LUKE 2:8-20 HIS GLORIOUS BIRTH2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 2:8-20 His Glorious Birth

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. All right, well, we are here in Luke chapter 2, and we're going to be looking at verses 8 through 20 and looking at this account of the shepherds and this announcement that is made to them. And as I consider this account...

And Jessica read it a little bit earlier for you. So you're familiar with it, even if you've never heard it before. As you consider this, and as I was studying this for the message this week, it caused me to think that God must be a fan of irony.

I think God is a fan of irony. I don't know if you think that, but in case you need a little bit reminder of what irony is so that we can understand how God is a fan of this, I grabbed a couple things to kind of refresh our memories. What is irony? Well, irony is having an escalator to get up to the 24-hour fitness. That's a little bit ironic. You can't use the stairs when you want to go work out. Another couple examples of something that are

things that are ironic is, you know those plastic packages that you hate to open? Well, they've solved it, and you can stop struggling with them. You just got to open one more. And once you get through that one, then that tool will help you get through the rest of them. A little bit ironic. And then the picture on the right, you have a dog here, and he's tore up a book. I don't know if you can see the title there, but it's Dog Training for Dummies. And so a little bit ironic that the out-of-control dog...

destroyed the training dog's book. One last example, and I think this is a good one. This is a school crossing, and apparently the people who painted it had trouble with going to school because they spelled school incorrectly. So it's a little bit ironic that the school crossing is spelled incorrectly.

Again, I think these kinds of examples are fun and silly, but as you look at the example of these shepherds and what took place on that day,

I think that God is a fan of these kinds of things. He's got a little bit of a sense of humor. He's a fan of irony. Because on this day that we're about to celebrate, on this day that the shepherds are hearing this news, the most important person of all history has been born. The most important person that has ever existed and will ever exist is God.

God, who became man, was born into absolute humility and poverty so that there was no room for them at the inn or the guest room. And so they had to stay out in the cave. And then as Mary gave birth, they placed Jesus in the manger because, well, that's what they had. That's where they were.

And it's a little bit ironic that the most important person that will ever exist was born into the most humble settings that you could imagine. And then that continues as you consider the announcement to the shepherds. Now for us, kind of like looking back at these things, I think we romanticize a little bit the position of a shepherd, right?

We kind of think that every Jewish boy wanted to grow up and be a shepherd one day. But that was not actually the case. Shepherds were not highly esteemed. Society as a whole looked down on shepherds. They weren't fans of shepherds. They weren't excited about shepherds.

religiously, shepherds were not really able to participate in much of the feasts and ceremonies because their job, dealing with the sheep, caused them to be ceremonially unclean. And so they weren't able to participate in a lot of things. And they had the reputation of being untrustworthy. That, you know, hey, shepherds,

You got to keep an eye, if there's a shepherd around, you know, keep an eye on your iPod or your devices. Keep an eye on your wallet because, you know, it might go missing if there's a shepherd around. They had that kind of reputation. Or if they say something happened, you know, don't take it with a grain of salt. It was a shepherd who told you that. They had this reputation of being untrustworthy and they were looked down upon. And yet the announcement

of the birth of the most important person in all of history is given to these shepherds. And so there's this contrast here. Great humility that Jesus is born into. The announcement is given to those who would not be widely accepted in society. And yet we have the birth of Jesus. And so as we look at this this morning, I've titled the message, His Glorious Birth.

And I think it's interesting because his birth was glorious, but that's only because we know the whole story. If you had been there that day, that evening, you would have looked around and you would have thought, this isn't glorious. It doesn't seem very glorious. It seems, well, quite simple, quite humble, kind of shameful, the way that this is happening. And yet we know that

His birth was glorious. And there's three ways I see that his birth was glorious as we go through this passage this morning that I would like to share with you. And so the first way that we can glory or that his birth was glorious is that we can glory in his presence. And we see this in verses 8 through 11. Allow me to read that for you. It says, now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And they were

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And so here in this passage, Jesus has just been born.

