The Peace of Christmas
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Gloria in excelsis deo - the last of the four canticles found in Luke
Gloria in excelsis deo - the last of the four canticles found in Luke
Similar in its lyrical structure but different because the previous 3 songs were sung up to the heavens from earth. This last song is sung down to the earth from heaven. The first three songs were sung by human voices - the last song is sung by an angelic choir
The purpose of the angels’ chorus is praise to God
The purpose of the angels’ chorus is praise to God
The angels praise God by acknowledging his importance, his significance and the weight of his might works
We call this last song the “Gloria in excelsis Deo” which is Latin for Glory in the highest degree to God
The word “glory” impregnates the whole of the biblical literature. In Hebrew, it is the word kabod that is most often translated as ‘glory’. Kabod literally means ‘weight, significance, importance.’ In ancient Israel Kabod was symbolized with fine linens, precious stones, amazing edifices. Solomon’s temple was to be a visual representation of God’s glory. David gave this instruction to his son:
Y dijo David: Salomón mi hijo es muchacho y de tierna edad, y la casa que se ha de edificar a Jehová ha de ser magnífica por excelencia, para renombre y honra en todas las tierras; ahora, pues, yo le prepararé lo necesario. Y David antes de su muerte hizo preparativos en gran abundancia.
In Greek, it is the word doxa and it comes from the Greek verb docere which means appearance. For the Greeks, glory referred to the high esteem in which something was held. In the Sermon on the mount, the evangelists use the word doxa to refer to the glory of Solomon’s temple:
Y por el vestido, ¿por qué os afanáis? Considerad los lirios del campo, cómo crecen: no trabajan ni hilan; pero os digo, que ni aun Salomón con toda su gloria se vistió así como uno de ellos.
The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the highest expression of God’s glory. It is kabod in the sense that it expresses the weight and the worth of God’s almighty acts in saving sinners. It was J.C. Ryle who said that God’s incomparable power was put on display in Creation, His pristine justice was made manifest in the Flood - but it is in the incarnation that He demonstrates His abundant and everlasting mercy.
It is doxa in the sense that it appears to us as the greatest act ever undertaken on our behalf. John Calvin said: “whenever our salvation is mentioned, we should understand that a signal has been given to excite us to thanksgiving and to the praises of God.”
The main theme of the angels’ song is peace
The main theme of the angels’ song is peace
The angels descend as the hosts of heaven to praise God, to ascribe Him glory for what he has done. God through Jesus Christ has brought real peace to the earth.
Peace with God
Peace with God
Jesus Christ came to loosen the grip of sin and to reconcile us to God. In the Garden man and woman walked with God, they enjoyed fellowship and friendship with God. But when Adam, our federal head, sinned, he broke God’s covenant of peace and put us in enmity with God. Jesus Christ restores this fellowship and friendship with God.
Peace with ourselves
Peace with ourselves
Jesus Christ received the just outpouring of God’s wrath for our sin and in this way he liberated us not only from the curse of sin but from our bondage to sin. Sin is not a momentary inclination. It is a continuous state of misery and despair. Jonathan Edwards said that the sinner “lives with a continual war in own breast.” As sinners, we are at variance with ourselves trying as we might to do right but ending up always doing wrong. In Christ, the conflict within ceases. We know that we can’t do anything right of ourselves and that anything we do that is right was prepared for us to be done beforehand by God. This is the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.
Peace with others
Peace with others
And finally, the peace that Jesus Christ brought to the earth is peace with others. Jesus tells us how to treat our enemies and those who persecute us.
Oísteis que fue dicho: Amarás a tu prójimo, y aborrecerás a tu enemigo. Pero yo os digo: Amad a vuestros enemigos, bendecid a los que os maldicen, haced bien a los que os aborrecen, y orad por los que os ultrajan y os persiguen;
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of peace with all men, not a battle cry. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ our main aim is to speak the truth of the gospel not to expose the lies of the Devil. The lies of the Devil, erroneous theologies, false teachings, immoral political ideologies, will all be exposed with the preaching of the truth.
Are you at peace this Christmas season?
Are you at peace this Christmas season?
This last canticle sung by the angels from on high invites us to reflect on our condition this Christmas season. Are you at peace this Christmas season? Are you walking in fellowship and friendship with God or are you at enmity with Him - walking your own way, seeking and fulfilling your own will? Are you at peace within yourself? Are you depending on the Lord Jesus Christ each day to live a life well-pleasing to Him and knowing that every good step that you take is on the path that he has carved out for you? Or are you depending on yourself to please God, to please your husband or wife, to please your employer? And finally, are you at peace with others - loving your enemies, blessing those who curse you, doing good to those who wish you harm and praying for those who persecute you? Or are you living just as before - hating your enemies, cursing those who curse, wishing harm on those who want to harm you? We are going to look at this angelic song in depth to gain a better understanding of the peace of Christmas.
First, we will consider the singers of this song - the angels; then we look more closely at the lyric structure of this brief hymn, and finally we will consider the meaning of the song.
The song of Angels
The song of Angels
Angels common throughout the Scriptures. The Bible provides a precise description of the ministry of angels that refutes many current beliefs about angels. We do not worship angels; angels are not emissaries of the Virgin Mary; and angels do not mediate between heaven and earth. What the Bible teaches about angels is that:
Angels worship and praise God
Angels worship and praise God
Y el uno al otro daba voces, diciendo: Santo, santo, santo, Jehová de los ejércitos; toda la tierra está llena de su gloria.
