Wednesday September 04
“Good Tidings of Great Joy!”
Luke 2:8-14
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 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.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
I don’t know about you, but Edith and I have basically turned off the news on our TV. We are tired of hearing nothing but bad and discouraging news about politics and world affairs. I love good news! And that is what Luke is giving us in this passage. It is amazing how Luke goes from the first verses in this chapter where he gives us a detailed description of the birth of Jesus in a stable, to “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields…” in verse 8.
Every time we visit Israel, we always take our tour group to these very same fields outside the town of Bethlehem and think about how three-thousand years ago a little shepherd boy named David was watching and protecting the sheep of his father. This is where he killed a bear and a lion! This makes me think about how Peter described the devil as a “roaring lion” seeking to destroy the flock of God but then the Great Shepherd Jesus came and we read in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
How amazing! At these fields we reflect upon how two-thousand years ago near these very same fields outside Bethlehem, the Savior was born into the world for this very purpose to love, to live, to die, and to give Himself as a sacrifice for the sheep! Yes, it was in a broken world full of sin, darkness, evil, suffering and pain that Jesus came! This is where an angel shows up with a message of “good tidings of great joy…”! Good News for broken, hurting humanity!
The world tries to heal its brokenness, hurt, insecurity, fear, worry, pain and sickness, with entertainment, with amusement, with education, with money, with pleasure in immorality, with drugs, alcohol, and pills. They try everything but the Right thing that only God can do through His Son Jesus Christ! This is the message that the angel shared that night to the shepherds in the fields, and today it is still the same message that will heal our broken hearts and lives!
This is the message that I have been trying to share for the last fifty-three years since I found and received this Good News in 1971 as a nineteen-year-old teenager in Cincinnati Ohio! What an amazing, awesome message that can change lives. The angel said to the shepherds, "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”.
My friend, that is the Gospel! That is the Good News! This is a mysterious message! This is not a message that can be explained but must be proclaimed! The Gospel is not something you figure out, not something you have to understand. How can a human-being understand how the Creator God of the universe robes Himself in flesh by becoming a helpless, speechless, infant baby, in a dirty stable. You can’t explain that, you simply proclaim it, and this message has the power to transform the life of anyone who will believe and accept it!
When God got ready to save the world, He didn’t send a philosopher, He didn’t send an educator, He didn’t send a scientist, He didn’t send a soldier, He didn’t send a politician, He didn’t send a Democrat or a Republican, He didn’t send a president, king, or dictator. No, God sent a Savior! Someone Who would live a pure sinless life and take upon Himself our sins and bear them on an old rugged cross. He would die, be buried, and rise again from the grave the third day!
He alone is the only Savior who can save you and me today! This is still the “tidings of great joy”! Have you ever trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
God bless!
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