And now God wants to announce this birth. And so we're introduced to these shepherds. It says that they were in the same country. So they're nearby to where Jesus was born there in Bethlehem. And they're living out in the fields. That's where they live. It's not a special occasion. This is everyday life for them. They live in the fields with their sheep and it's nighttime.

So you can imagine being a shepherd, perhaps, that you've worked during the day, you've led the sheep, you've fed the sheep, you found water for them and cared for them, and now they're all tucked away in their pen, and you're just there kind of relaxing, keeping an eye on them, but protecting them, but also just winding down from the day. And darkness has said it's cooling off, and

Here these shepherds are minding their own business, watching their sheep. It's night and then bam, an angel appears in the sky. In verse nine, it says, behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Now, I've been a Christian for my whole life, essentially. I've read this passage many times.

I've heard this passage hundreds of times. I'm very familiar with this passage, and yet it's interesting. As I was reading through it, preparing for Christmas this year, I noticed something different. It was different than what I'd always pictured. I always picture the shepherds at night. It's dark, and then this angel appears, and I pictured this angel just brilliant, just shining, just like glorious, hard to look at because he's so bright and

But what I notice this time around, maybe you'll notice there as well in verse 9, it says, Notice that it says it was the glory of the Lord that shone around them and not the glory of the angel. I always picture the angel up here and he's shining, he's putting light everywhere, but it's not the angel that's shining. It's the glory of the Lord that's shining.

It's the glory of the Lord that is lit up the whole area where these shepherds are. Angels don't shine in their own glory. It's the glory of God that's shining. Now, as I considered that, the glory of the Lord shone around them, it took me back to the book of Exodus. You might remember in Exodus chapter 24, it tells us that the glory of the Lord rested upon Mount Sinai. The children of Israel were there in the wilderness,

And God was meeting his people there on Mount Sinai. And he was going to give them the Ten Commandments. He was going to give them the blueprints for the tabernacle. He was meeting with his people there. And so he comes down on Mount Sinai. And it says, the glory of the Lord rested there on the mountain. And then from the midst of that, God called Moses to come up.

It tells us in Exodus chapter 24 verse 17 that the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. And so the whole congregation is gathered and they see the glory of the Lord descend upon the mountain and it looks like a consuming fire to them. A little bit later on in Exodus chapter 40 when they build the tabernacle as God gave them those instructions there on Mount Sinai,

then God's promise was that he would be with them, that his presence would be there in the tabernacle and that's where he would meet his people. Well, when they build the tabernacle in Exodus chapter 40 and set it up, it tells us that the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And then it goes on to say that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle in such a way that Moses was not even able to enter in.

Because the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. That's what we know about the glory of the Lord. That's where we're introduced to the glory of the Lord. And now these shepherds are standing in the midst of the glory of the Lord. They are standing in the presence of God. It's not just that the angel is there and he's really bright, but God is meeting with these shepherds.

He is appearing. He is revealing himself and the glory of his presence is shining around them. They're in the presence of God. And so no wonder it says there at the end of verse nine, and they were greatly afraid because they weren't expecting this. This was any normal day for them. And then all of a sudden, boom, here they are in the midst of the glory of the presence of the Lord. And so they're freaked out, but the angel tells them in verse 10, do not be afraid.

Now in Sinai, when the glory of the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, the people were afraid. They were so afraid. They told Moses, Moses, you go talk to God and then come back and tell us what he said. We're too afraid to draw near to the presence of the Lord. The people were afraid. It was overwhelming. It was quite intimidating to have the presence of God there. But now the angel says, don't be afraid.

The glory of the Lord shines around you, but don't be afraid because we're not here to strike you down. No, we're here to give you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. We have good news, so don't be afraid. You're in the presence of God and we've got good news for you. Verse 11 gives us this news. "'For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.'"

The angel tells them there's no need to fear because here's the good news. Today, there's been a birth and the one who is born is a savior. And not just any savior, not just a conqueror, not just someone to deliver you from Roman rule, but this savior is Christ the Lord. This word Christ, it refers to the Messiah or the promised savior, right?

