INTRODUCTION:

1. I want to speak tonight on the greatest event in the history of mankind. We divide time by this event -- BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, Latin for "the year of our Lord").
2. Atheists, agnostics, and other God-haters have tried to replace BC and AD with BCE and CE (Before the Common Era and Common Era).
3. In like manner, they have tried to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays."
4. Unfortunately, the commemoration of our Lord's birth has become cluttered and corrupted with paganism, materialism, and drunkenness.
5. The world celebrates the birth of Jesus for all the wrong reasons -- indulging the flesh, endless shopping and sales and advertising, and partying, which often leads to debauchery, violence, car wrecks, and so on.
6. Sadly, the true significance of the birth of Christ is overlooked and ignored. Sometimes it is even mocked and ridiculed.
7. The narrative of Luke is wonderfully beautiful, and one of the most beautiful and well-known chapters in the Bible. I am happy that we have arrived in Luke 2 tonight in our series in the Gospel of Luke.

 

I. THE BIRTH (2:7)

1. A preacher said, "Every cradle holds the mystery of life, this one more than all others...The birth of Christ was the Hinge of History, the Cradle of Christianity" (W.H. Griffith Thomas, Outline Studies in Luke).
2. Our Lord’s birth was a miraculous birth because His was a virgin birth (cf. Luke 1:26-35).
3. Galatians 4:4 says, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman..."
4. Our Lord had to be born of a woman because He had to be human in order to die as our Saviour. But He also had to be born of a virgin in order to be our sinless Saviour.
5. He also had to be born of a virgin to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy (Matthew 1:22, 23).
6. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
7. Matthew 1:24 and 25 says Joseph, "took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."
8. Only a sinless Saviour, born to a virgin, could die as our perfect substitute.
9. Our Lord's birth was a prophesied birth. Our Lord’s virgin birth is just the first of many Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled on that first Christmas day 2,000 years ago (Isaiah 7:14; cf. Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2).
10. Our Lord's birth was a miraculous birth, a virgin birth, and a prophesied birth. Furthermore, it was a holy birth because our Lord was born without sin.
11. This sets Him apart from all men because every other baby born into this world is born with a sinful nature. David wrote, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5).
12. And David also wrote, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3).
13. The apostle Paul wrote, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
14. Every baby that has ever been born is born with a sinful nature. But 2,000 years ago, when those shepherds looked into the face of the baby Jesus they were looking at a child who would never sin. They were looking at God manifest in the flesh.
15. Matthew 1:23 say, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
16. This was a baby who was not born with a sinful nature. First John 3:5 says, "And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin."
17. Hebrews 4:15 says Christ "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
18. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
19. First Peter 2:22 says, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."
20. Our Lord's birth was a miraculous birth, a virgin birth, a prophesied birth, and a holy birth. Furthermore, it was a pre-existent birth.
21. Isaiah 9:6 says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given..." For the Son to be "given," means He already existed before His birth in Bethlehem.
22. Our Lord said in John 8:58, Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."
23. It is interesting to note that our Lord never referred to His birth. Not even once. He always referred to Himself as being sent.
24. He said in Matthew 15:24, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
25. He said in Mark 9:37, "Whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me."
26. Jesus said in Luke 4:43, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent."
27. We see this many, many times in the Gospel of John. "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6:38). His was a pre-existent birth.
28. His birth was like no other. The Ancient of Days became the babe in the manger.

 

II. THE ANGELS

1. An angel appears in Luke 2:9, and then he is joined by a beautiful angelic choir in verses 13 and 14.
2. The hymnwriter said,

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing. (Edmund Hamilton Sears)

3. Angels are God's messengers; His "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14), and this angelic messenger had a wonderful announcement to make (Luke 2:8-12).
4. Their "good tidings of great joy...shall be to all people" (2:10). It is a universal Gospel for "all people" (2:10).
5. "A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (2:11). Our Lord's name means, "Saviour." The angel of the LORD appeared unto Joseph in a dream, and told him, "Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
6. They key verse in the Gospel of Luke is Luke 19:10, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost."
7. Saved from the penalty of sin, and saved from the power of sin!
8. "Christ" means the "anointed one" (Messiah). This means that He is the fulfiller of Old Testament prophecy.
9. He is "the Lord" (Luke 2:11). He is the LORD (Jehovah) of the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD."
10. Zechariah 14:9 says, "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one."

 

III. THE SHEPHERDS

1. There were many great men and wealthy men in Israel; there were many scholars, and many important political and religious leaders. But humble shepherds were the first hearers of the Gospel (2:8).
2. They did not hear the glad tidings in a fancy cathedral. The starry sky was their roof. The grassy field was their floor. And they had the glorious, shining light for their four walls (2:9).
3. It should be noted that the shepherds immediately responded (2:15). "And they came with haste..." (2:16).
4. Furthermore, they went and told others. "And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child" (2:17).

The Lord is good - Tell it wherever you go,
The Lord is good - Tell it that others may know;
Tell of His blessings and tell of His love,
Tell how He's coming from heaven above;
The Lord is good - Tell it wherever you go.  (Alfred B. Smith)

5. Luke 2:20 says, "And the shepherds returned" back to work. They went back to their sheep (cf. 2:8). But they were now "glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen" (2:20).
6. Lesson: Let us go back to work tomorrow "glorifying and praising God" for all the things that we have heard and seen.

 

CONCLUSION:

1. In Luke 2:14 we hear the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
2. But we read in the newspaper that a man just shot two policemen in cold blood -- they were executed. Then the killer committed suicide.
3. And the other day, Muslim terrorists in Pakistan killed 145 people, including 132 children.
4. And this has been the history of the human race -- killings, violence, war, etc.
5. So why did the angels say, "On earth peace, good will toward men"?
6. God was offering man a peace treaty. God was announcing amnesty to rebellious sinners.
7. But the offer of peace had to be on God's terms, and man refused the terms.
8. Soon the Lord will return from heaven. Isaiah 9:6 refers to Him as "The Prince of Peace." Our Lord will rule with a rod of iron and then there will be peace on earth.
9. But in the meantime, we can have peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
10. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."