The First Christmas Song (Christmas Eve 2021)
Luke 1:46-56
The First Christmas Song
Luke 1:46-56
Main Idea: Christmas is an invitation to humbly sing about the good news of Christ’s coming.
I. Why Mary Sings
Mary responds to the visit of the Angel Gabriel in stages:
Searching (1:29): she takes an “accounting” of this disruptive news
Surrender (1:38): she offers a simple surrender in faith
Singing (1:46-47): she is moved in her “spirit” and her “soul” to magnify the Lord, “my Savior”
II. What Mary Sings
Mary sings about:
God’s Character (1:49-50). He is mighty, holy, and merciful.
God’s Purposes (1:51-53). His strong ‘arm’ brings salvation; he humbles the exalted and exalts the humble.
God’s Promises (1:54-55). Though Mary had every earthly circumstantial reason to doubt God’s promises, he is faithful to his people and his word.
“There has never been a gift offered that makes you swallow your pride to the depths that the gift of Jesus Christ requires us to do. Christmas means that we are so lost, so unable to save ourselves, that nothing less than the death of the Son of God himself could save us. That means you are not somebody who can pull yourself together and live a moral and good life. To accept the true Christmas gift, you have to admit you’re a sinner. You need to be saved by grace. You need to give up control of your life.” ~ Tim Keller
III. How We Can Sing
We can join the song of Mary by:
Humbly receiving the mercy of God through Jesus Christ
“Christ is always born in Bethlehem among the little ones. Big hearts never get Christ inside of them; Christ lives not in great hearts, but in little ones. Mighty and proud spirits never have Jesus Christ, for he comes in at low doors, but he will not come in at high ones. He who has a broken heart, and a low spirit, shall have the Savior, but none else.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
Filling our minds with the holy wonder of Christmas
“The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary… the Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard or will hear.” ~ J.I. Packer
The Great Feast
Isaiah 25:6-9
The Great Feast
Isaiah 25:6-9
Main Idea: We are to eagerly wait for the great banquet feast of God when he swallows up death forever.
I. The Future Feast (25:6)
Isaiah is given a vision of a day where “on this mountain” (Mt. Zion; cf. Isa 2:2), a great feast will be held. In ancient times, kings would hold feasts in order to show off their power, glory, and wealth. As the host of this feast, the Lord has prepared everything in an act of sacred hospitality.
The feast is marked by:
Inclusivity: ‘all’ peoples are invited; any and all who come to Jesus in faith are freely welcomed to his banquet table of grace
Generosity: the meal consists of ‘rich food’ and ‘well-aged wine,’ symbolizing the abundance of salvation. God is generously inviting all to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps. 34:8)
John 6:35: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Our “feasting” in the Christian life right now is an invitation to pause, remember, and prepare our hearts for the great feast that awaits us on this promised day (cf. Rev. 19:6-9).
“The eucharistic meal uses everyday elements of the common life to connect me with the extraordinary and unique crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Eucharist is at one and the same time ordinary and extraordinary, the repetition of the commonplace and the celebration of the unique. Meals, in all cultures, seem to have this capability of stretching from the ordinary to the extraordinary.” ~ Eugene Peterson
II. The Destruction of Death (25:7-8)
Our secular culture today has a very difficult time with death. In the Scriptures, death is:
The Great Interruption
The Great Schism
The Great Insult
The Great Enemy (1 Cor. 15:26)
Three realities mark the occasion of this great celebratory feast:
God will remove the “covering” (burial shroud) & “veil” over all people, which is the fear and shadow of death
Hebrews 2:15: … and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
God will “swallow up death forever”
God will wipe away every tear & remove the reproach (disgrace) of his people
This great victory will be accomplished “on this mountain,” precisely where Jesus completes his mission. In his death, the “veil” is torn in two (Mt. 27:51), and in his resurrection the “burial shroud” is folded up in defeat (John 20:7).
Though Christ has defeated death and robbed the grave of its power, we still feel the “sting” of death right now as we await this promised day. Rather than despairing death or avoiding it, we are invited to take up the posture of Ps. 90:12-13:
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
III. The End of our Exile (25:9)
The Advent season is a call to long with patience for the promised ‘day’ of verse 9, when we will see God face to face and our waiting, restlessness, and angst will be over forever.
“You cannot judge God by your calendar. God may appear to be slow, but he never forgets his promises. He may seem to be working slowly or even to be forgetting his promises, but when his promises come true (and they will come true), they always burst the banks of what you imagined… God’s grace virtually never operates on our time frame, on a schedule we consider reasonable. He does not follow our agendas or schedules. God seems to forget his promises, but he comes through in ways we can’t imagine before it happens.” ~ Tim Keller
Hebrews 9:28: So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
“Those who serve God still stand in a dark place, but we strain forward with expectation and an unconquerable hope toward the horizon where the Sun of Righteousness will appear someday with healing in his wings.” ~ Fleming Rutledge
A New King, A New Kingdom
Isaiah 11:1-10
A New King, A New Kingdom
Isaiah 11:1-10
Main Idea: Isaiah gives us a vision of A New King, and A New Kingdom.
I. A New King
Isaiah 10:33-34: “the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.”