Ever since the Garden of Eden, God has been promising that he will provide a savior for humanity. Ever since the fall, as Adam and Eve participated in sin and lost their relationship with God because of that sin, God has been promising since then that there would be a savior who would redeem humanity.

And so this angel says, you know that Savior that we've been waiting for? It's been 4,000 years. God's been promising it. That Savior is born today. And he is Christ, he goes on to say, the Lord, pointing out that Jesus is not just a Savior, not just a good man or a good teacher, but that he is the Lord, that Jesus is God who became man.

And so the angel says, don't fear. I've got good news. This is going to cause you great joy. And it's going to be for all people because today is the greatest day of all history. The Savior has been born. And that's what we're getting ready to celebrate in just a few days this week as we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus.

It's an opportunity for us as we reflect on this passage and what was announced to these shepherds. It's an opportunity for us to glory in his presence. I want to encourage you as you prepare for celebrating Christmas. Prepare yourself to glory in his presence. You get to glory in the presence of God because Jesus is God, because Jesus is the Savior.

The angel Gabriel, when he appeared to Joseph in Matthew chapter 1, told Joseph that they were going to call his name, that is the name of Jesus, they were going to call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. We get to glory in his presence because Jesus is God who became man. We call it the incarnation. It's an incredible thing to consider that God became

Jesus talks about this a little bit in John chapter 17, verse 5. This is his kind of closing prayer. As he ends his ministry, he's about to go to the cross. He's checking in with the Father. And he's going to go to the cross.

And he prays in John chapter 17, verse five. He says, and now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Jesus says, I was with you before the world existed, Father. And I was there with you in glory because I'm God. I was with you. And I've laid aside that glory as I put on humanity. But now it's time,

For me to pick it back up again and to be with you in glory. Jesus is much more than just a man. I got to show you a cute little baby picture, you know, just a few moments ago. It's much more happening than just a cute photo that day. This is God who lives.

has always existed. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. And yet he became part of his creation. He became, man, he put on humanity and became one of us to be a savior. And Jesus said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And so I want to encourage you to glory in his presence, glory in the fact that God is one of us. He became one of us. He is Emmanuel. He is with us. He is our savior.

He is with us. This word glory, glory,

It basically means to give the appropriate recognition or credit to. And I kind of liken it to, it's kind of like a diamond. You know, a diamond has many different sides, many different angles, you know, depending on the cut. And so you can look at it and you go see, oh, it sparkles. And you can rotate a little bit and see a different side and, oh, that sparkles too. And every side you look at, there's sparkles.

It's multifaceted. It has many different sides and they all sparkle. The idea of glory, I think, is the same way. Because as you think about giving God, giving Jesus the proper recognition or credit, then every angle that you consider that, well, it sparkles. It causes to shine. There's some brilliance there to consider. When you consider that Jesus is not just a good man, you give him the proper recognition and say, I'm not a good man.

I recognize that Jesus is not just a good person. He wasn't just a good teacher, but to recognize that he is God. Well, you can see it sparkle. You can see the brilliance there. You can see his glory shine as he is God who became man. And it should stir up within us praise, adoration, honor. These are also built into this idea of glory because, well,

Praise and adoration and honor is what God deserves because of who he is, because of what he has done. And it also should cause us to rejoice. That's another angle. It's another facet of this word glory. It's a joyfulness that comes from recognizing who Jesus is. Last week, we talked about from Revelation chapter 2, the importance of enjoying the presence of Jesus. That's part of this.

I would encourage you as you prepare for Christmas this week to glory in his presence. Give Jesus his proper recognition. Recognize who he really is and what it really meant that he was born that day. Sometimes we can take these things for granted and kind of forget the depth and the value and the meaning of what took place. And that's why we do have this day set aside, even though

It's probably not that Jesus was actually born on December 25th, but the actual day of his birth is not as important as taking a day to remember that Jesus was born, that we needed a savior, and that God provided that savior in Jesus Christ on that day. And so these shepherds get to experience the glory of his presence, and you and I, we get to glory in his presence as well.

