Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.47 – December 2002
Good News Of Great Joy
Christmas Sermon by Rev. J. Haverland on Luke 2:10-11
Scripture Readings: Psalm 95; Luke 2:1-20
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Everyone enjoys hearing good news. When you hear good news you want to pass it on to others. You get on the phone to tell other people – your family and your friends.
There are many situations where you might hear good news: “Congratulations! You got the job!” “The surgery was successful!” “You passed your exams!” “Your loan was approved.” “The sale went through.” “I’m giving you a pay rise.” Good news all round!
One of the happiest items of news is when a baby is born. The proud father gets on the phone to members of the family: “It’s a boy!” Or, “It’s a girl!” Or, “We have twins!”
The most important birth notice ever given was announced by angels over 2000 years ago. They announced the good news that a baby had been born. “Today in the town a David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” This was the best news ever heard. He was the most important baby ever born.
It was also the most dramatic birth announcement ever made. An angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds minding their flocks at night, “…and the glory of God shone around them.” Then “…a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests’.” (vss.11,13,14) This truly was good news of great joy for all people.
- It was GOOD NEWS
Today we hear so much bad news on the radio, television and in the newspapers that we sometimes despair of hearing good news. We are so accustomed to receiving bad news we say, “No news is good news”. If we don’t hear any bad news, then everything must be going okay.
This is the result of living in a world plagued and beset by sin. Sin has infiltrated every nook and cranny of this world. It affects every person and has permeated every aspect of our being. As people in the world we are so deeply immersed in sin that if we were left to ourselves we would never hear any good news. Our sinful human nature would take us further and deeper into evil with all its terrible consequences.
This means that the good news must come from outside of us – from beyond our situation, from outside of our world. This is what we see in this Christmas story. The good news was announced by angels sent by God from heaven. It was revealed to mankind. It is not something we thought up for ourselves. It is not something we came up with on our own. We didn’t pull it out of the hat. No, it comes from the Lord God. It comes from heaven. It was initiated by God Himself.
The good news is that “a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Three titles are used to describe Jesus, and each of them is significant and loaded with meaning. The word ‘Saviour’ describes a person who saves. This was why He was given the name ‘Jesus’ – which means, “God saves”. He was named like that because He would save His people from their sins by His death on the cross. He took the punishment we deserved and He died in our place. This is the essence of the gospel, the good news about Jesus. He died as the sacrifice for sin so that God could give us eternal life. He is the Saviour.
The angel then said, “He is Christ“. The word “Christ” is the New Testament Greek equivalent of the Old Testament Hebrew word, “Messiah”. Both Messiah and Christ mean “The Anointed One”. In the Old Testament certain people were anointed to do particular tasks: prophets, priests and kings. When God promised that Jesus would come as the Messiah, the Anointed One, He meant that Jesus would be anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our great prophet, who would tell us about God; our great High Priest, who would mediate between God and us; and our King, who would rule over us.
All through the Old Testament the Jews looked forward to the coming of this Messiah. Now the angel told the shepherds that He had arrived! “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ” – the Messiah who has long been promised! He has arrived. He has come after all these years of waiting! No wonder the shepherds were excited and hurried off to see this baby!
The angel also described Jesus as “The Lord”, the King – born in the city of David. Already in the first one and a half chapters of this book, Luke has used the word “Lord” twenty times. Each time it has been used to describe God Himself the Lord God, the Creator, Yahweh. Now the angel announces that this baby who had just been born is ‘the Lord”! That is, He is God – He is divine!
It is difficult for us to put ourselves back into that situation and understand the effect that this must have had in Jewish society. For the Jews there was only one God, whom they called Jehovah. Yet here the angel announced that this baby who was the Saviour was Christ the Lord. He, too, is God.
We know from the rest of the New Testament that Jesus is the Son of God – He is the Second Person of the trinity, born into this world as a man. This is the good news announced by the angel. God was in the manger! The Son of God was born into the world as the Saviour.
- This was good news OF GREAT JOY!
We can understand this joy better if we contrast it with two counterfeits of the world – pleasure and happiness.
One of the pleasures of life is to eat. Think of the pleasure that you get from eating a delectable piece of Belgium chocolate, or a luscious rum truffle or a delicious piece of pavlova. The problem is that chocolate melts in your mouth and the pleasure is soon gone. To repeat the pleasure you have to eat another one, and another. But if you keep eating chocolates the pleasure diminishes; there are diminishing returns of enjoyment. And if you ate too many, you would feel ill.