2 Samuel 7:16: “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure (or endure) forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'"
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate deity! Pleased with us in flesh to dwell: Jesus, our Emmanuel; Hark the herald angels sing; Glory to the newborn king.”
Romans 8:27-28: “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
“When a king “enjoys, delights in” his close relationship with God,…This will cause him to make decisions as God judges, not based on the outward appearance of the person (that one can see) or on false claims (that one may hear). Decisions will be based on the true nature of the heart. Status, money, or political influence will not derail this new Davidic ruler’s perspective on justice, for idle boasts, excuses, deceptive lies, and false information by the guilty will not prevent the truth from being known. This is the kind of justice and righteousness … attributed to the eternal reign of the one who will sit on the throne of David. This justice will be available to all, especially for the needy and poor, who frequently were cheated by the upper class. This would contrast greatly with the oppression of the poor and robbing of the fatherless that existed in the reign of Ahaz.”
– Gary Smith
II. A New Kingdom
“Your Kingdom come: your will be done; on earth as it is in Heaven!”
We know that there is yet to come a regeneration of all things, and it only comes with Jesus. This New Kingdom is one in which, as it says in verse 9, They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Would your prayer be that the earth, even now, would be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? So even now we can begin to see the defeat of sin that comes as violence, and economic systems that tolerate and promote poverty and homelessness and despair, and sexual perversion that promotes the exploitation of the most weak and vulnerable in our societies, and hatred, and suspicion, and racism, and tribalism?
Revelation 21:1-5: 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
Darkness & Light
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
Darkness & Light
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
“[Advent is] superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness… Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within.”
~ Fleming Rutledge
Main Idea: Light has burst into our darkness through a promised child who establishes an everlasting Kingdom.
I. The Gloomy Darkness (8:19-22)
Assyria was closing in on Israel, but rather than looking to the Lord & his Word for wisdom and guidance, they “looked to the earth” (8:22) for the solutions to their problems. They assumed they could figure out how to get out of the darkness on their own and it only led them into further “thick” darkness.
Advent reminds us that the state of the world and the state of our own lives is marked by darkness (cf. Jn. 12:46). Darkness in the Scriptures represents:
Evil & Sin (Jn. 3:19)
Ignorance & Lostness
“Christmas is the most unsentimental yet realistic way of looking at life… the message of Christmas is this: Things are really bad, and we can’t heal or save ourselves. Things are really dark. But nevertheless, there is hope. Upon the world a light has dawned. It has come from outside and Jesus has brought that light to save us.”
~ Tim Keller
II. The Glorious Light (9:1-5)
Those who dwell in Galilee, most vulnerable to invasion and who dwell in “deep darkness” (lit. ‘death shadow’) will suddenly and unexpectedly have a light shine (flash) upon them (Mt. 4:12-17). This light comes from outside the world, not from within it.
This glorious light will produce:
Joy (9:3): as in the day of full harvest & after a military victory.
Freedom (9:4): the Lord will break the yoke, rod, and staff of the oppressors, just as he did in the day of Midian (Judges 6-7)
Peace (9:5): all the necessities of warfare will go into the “bonfire of God’s grace” (Ray Ortlund)
III. The Given Son (9:6-7)
How will God bring about this great victory & drive back the darkness once and for all? He will do so through the most unexpected means: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...”
“God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of this world that he can defeat them by coming as a mere child. His answer to the bullies swaggering through history is not to become an even bigger bully. His answer is Jesus.”
~ Ray Ortlund
Isaiah indicates that this is not merely a royal birth announcement; these names (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) are only attributable to God himself. These names and descriptions push us beyond the manger scene to the totality of the life of this promised King. Though it appeared that darkness snuffed out Jesus at the cross, his resurrection three days later definitely proves “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5).
How can we participate in this never-ending Kingdom of Light?
We receive the Son as a gift
We must look to the Son in patience as we await his return
Firm in Faith
Isaiah 7:1-25
Firm in faith
Isaiah 7:1-25
“This book puts forth a new way of seeing. And it isn’t our own brainstorming. God is the one offering us a new perspective on everything.”
-Ray Ortlund
Main Idea: We are to be firm in faith because our God is with us in judgement and salvation.
I. The bad news (7:1-2)
II. The good news (7:3-9)
III. The best news (7:10-25)
I. The bad news (7:1-2)
II. The good news (7:3-9)
Be careful
Be quiet
Do not fear
Do not let your heart be faint
Isaiah 7:7-9
thus says the Lord GOD:
“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
Syria - Exalted
Damascus - Silent is the sackcloth weaver
Rezin - Firm
Ephraim - Double-ash-heap, I shall be doubly faithful; doubly fruitful
Samaria - Watch mountain
Remaliah - Protected by the Lord. The exaltation of the Lord.
Jonah 3:6-9 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
III. The best news (7:10-25)
Isaiah 7:11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
Isaiah 7:12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”
Isaiah 7:14-16 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
v. 18-19 - Effortless deliverance
v. 20 - Humbling of the proud
v. 21-22 - Reduced to hardship
v. 23-25 - Their fame will fade away
But who is this son?
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz - Speed-spoil-hasten-plunder or, swift to the spoil, quick to the plunder.
Matthew 1:20-25
“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
Be careful
Be quiet
Do not fear
Do not let your heart be faint
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.