Well, I also want to encourage you as you prepare for Christmas this week to glory in his goodness. That's the second point found in verses 12 through 14. Let me read those verses to you. It says, and this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and

goodwill toward men. As this angel delivers the news to these shepherds, he includes a sign that they might know for sure that these things are true. He wants to give them proof that what he's saying is actually true, that there really has been born one who is the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And so what is the sign that he gives them? Well, he says, you're going to find a babe who

There's going to be a newborn baby, and then this baby is going to be wrapped in swaddling cloths. And then thirdly, the baby will be lying in a manger. It caused me to wonder, how many times has this happened in Bethlehem? How many times do you think this has happened? That there's been a baby in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. Now, babies in Bethlehem, that's not so rare. Bethlehem's not a big place, but it's a big place.

But still, it's pretty normal for people to have babies there. Babies to be in swaddling cloths, that's pretty normal as well. That was just what they would normally wrap their children in. But the rare thing, the unusual thing is for the baby to be found in a manger. Because a manger was used for animals. It was not used for babies. This was not normal. And so the angel gives them this sign.

And you're going to know it. You're going to recognize it because this is not normal. This is very out of the ordinary. You would not expect to find a baby in a manger. You wouldn't expect to find someone worthy of this kind of announcement to be born in such conditions and laying in a manger. But again, God's a fan of irony. He laid aside his glory and came in absolute humility. And so he gives them this sign that they could know for sure that these things are true.

that Jesus really is the Savior. And then in verse 13, it tells us that suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. So this whole time, it's been one angel talking to them, giving this announcement, but then now a multitude joins him. I wonder, and I wish Luke had told us exactly how many angels were there.

I don't know how many angels were there. How many is a multitude? It says a multitude of the heavenly host. That word host, it's a word that's used to describe the stars, which are innumerable. And so you could kind of think as, you know, angels, there's a large number, innumerable amounts of angels and a multitude of them are now with this angel making this announcement to the shepherds and praising God. It could have been hundreds of them.

It could have been thousands of angels. It could have been hundreds of thousands of angels. It could have been millions of angels. I don't know. But this multitude, this heavenly host, this heavenly choir now just appears and begins to praise God in verse 14, saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Glory to God in the highest. You know,

I like Christmas music. I've been playing it kind of non-stop, you know, all this last week in preparation, you know, for celebrating Christmas. But it always amuses me every year how we have these Christmas songs and we know them because it's the same songs that we sing every year, as Jessica shared earlier. You know, the story doesn't change. The songs don't really change. It's the same songs and we know them.

But it's funny how a lot of times we know the words and we have absolutely no idea what it is we're actually saying, right? We sing songs like Noel and what does that mean? Hark the herald, angels sing. And you go, well, who's herald? I don't really get the song. We were just singing a few moments ago, Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

It's one of the songs that we sing, right? And we know the words, and you know you sing Gloria for days, right? Gloria, you know, we know that, but, and we're just kind of like going along with it, but I think we kind of miss the point sometimes, and that is that what we're singing, Gloria in excelsis Deo, is this, glory to God in the highest. It's just Latin, so we don't study that very much. We don't recognize it, but

Glory to God in the highest. That's what we're singing. And that's what those angels sing. Glory to God in the highest. They're praising God. And they're declaring that God is in the highest place. Glory to God who is the highest, who is the greatest, that there's nothing higher than God, nothing greater than God, that God reigns over all, that he is supreme above all and everything else.

And I wonder as there's this multitude of the heavenly host and they're declaring this praise, glory to God in the highest. I wonder what that sounded like. Again, we were just singing it a few moments ago. But even if we were all on key and we all did the best that we could, our praise and worship is always going to fall short of what God actually is deserving of. But here you have angelic beings.

who aren't sinful like we are, who don't have these fallen bodies like we have. They're created for this purpose. Man, I wonder, what did that sound like? How beautiful was that? How amazing was that? I wonder how many different part harmonies they had, you know, probably 37 or 55, I don't know. Working together to make this incredible sound, praise that's worthy of God in the highest. Amen.