Sadly, there are many people in the world who are looking for fulfilment in pleasure. They might look for it through drugs, or alcohol, or cigarettes, or sex, or parties, or golf. Their motto is, “Eat, drink and be merry. Live it up. Just do it.” But pleasure is temporary. It does not give you lasting joy. It is here for a moment, and then gone.
It’s the same with happiness. Happiness comes from ‘happ’, an Old Norse word meaning luck or chance. Happiness depends on what happens in your life, the circumstances you are in, your situation. You might be ‘lucky’ and have a good home and a wonderful marriage and a successful business – you are happy. Or you might be ‘unlucky’ and be homeless, divorced and bankrupt – you are unhappy. Happiness depends on your circumstances. But circumstances are a shaky basis for happiness.
We should consider this carefully at this time of the year. Children will receive presents, which they will play with for only a short time and then they will break or be put aside. There will be many enforced family Christmas gatherings where family members have little love and even less patience with each other. There will be many parties where people will eat and drink too much in their efforts to have a great time. The experiences of many remind us of just how fleeting the pleasures of the world are.
Joy is different. Christian joy is based on our relationship with the Lord. The good news about the Lord Jesus has brought great joy to many people. That joy is based on knowing Jesus; on a relationship with Jesus; on experiencing His nearness and presence in our lives. That joy comes from knowing that Jesus is always with us and that we are continually living in His presence. That’s what Jesus promised: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mat.28:20).
This joy is a deep and lasting sense of well-being that is based on knowing God who has loved us and accepted us in the Lord Jesus. This is why the Apostle Paul urged the Philippians to “Rejoice in the Lord.” The Lord is our source of joy.
This joy is independent of circumstances. You can be joyful even in difficulties and trials. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he was in chains and under house arrest – yet he could still rejoice in the Lord. The Apostle Peter could write to Christians suffering persecution and say, “…you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1Pet.1:8-9). As Jesus was walking to the cross, He told those who were weeping, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22).
Do you know this joy that Jesus described? Have you experienced the great joy that the angel announced? Are you able to “rejoice in the Lord” as the Apostle Paul commanded? Are you filled the “an inexpressible and glorious joy” described by Peter? You can know this joy if you believe in Jesus as the Saviour, as Christ, as Lord. You can know this joy if you live close to Him and as He is close to you, even in times of trial and struggle.
- This good news of great joy will be FOR ALL THE PEOPLE
That Christmas hymn emphasises this: “Joy to the world”. Here is good news for everyone. It is for everyone regardless of social position.
Remember that this good news was announced to shepherds. They were the first to hear the news – in fact, the only ones to hear the announcement. Shepherds were not highly regarded in Jewish society. Their work made them ceremonially unclean because they had to work seven days and could not observe all the detailed ceremonial laws that the religious leaders has set in place. They were among the social outcasts of Jewish society and were regarded as untrustworthy and unreliable.
That the gospel came to them reminds us that the good news about Jesus is for all classes and groups in society, regardless of social position and standing. James talks about this in his letter when he says, “…has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5). And Paul says much the same thing in 1Corinthians 1:26-29: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
Jesus came for all the various groups of people in the world. We need to remember that in our witness and evangelism. No one is beyond God’s love. No one is to be neglected. This good news must be proclaimed to all – rich and poor, city and country, professional and labourers, old and young. This is good news for all the people.
It is good news for everyone regardless of his or her race or nationality.
The shepherds were Jews. The angel announced the good news to them first of all. Jesus came to His own people – the Jews. And Paul went first to the Jews. Whenever he went to a new city he looked for a synagogue to begin preaching and after that he went to the Gentiles. Luke wrote this gospel for the Gentiles, the non-Jews. He wanted them to see that this good news about Jesus was also for them. It was for all the people of the world, regardless of race or colour or nationality. The church of the Lord Jesus is universal – it is catholic. The gospel has great power to draw people together.
This is good news to pass on. Good news is for sharing. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, it would be wrong for you to keep this news for yourself. You need to tell others. We must take the gospel to all nations. We must keep alive a strong interest in missions. We need to be aware of the mission field on our doorstep with those around us, and in our church with those the Lord brings here. Don’t let these opportunities go past. Make use of them. Pass on this good news.
And to those of you who don’t yet believe – this good news about the Lord Jesus is for you! You can experience the joy of knowing the Lord Jesus. You must put your trust in Him as Saviour. You must believe in Him as Lord and God. You must believe in Him as the one who was promised to the Jews as the Messiah, but who came for all the people of the world.
This is good news of great joy, which is for all the people – including you.
Amen.