It’s week three of the Advent season. Advent, which means coming, is the celebration of the coming of God in flesh to our world of time and space.
We have looked at how the Christ brought Hope and Peace to those who would accept Him.
Today we are going to see the Joy that was promised with the coming of Christ.
Psalm 51:1-16
1 “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—all who seek the LORD! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined. 2 Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.” 3 The LORD will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.
4 “Listen to me, my people. Hear me, Israel, for my law will be proclaimed, and my justice will become a light to the nations. 5 My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm. 6 Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below. For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing. The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever. My righteous rule will never end!
7 “Listen to me, you who know right from wrong you who cherish my law in your hearts. Do not be afraid of people’s scorn, nor fear their insults. 8 For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing. The worm will eat at them as it eats wool. But my righteousness will last forever. My salvation will continue from generation to generation.”
9 Wake up, wake up, O LORD! Clothe yourself with strength! Flex your mighty right arm! Rouse yourself as in the days of old when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile. 10 Are you not the same today, the one who dried up the sea, making a path of escape through the depths so that your people could cross over? 11 Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
12 “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear? 13 Yet you have forgotten the LORD, your Creator, the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors? Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies? Where is their fury and anger now? It is gone!
14 Soon all you captives will be released! Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate! 15 For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 16 And I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely in my hand. I stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. I am the one who says to Israel, ‘You are my people!’ ”
As we look at this passage we see that God is promising Joy and gladness to Abraham’s descendants.
This Joy and gladness will come along with God’s justice and mercy.
When we think of God’s justice we know that no man can stand to be justified before the Lord. We also know that His mercy rested upon those who trusted Him by faith.
No, they did not deserve mercy but God is merciful and faithful to forgive the sins of those who come back to Him. He rewarded men’s faith and trust in Him by shedding His grace upon them.
This was true in the Old Testament and it is still today under the New Covenant.
Isaiah 12:1-6
1 In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O LORD! You were angry with me, but not any more. Now you comfort me. 2 See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The LORD GOD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” 3 With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation! 4 In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the LORD! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is! 5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world. 6 Let all the people of Jerusalem shout his praise with joy! For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”
As you see joy comes through salvation. Salvation is in and through the Lord. This has not changed.
So why did Jesus have to come? God was making a way for all to come.
The Jews had the revelation of God. They were very exclusive when it came to sharing this salvation with the Gentiles. God desired to open His Kingdom up to all people.
Through Christ all men everywhere would now have a way back into right standing with God.
Revelation 22:12-17
12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
The world at large was thirsting for salvation. The world needed to be released from the dark destination that was laid before them.
So at just the right time God sent His Son to bring Joy to all people.
And to whom did He announce this Good News?
To the lowliest of the common man.
Luke 2:8-20
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
If God would have sent the message to kings, princes, priests, or the affluent, they would have considered the message to be for themselves. They would have become the guardians of the message and only shared it with those they deemed to be worthy of receiving it.
To send the message to the lowliest of men, the message could only be moved upwards. There would be no limits based upon man’s scale of worthiness.
So, as the Scripture says, “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”
11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
If you’re going to announce the Good News to shepherds you had best not have the child hidden from them. If the child would have been born in an inn or a house or even a palace, the shepherds would not have been able to witness the coming of their Messiah.
Jesus had to take on the low position to reach the lowest of humanity.
Think of the King of Heaven taking on flesh and coming to live amongst man. Think of the King of Heaven living amongst the lowliest of men.
As I wrote this I realized I still struggle with the idea of the Messiah, the Lord, the King, the Creator of all things taking the lowest of places amongst men.
The Apostle Paul took the Gospel to people like Lydia who was a rich business woman. He spoke to governors, leaders, and even the Caesar.
Jesus didn’t take His ministry to these people. Once His ministry began to grow these were the ones who became interested in Jesus but they weren’t looking for salvation.
Let’s go back to the mountainside.
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
Have you ever thought about the peace that rests on those who are not in charge?
Do you really believe the rulers, governors, business owners, boards of directors, CEO’s, elected officials, dictators, and high ranking religious leaders, lives are filled with peace?
How about entertainers and athletes?
It’s not easy work keeping themselves in their high positions. They’re always defending their territory while working to gain more.
There is no peace in this lifestyle. They have lost their joy because joy is an internal emotion or feeling based upon a person’s knowledge of a faithful and true God that works all things together for the good of those called according to His purpose.
5 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
How many of the people I listed earlier would leave their chosen path in life to go to the Savior?
Many people ask the savior to join them in their endeavors and help them to become successful.
Jesus was always calling people away from their way to come to Him. People leaving what they are doing to go and seek out the Master.
There is joy in being able to go to the Lord when He calls you to come. There is unrest when you are so tied to the things of this world that you can’t let go of it long enough to go with God.
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.
I hope you’re able to see why the shepherds were chosen as the ones to receive this great announcement from heaven. They were willing go and see. They didn’t shake it off as non-important. They didn’t ignore it as a deterrent to their way of life. The shepherds not only went to see but then took time to tell others as they returned to their responsibilities..
20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Your inner being must be filled with joy to be able to glorify and praise God. You must be aware of your sinfulness and His faithfulness to forgive your sin for your heart to be filled with joy.
You must come clean before the Lord for this joy to come into your heart and explode into a new way of living life filled with hope and peace.
The shepherd’s lives changed on a hillside in Bethlehem. The change led them to town where they witnessed God’s entrance into His creation. They left with new meaning in their life and a new mission to give them purpose.
No, they didn’t quit their night jobs, but I will guarantee that everything else they did took on a whole new meaning and direction.
Their families would have been the first to notice, followed by their friends, new shepherds at the work place and all who saw these lowly shepherds that were filled with joy had to ask, “How can someone like that be so happy in their situation?”
The answer can only be found when you see the Lord and are filled with the Joy, Peace and Hope that comes from knowing your salvation has come.
Let us pray.