Praise that's worthy of the King of kings and Lord of lords. I wonder what the volume was like. Sometimes we have to be careful in here because we could easily blow out this room with our system. We could turn it up really loud. And sometimes when you're all gone, I do. And the walls kind of rattle a little bit. It's a lot of fun. I wonder if that was happening then as the angels are giving God praise that is worthy of he who is the highest God.

I wonder if the ground shook below them. I don't know. But there's this incredible worship that's happening as they say glory to God in the highest. Not just there. Not just that God is the highest. But then they go on to say, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. And here's the amazing thing. God is the highest. And so they're praising him for that. But then they add on, God is also now on earth.

He is the highest. He is the creator. He is the almighty, but now he's also on earth. And so they're praising God because now he's on earth. The result of that is peace and goodwill toward men. Now, I want to make sure that we get this right. This is not talking about goodwill between men. This isn't talking about world peace, right?

As in like, let's all lay down our arms. You know, it's not like a beauty pageant. This is what I want, world peace. You know, that's what I hope for. That's not what the angels are saying. That's not what they're praising God for. They're saying something very different. They're talking about peace between God and man. They're talking about God's goodness or God's goodwill toward man or towards us. Humanity has been at war with God before.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve right there in the garden, when they rebelled against God and partook of that forbidden fruit, it was them turning against God. And we've inherited that nature from Adam and Eve. We've been at war with God. We insist on our ways. We're quite stubborn about it. We insist on our sinfulness.

Now, God has not been at war with us, but we have been at war with God. And so Paul talks about us being at enmity with God. We're at odds with God because, well, our sinful nature, our cravings are opposite of what God desires. And what the angels are celebrating here is that now God is providing a way to have peace, a way to resolve this conflict, a way to resolve this dispute. And

the way is found, the peace is found in the birth of Jesus, in God providing his own son. So glory to God in the highest and God revealed that glory by sending his son to be our savior, to be the one who would take and receive the full penalty for our sin. He loves us so much that he sent his son to bring peace.

Now God could have revealed his glory by striking us down. He could also reveal his glory that way. He could show I am the highest by bringing judgment on any of us at any time. He could prove it so that he gets the proper credit, that he gets the recognition that he is owed so that we would say, okay, yes, I guess you are the highest. You are the highest authority. But instead of revealing his glory directly,

By striking us down, he revealed his glory by making peace and sacrificing himself. And God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good. The angels are celebrating God's goodness to humanity. God's goodness to us. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men. That's God's goodness towards us.

And as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas, I want to encourage you to glory in his goodness. Again, these are things many times we take for granted and we kind of forget about, but this is a great opportunity for us to stop and reflect that God is good to us. So glory in his goodness. Give God the proper recognition. Give God the credit for his goodness in your life.

As I recognize who God is and what he's done, I also recognize I deserve nothing good. That's what I deserve because of my sinfulness. I deserve nothing good. In Christmas terms, I deserve the coal in the stocking, but God gave me the Lamborghini instead, right? But I deserve the coal, but God's good. I deserve judgment, but God is good. Every good and perfect gift is from God.

Now, again, as you examine that aspect of God's glory, his goodness demonstrated to us in the birth of Jesus Christ, it should stir up within us this desire to praise and to honor God for his goodness. It should cause us to rejoice. And let me tell you, the best way to glory in the goodness of God is to receive it. Sometimes we kind of wrestle with this because we know we don't deserve it.

We wrestle with it because of our pride. We wrestle with it for a variety of reasons. But listen, if you want to glory in his goodness, the best thing you can do is just accept it, receive it. God offers to you forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ. Just receive it. Just acknowledge who Jesus is and recognize what he's done for you.

He offers you eternal life and you can't earn it. You're never going to deserve it. The only thing you will ever deserve is coal in your stocking. But God in his goodness has given you so much more. Glory in his goodness. Receive his goodness. Let him bless you. Let him demonstrate his goodness towards you. Let him give you new life. That's the best way to glory in his goodness.

