxy.

And what it isn't is a nice thing to think about one time a year,

but it is something that has to be real.

It has to be core.

It has to be a part of what we'd understand as closed-fisted, non-negotiable.

We have to believe it.

This is the only way that mankind could be redeemed.

So if we ask the question, why did it have to be this way?

I think we will take a look at our text, Luke 2, verses 8 and following,

Luke 2:8

and we'll see that this is actually the only way,

and because it's the only way, it is the best way that we could be redeemed.

Before we get into it, this section here,

it's a remarkable portion of the nativity narrative.

It draws our attention to the newborn Christ,

but specifically from the perspective of these shepherds.

Now, I mentioned in my prayer that these shepherds were lowly.

You'd think, well, hold on a second.

King David is a shepherd.

We think about Psalm 23.

Shepherds seem to be held in high esteem,

but by the time we get to the first century,

the nobility of this job, this vocation,

it really diminished.

Shepherds, they were not looked at with fondness,

but with suspicion.

So it is remarkable that angels come and declare the good news,

again, not to dignitaries, not to governors,

not to Caesars, but to lowly shepherds.

It's a remarkable thing.

And actually, it will help us to understand a bit more about the incarnation.

So it's important to consider a few things about angels,

because we're going to be looking at angels in our text today.

Angels play a key part throughout the Hebrew Bible,

or the Old Testament, as we call it.

Many of the key moments in the history of God's people, Israel,

they were directed through angelic oversight.

They are messengers, they're warriors,

and they serve at God's command.

They visit mankind from heaven,

and they return there after completing their task.

Unsurprisingly, then,

angels will play a key role in the nativity narrative.

They appear to Joseph, to Mary, to Zechariah,

the father of John the Baptist,

and then these unnamed shepherds.

From my survey, six or maybe seven instances

within Matthew and Luke

where angels are appearing in the nativity narrative.

They play a key, key part.

And of course they do,

because this is a key part of the history of God's people.

But there's a huge difference with this angelic appearance

to the shepherds

compared to how angels appeared throughout the Old Testament.

So after the initial angel appears,

saying good news, he's a messenger,

okay, that's in keeping with the Old Testament examples.

What happens next is a host of angels show up,

and they sing the Lord's praises.

And this is remarkable,

because nowhere else in the Bible,

nowhere else in the Bible,

do angels sing on earth.

They don't proclaim God's goodness,

singing on earth as they normally do in heaven.

You think about in heaven,

your mind might go to Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

might go into portions of Revelation chapter 3 and 4,

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

but nowhere in the Bible on earth

do we see angels singing God's praises,

except for Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

So what's going on here?

I'm going to read this section one more time,

not all the way down to verse 21,

but just to verse 15.

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 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, here it is, verse 13,

there was with the angel

a multitude of the heavenly hosts,

praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

When the angels went away from them into heaven,

the shepherds said to one another,

Let us go to Bethlehem

and see this thing that has happened,

which the Lord has made known to us.

Nowhere else in the Bible

do we see angels singing on earth.

So what does this singing mean?

Will this help us to answer the question

about the necessity of the incarnation for salvation?

So briefly, let's consider two things.

The first, angels are found in God's presence.

They surround him.

They're like his entourage, so to speak.

They do his bidding.

Like I mentioned, they're messengers.

They're warriors.

They are pure.

They're without sin.

They perfectly serve God.

They are people,

they're beings that guard,

that direct,

that encourage,

that give news.

They herald, literally.

They are messengers.

They do what God does,

and therefore,

where God is,

angels will be.

The second thing to consider,

mankind, unlike angels,

do not dwell,

we do not dwell in heaven.

We dwell here on earth.

It may seem obvious,

but there's a chasm between heaven and earth,

and it's a chasm that can't be transcended.

We can't cross that chasm.

The earth is the temporal and finite realm,

and heaven is the eternal and perfect realm,

and these two things do not mix.

And so, just on an aside,

it's really hard for us to understand these things,

because we have a very 2D understanding

of how reality works as modern people.