Angels serve as agents of God’s works
Angels serve as agents of God’s works
The vehicle of prophecy
Y he aquí una mano me tocó, e hizo que me pusiese sobre mis rodillas y sobre las palmas de mis manos.
Vino entonces a mí uno de los siete ángeles que tenían las siete copas llenas de las siete plagas postreras, y habló conmigo, diciendo: Ven acá, yo te mostraré la desposada, la esposa del Cordero.
Angels announce God’s mighty works
José su marido, como era justo, y no quería infamarla, quiso dejarla secretamente. Y pensando él en esto, he aquí un ángel del Señor le apareció en sueños y le dijo: José, hijo de David, no temas recibir a María tu mujer, porque lo que en ella es engendrado, del Espíritu Santo es.
Angels assist and defend God’s people
El ángel de Jehová acampa alrededor de los que le temen, Y los defiende.
Angels are described as mediators from the Hebrew word melits
Angels are described as mediators from the Hebrew word melits
Si hay un ángel que sea su mediador, uno entre mil, para declarar al hombre lo que es bueno para él,
But this mediation is a function of the messenger role - as Michael Heiser puts it: “angels could give people explanations of what God was up to.” Can be compared to “docents” at a museum or a zoo.
In this text, we see angels fulfilling multiple ministerial roles
In this text, we see angels fulfilling multiple ministerial roles
The angels are worshipping and praising God. The angels are announcing God’s unique acts. The angels are explaining God’s acts.
The structure of the song
The structure of the song
The song is composed of two lines
¡Gloria a Dios en las alturas, Y en la tierra paz, buena voluntad para con los hombres!
The first line is pure praise: Glory to God in the highest. The second line is announcement and explanation. The announcement is: peace on earth; the explanation: good will towards men.
Parallelism and contrast
Parallelism and contrast
We can see a variety of parallels and contrasts in these two lines. Parallels —> Glory and Peace; Contrasts —> God and man, in the highest and on earth; good will stands out as the one element that is not involved in any parallelism or contrast
The meaning of the song
The meaning of the song
We have said that above all this song of the angels is a song of peace.
A song of peace that contrasts with the Pax Romana
A song of peace that contrasts with the Pax Romana
Epictectus - “while the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy. He cannot give peace of heart, for which man yearns more than even for outward peace.”
A song of peace that acknowledges God’s sovereign role as peacemaker
A song of peace that acknowledges God’s sovereign role as peacemaker
The angles do not sing of peace that man has ushered in but of a peace that is initiated and accomplished by God.
God brings peace to those in whom He is well pleased through the substitutionary atonement of Christ:
Con todo eso, Jehová quiso quebrantarlo, sujetándole a padecimiento. Cuando haya puesto su vida en expiación por el pecado, verá linaje, vivirá por largos días, y la voluntad de Jehová será en su mano prosperada.
The Greek word eudokias means benevolence or good will. The psalmist sang of this benevolence or good will:
Acuérdate de mí, oh Jehová, según tu benevolencia para con tu pueblo; Visítame con tu salvación,
Christ himself is the fruit of God’s good pleasure.
el cual se dio a sí mismo por nuestros pecados para librarnos del presente siglo malo, conforme a la voluntad de nuestro Dios y Padre,
por cuanto agradó al Padre que en él habitase toda plenitud,y por medio de él reconciliar consigo todas las cosas, así las que están en la tierra como las que están en los cielos, haciendo la paz mediante la sangre de su cruz.
A song of peace that finds us in our place of need
A song of peace that finds us in our place of need
We need peace with God
Justificados, pues, por la fe, tenemos paz para con Dios por medio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo;
We need peace within ourselves
La paz os dejo, mi paz os doy; yo no os la doy como el mundo la da. No se turbe vuestro corazón, ni tenga miedo.
We need peace with others
Recuérdales que se sujeten a los gobernantes y autoridades, que obedezcan, que estén dispuestos a toda buena obra.Que a nadie difamen, que no sean pendencieros, sino amables, mostrando toda mansedumbre para con todos los hombres.Porque nosotros también éramos en otro tiempo insensatos, rebeldes, extraviados, esclavos de concupiscencias y deleites diversos, viviendo en malicia y envidia, aborrecibles, y aborreciéndonos unos a otros.Pero cuando se manifestó la bondad de Dios nuestro Salvador, y su amor para con los hombres,nos salvó, no por obras de justicia que nosotros hubiéramos hecho, sino por su misericordia, por el lavamiento de la regeneración y por la renovación en el Espíritu Santo,el cual derramó en nosotros abundantemente por Jesucristo nuestro Salvador,para que justificados por su gracia, viniésemos a ser herederos conforme a la esperanza de la vida eterna.
As one missionary studied this verse, he struggled to translate it into a native tongue. The term “peace” was especially difficult because there was no equivalent in the local language. But with the help of his assistant, he finally came up with a translation that captured the heart of this verse: “God in heaven is just so good! So the people who live in this world, if God’s heart is happy with them, then their fear is all-gone now!
“Their fear is all-gone now.” This is one of the happy results of the Savior’s birth. When we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we have real peace. We do not always gain the full benefit of that peace because sometimes we forget to trust God for it. But as we trust in him, he gives us peace. We do not need to be anxious about the future. We do not need to be afraid what people will think. We do not need to try to solve our problems on our own. We do not need to worry how God will provide for us. We do not need to despair if we lose what we love. All we need to do is trust in God and he will give us peace.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Are you at peace this Christmas season? Christ is your only source of true and lasting peace. Look to him in the Holy Scriptures and look to him as he is preached each Sunday from this pulpit.
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