Well, finally, for the last point, verses 15 through 20, I want to encourage you to glory in his word. Glory in his word. In verse 15, it says, As quick as they were there, they were gone, these angels. And now the shepherds are there looking at each other.

Perhaps you know what it's like, you know, when you're in bright light and then now it's dark again. And so they're trying to like get their vision back and they're looking around. Are you still there? Are you still there? Okay, we're all still here. Okay, let's go see this thing that God has told us about. They said, the Lord has made known to us this thing. Let's go check it out. And God wanted them to check it out for themselves.

He wanted them to go see with their own eyes that this has happened. And so that's why he gave them the sign to look for. And so the shepherds say, God has spoken to us. Let's go see it. Verse 16. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. They go quickly. They go with haste. Bethlehem wasn't very big. And so it was probably not a long search, but quickly they found Mary.

Mary and Joseph, and they found exactly what the angel described. There is the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The sign that they were given is fulfilled. And so they know. There's no question about this now. This baby is the promised Savior. This baby is Christ the Lord. And so now they start to spread the news. Verse 17 says,

Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. The shepherds now start to tell people, you're not going to believe this. We had an angel appear to us. Then there was this heavenly host and they told us about this baby and gave us all the details so that we could find the baby. And this is Christ the Lord.

This is the promised Savior. And it tells us that those who heard it marveled. It doesn't mean necessarily that they believed, but they marveled. They were mystified. They were in awe. They were wondering. Just I could imagine, right, if someone walked in here today and said, there was an angel, he appeared, and then there was a heavenly host, and we'd be like, okay, you know, kind of marveling. Like, could it be true? I don't know. Kind of, you know, they're shepherds, you know, we don't trust them that much anyway. So

They marveled, but they weren't quite ready yet to believe. In verse 19, it tells us that Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. So they marveled, but Mary took it deeper and she pondered these things. And it kind of indicates that she did this throughout Jesus's life. You know, there was a lot of things that were happening for Mary. First of all, she had Gabriel appear to her and

Then she got pregnant without having intercourse. That must have been pretty weird. And then she gives birth. And now these shepherds appear with this story. A little bit later, the wise men are going to appear. There's all these things happening. And it tells us that Mary's like pondering these things. And she knows what she's been told, but still the picture was not quite clear. She's pondering what's really happening here. What's going on? What is Jesus going to do?

And then in verse 20, it says, And so the shepherds have paid their visits, and now they head back to their flocks. But as they do, they're glorifying God. They're glorying in Him, in His presence, in His goodness. And they're also glorying in His word. Because notice at the end of verse 20, it says,

well, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. They're glorying in the word of God because everything was fulfilled exactly the way that it was told to them. And I want to encourage you as you prepare to celebrate Christmas, glory in his word like these shepherds did. Give the proper recognition, give the proper credit to

to the word of God and recognize that it's not just another book. It's not just random stories. It's not just good morals. God has given to us his word. It's living and active. It's powerful. It's sharper than any double-edged sword. It's not just a book. Give it its proper credit. This is the word of God. And as such, you will find it the same way that the shepherds found it. That is, it will always be fulfilled today.

exactly the way it was told. God always fulfills his word. Every promise that he gives is fulfilled. Everything that he says is the truth. Everything that he declares will come to pass. It is the word of God. And I want to encourage you to glory in his word, to give it the proper recognition and treat it as the word of God.

to hold fast to those promises, to read it because it's God's words to us, to study it, to meditate on it, to share it because these are the words of God. And that's what these shepherds did. They found God's word was fulfilled exactly the way the Lord had shown them. And they walked away glorifying and praising God because he is faithful to his word.

And as we discover the same thing, we find that it stirs up within us cause to praise God, to honor him, to rejoice in who he is and the way that he handles his word. God's word is fulfilled. And so in verse 11, when it says, there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. That is the truth. That is the reality, right?