As modern people,

whatever we see,

whatever we can measure,

whatever we can touch,

whatever we can quantify,

that's what exists,

but when we talk about metaphysical things

or unseen realms,

it seems a bit far-fetched,

things of fantasy.

It's hard for us to understand such things

and to even conceptualize it,

let alone believe it.

But the ancients knew about this

and believed it.

They knew that humans were frustrated

by their inability to dwell

with the eternal divinity,

whether they called it

the God of the Bible,

Yahweh,

or some other idea of God.

A chasm existed between us and Him.

So the angelic choir in Luke 2,

they are singing on earth,

and it shows us

that this chasm has been breached,

or has been breached,

that heaven is invading earth,

it's breaking into the realm of earth.

Remember, angels only come to earth

to complete a divinely given task.

They don't spend time on earth

doing what they only do in heaven

in the presence of God.

And yet, here they are

doing a heavenly thing on earth.

It's a remarkable thing to consider.

The angels worship on earth

as in heaven.

Why?

Because God, the Son of God,

has taken upon Himself human flesh.

He is born in the city of David

to the Virgin Mary.

His name is Jesus.

Jesus, truly man and truly God,

the presence of God

now dwells on earth.

So on one hand,

we can talk,

and it's right to talk about

the humility of God,

the condescension of God

to come to earth.

It's right to talk about

Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

or 2 Corinthians 8

or, what did I say,

Hebrews chapter 2 as well.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

It's right to talk about

these things.

But it's also right

to consider that

the majesty of heaven

has broken into earth.

And angels are recognizing

what has happened

and they cannot but help

to do on earth

what they do in heaven.

That is,

sing in the presence of God.

The incarnation is nothing less

than heaven coming to earth.

This is what we consider

later on in the Gospels,

Jesus, when he is teaching

his disciples to pray

and us as well,

he prays,

your will be done on earth

as it is in heaven.

All of a sudden,

we understand this is not

just Jesus saying,

hey, heaven's great.

Let's try to copy

good things

and do good acts.

What he is doing

when he is teaching

his disciples to pray,

it's much more than

just a thumbs up to heaven.

It is an acknowledgement

of the ongoing act

that began with the incarnation,

that heaven is breaking

into earth.

The chasm has been traversed

and that the culture of heaven

will begin,

in a sense,

to colonize the culture

of earth.

Just wrap it up with this.

The pinnacle of this

inbreaking of heaven

is the restoration

and the redemption

of mankind.

And this brings us back

to why the incarnation.

To redeem us

and make us heavenly,

mankind's sin

and brokenness,

it had to be atoned for.

In God's economy,

he is perfect,

we are not.

He can only have perfection

in his presence,

in relationship to him,

we are not.

So in God's economy,

this could only be done

through a perfect human offering,

a perfect sacrifice

of atonement

to satisfy

the perfect justice

of a perfect God.

And you see

the problem with that

if you consider

that mankind

is broken

and sinful.

Therefore,

God

became

what he was not

to make us

by grace

what he is

and that is heavenly.

So then

it is no

small thing

that the Lord

spoke of the incarnation

some 700 years

before Christmas

and he says

of the child

to be born

of the virgin,

his name will be

Emmanuel,

God with us.

for that is

who Christ is.

He is God

with us.

We cannot hope

to be with God

unless God

first comes

to be

with us.

And it took

no less than this

to redeem us

and to make us

heavenly like him.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father,

we thank you

for the incarnation.

We thank you

that it was

the only way

and the most

beautiful way

that you

could have

redeemed us,

that heaven

could have

come to earth,

that we could

be made like you,

righteous,

heavenly.

Lord,

no amount

of good works,

strong will,

human ingenuity

could ever

breach

or help us

to cross

rather that

chasm

between

earth and heaven.

But Lord,

only in the incarnation

could heaven

break into earth.

And Lord,

we thank you

for that.

We pray that you

would help us

to understand

the incarnation

in greater depths.

And Lord,

as a result,

Lord,

help us to

praise you,

to magnify your name,

to live in

a healthy

reality

of fear

and trembling

and yet

joy and thanksgiving.

We pray all of this

in Christ's mighty name.

Amen.