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Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11
The Angels did much more than take away the fear of the Shepherds. They went a step further and offered hope. That’s important because too many times the answers society offers promise to take away our fear, but offer nothing in return.
It’s easy to sit around the coffee cup and redefine the problems and discuss possible solutions, or ‘if only’s’ but once the coffee is gone and we walk back out into the world, nothing has changed. In fact, they can sometimes be worse.
While the answers the world gives offer no lasting solutions, God not only takes away our fear, he replaces it with hope! The Angels announced two things to the shepherds that night on the hillside. One was consolation (Fear not) the other hope (a Savior is born). Their song created consolation in the midst of fear and hope in the midst of darkness.
Look up the meaning of Savior to see the hope that was offered through the babe in the manger. The Savior, Jesus Christ offers us:
- Safety: not safety from trails because he promised us there would be trials, but safety in the midst of trials!
- Deliverance: We are delivered from the power of sin in our lives, the guilt of our past; the enemy of our soul.
- Preservation: Closely tied to safety, we are preserved in the trials of life. Jesus refers to us as the ‘salt of the earth.’ Salt not only adds flavor, it preserves against the elements.
- New Life: The old is gone, the new has come. Jesus didn’t come to remodel us; he came to change us completely, to make us new creations.
- Escape: The enemy of our soul doesn’t mind if we are spiritual as long as he can keep us bound to our past and failures. Jesus broke the bonds. Just as Peter walked out of prison a free man, we can repent and walk away from the bondage of our past through the Savior.
- Someone to confide in: Each of us has skeletons in the closet. Those fears, worries, doubts, hateful feelings that hide in the inner corners of our hearts, waiting to attack us in our weakness. When there is no one else to talk to we can come to Jesus. He listens without judgment and accepts us without condition.
- Hope: That’s really all the above in a nutshell. The tantalizing things of this world (relationships, money, status and power) can’t offer us the one thing we all long for. Hope for tomorrow.
To the shepherds the song of hope came through the angels. To us it comes through forgiveness, the cross, the Word and the family of God.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the Angel Song of Hope in the midst of our darkness. Thank you for Jesus who goes beyond all our fears to offer us unending hope. In the name of our Savior, Amen.
Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. Luke 2:11 (NCV)
Jesus is born! The Messiah! The Savior! The Lord! He’s here! Right now! The promised one!
Can we even really imagine the excitement of that night on a lonely hill outside the small town ofBethlehem? We are told the angels sang, that they announced the birth of the savior. But who else was singing?
Years later when Jesus rode intoJerusalemamong the cheering crowds he was rebuked by the Pharisees and told to keep the crowd from praising him. His response? “If these people keep quiet the rocks themselves will shout out praise!”
Later, Paul would write, in Romans 8:22, that ‘creation groans’ awaiting the salvation that Christ would bring on his return.
So, were just the angels singing that night? Angels, remember, aren’t omniscient. They watched this spectacle unfold like the rest of us. This was their king. This was the one who they tended to in Heaven, now he was gone for a few years to walk among the humans! To mingle with this creation that the Bible tells us was made for him and by him. He was THE Lord!
Did the rocks struggle to contain themselves when the angels sang? Did the sheep in the pasture feel an unexplained joy when they heard the news? Were trees of the field stretching just a little closer to heaven that night as they rejoiced?
In the manger scene we see symbolized around the world, were the animals struggling for position to see this one whom they knew as Lord? Did even they feel something we humans didn’t understand?
This was something new! This was something unheard of! The creator of the world would now walk in his creation. The Lord of the universe left his throne to mingle with the very ones he formed from the dust. The master had returned to his home.
Today as I contemplate this verse I think it was much more than an announcement by an angelic choir. That one night all of creation stood in amazement and awe. The master designer was back to walk physically where he hadn’t walked since the day he created the world. To walk once again, side by side with the sons of Adam and Eve.
This Christmas season let us not lose sight of the awesome miracle that took place that night. The earth rejoiced in his coming. We would never be the same.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus. Amongst the glitter and lights, nestled in with the brightly colored packages and the joyful music, as I enjoy the company of those I love. Let me not forget that this night, long ago, would change all of us forever. Thank you that as my creator you also came to be my Lord and Savior. May I never lose sight of your extreme love for me. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 