A Savior has been born. And we all need a Savior. We all know that we need a Savior as well. And we try to find lots of things many times to meet this need that we have. I want to show you one last ironic photo that kind of illustrates the point. That is New Life Lane. It's a dead end. Have you ever experienced that? You start working on something. You start pursuing something. You go down an avenue and you think,

This promises new life. My life's going to be different from here. Everything's going to be changed. This is going to be so wonderful now. Life's going to be so easy. I'm going to be so satisfied because now I'm in this relationship with this person. And so now everything's going to be beautiful. Or I got this job. And so now everything's going to be amazing. Or I got this or I got that. I'm going there. I'm doing that. And there's a lot of things that promise new life. And you start going down new life lane, but you get to the end of it and you find something

New life lane is a dead end. This thing that promised such great things, it didn't satisfy. It didn't meet the need. I'm still empty. I still fall short. I still have these issues. And we find that those things that promise life cannot fulfill us. They can't measure up to their promises. But you know what can measure up to its promises? The word of God. Glory in his word. Because God says he gives us life by faith in Jesus Christ. He gives us life by faith in Jesus Christ.

He says, no one comes to the Father except through me, Jesus says in John 14, 6. He says, those who come to me, I give eternal life. He says, those who confess their sin, I'm just and faithful to forgive them and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. Glory in his word. Yeah, there's a lot of things that promise new life that end up being a dead end, but there's one that promises new life that's not a dead end.

And that's the one who is born on that day, Jesus, a savior. And we can glory in his word. Paul the apostle in Romans chapter three tells us that we all need a savior. This isn't that, you know, some people need it, you know, all those murderers and those kinds of people, they need saviors. But for the rest of us who are mostly good, you know, we don't need a savior. That's not the

an accurate picture of reality. The reality is we all need a savior. And Paul tells us in Romans chapter three, verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now we've been considering the glory of God today, right? And here Paul says, every one of us, we fall short of that glory. Think about the glory that the shepherds were in, the glory of the Lord shown around them. And that's a good indication for us. You can tell if someone needs a savior,

If they're not shining, and I don't mean, you know, the reflection off the forehead. I'm not shining, except for, you know, that. But I'm not shining. You know why? Because I fall short of the glory of God, and I need a Savior. None of us are shining because we fall short of the glory of God. We don't measure up. We're sinful. But we celebrate at Christmas the birth of a Savior, the birth of one who said, "'Whoever comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.'"

we celebrate the birth of one who says, come to me and I'll give you rest. I'll give you life. We come to one who is the savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. And so make sure this day and this week that you celebrate his glorious birth, that you give the proper recognition, give him the proper credit for who he is. And what a significant event this is that God became man and

So that it's now God with us and we get to glory in his presence. We get to talk to God. We get to hear from God. We get to trust in him and have relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. We get to glory in his goodness that God, because he loved us so much, he sent his only son to die upon the cross for us that whoever believes might have everlasting life.

that we get that opportunity because God is good to us even though we do not deserve it. And we also get to glory in his word. We have a solid foundation, one that cannot be shaken. It's the word of God. And we get to glory in that, rejoice in that. It's an amazing gift that God has given to us. And that's what we celebrate. And so let's celebrate his glorious birth. Amen? Let's pray.

Lord, as we come before you today, we thank you that we can come to you a living God, knowing that your word is true, knowing that you love us and that you care for us so much so that you were willing to give yourself, your only son. You were willing to be our savior by dying upon the cross to receive the full penalty and judgment that we receive for our sinfulness. Lord, this is an indescribable gift, but you call us to receive it.

And so as we marvel at your goodness, as we glory in who you are and what you've done, Lord, we wanna take this moment just to say, yes, we receive your gift of life. We receive your goodness towards us. We receive your forgiveness. We believe in Jesus. We believe that he died upon the cross for our sins. We believe that he is the savior and the only way to everlasting life. And Lord, we do have these issues with our own sinfulness.

And I pray, God, that you would help us to confess them to you, to agree with you about those things and to turn to you that we might have life. And so, Lord, draw us near to you. And I pray that you would deepen our understanding and our appreciation for what took place that day that you were born. Lord, that we might glory even more in your presence, in your goodness, and in your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.