Luke 2:10-12
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger," Luke 2:10-12. Last time we talked about what these shepherds may have been doing when the angel appeared to them. We also looked at others in the bible who saw the glory of God. You and I look forward to the day when we will be able to look upon our Lord and Saviour in our glorified sinless bodies. What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. We have so much to look forward to, and we have so much to proclaim to the world until that day comes. We are to proclaim good tidings of great joy to all people.
What are good tidings of great joy? "Good tidings" in verse 10 is the Greek word "euaggelizo" and means to announce, publish, as glad tidings. These good tidings come from heaven. The good news come down from heaven is the gospel. The gospel is good news when you put it up against the bad news. Without the bad news, the gospel is just news. We know that God is love (I John 4, John 3, etc.), but God is also holy. Holy is not just being separate from sin, but also having an abhorrence of all sin. God's hatred of sin is like a volcano erupting which will consume all in the path of the lava. Since God is holy, He cannot fellowship with sinful man in mans depraved condition. God created Adam and Eve without sin. They did not have any knowledge of sin. They had perfect fellowship with God. Then they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On that day, instantly, they knew what sin was. They were ashamed of sin, and ran from the presence of God. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Romans 5:12. Adam and Eve ran from God, and that is the way it has been ever since. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved," John 3:19-20. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him," John 3:36.
Notice the last part of John 3:36, "but the wrath of God abideth on him." God's wrath abides on the person, not on the person's sin. There are certain terms that people love to say that are not biblical. One of those terms is, "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." This is a very misleading saying. Another one is, "God loves you just like you are." Please understand that Scripture never contradicts itself, nor does one attribute of God cancel out another attribute of God. God is love, but He is also holy, and since He is holy, He also hates. People want to cry out and say that God doesn't hate people. We must base everything upon the Scriptures. Turn to Psalm 5:5; 7:11; 9:17; Proverbs 6:16-19. No one whom God loves will suffer His wrath (I Thessalonians 5:9). The God of the bible is Omniscient and Omnipotent. He knows all of your sins, and He will judge you according to your sins, and He will cast you into the lake of fire to suffer His wrath for eternity. This is terrible news! This is the worst news you will ever get in your life! This terrible news magnifies the good tidings of great joy to all people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," Luke 2:11. The great news is that God has given us a Saviour. "Saviour" in verse 11 is Jesus as the Messiah, the Saviour of men, Who saves His people from the guilt and power of sin and from eternal death, from punishment and misery as the consequence of sin, and gives them eternal life and blessedness in His Kingdom. Jesus Christ is our Deliverer. Love is an action, not a feeling. God proved His love for us by sending His eternal Son into this sin loving world to pay the sin debt for all who have and will believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Jesus Christ is our Mediator. He brings two opposing parties together. Christ is our Reconciler. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," Romans 5:1. Notice in Romans 5:1 that the bible tells us we have peace with God, now. What did we have before? Enmity. At the moment Jesus Christ saves our souls His righteousness is imputed to our account. We are forgiven of all of our sins. Have you told anyone about this eternal destination changing news? Within the four walls of the church building we can all say how great this news is, but if we really think it is great news, we will share it with others.
Who should we share this great news with? Look at the end of verse 10, "which shall be to all people." "People" in verse 10 means a people, nation, tribe, i.e. the mass of any people. Everyone needs to hear the good tidings of great joy. This biblical truth would have been very offensive to the Jews back then. They viewed themselves as the only ones that would ever be considered God's chosen people. This was obvious by their actions to outsiders. We are very thankful for the word "whosoever". Whosoever simply means Jew or Gentile, anyone. Turn to these verses; John 3:15-16; 11:25-26; Romans 10:8-17; Revelation 7:9-10; 20:11-15.
Without the bad news, the good news is just news. We have been given a message to proclaim to the world. How are we doing? "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief," I Timothy 1:15. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Romans 5:8. What kind of people does Jesus Christ save? All kinds. When Christ saves us, He makes us a new creation. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new," II Corinthians 5:17.
Have you trusted Jesus Christ alone to forgive you of all your sins? "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast," Ephesians 2:8-9. Some may think that they have done too much sin for Jesus Christ to save them. This is not true. He is able to save to the uttermost. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37.
Our God is so good to us. He has provided the way to be reconciled to Himself by all of our sins being forgiven, and paid for. This is only by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Look to Jesus Christ and by ye saved. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
