"What does His coming do for me?" In other words, does His coming affect me personally? If so how and when? These are important questions as they will help me understand if the birth of Jesus is just a historical event or does His coming have a purpose for myself.
Our starting place will be Luke's description of the announcement of the heavens to the shepherds. As we examine this cutting of scripture would divide it into the following divisions:
Greeting: Fear not:
Command: for, behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.
Information: 13And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, And on earth
peace, Good will toward men.
of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.
Information: 13And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, And on earth
peace, Good will toward men.
The greeting is given by one angel who is joined by a heavenly host. The shepherds receive it. The shepherds are the poor of the community. Yet the lowly of society are lifted up by becoming agents that would bring to the community the announcement of the birth of the Messiah (Luke 2:20). This announcement is in direct opposition to Herod the king who would hear of the birth of a king but seek to stamp out the report (Matthew 2:16-18).
The message was given to them because the purpose of the coming of the Lord Jesus would be connected to their occupation. He would be the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29)! His earthly life would be filled with decisions and actions. These all would be led by the Spirit of God what was within this Human body. He would follow the Spirit thus being the lamb that was led by the shepherd, the Spirit of God. Not only would He be the Savior of all humanity but for all those that would follow Himself, He would be The Good Shepherd (John 10:11), The Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), and The Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). As He fulfills this position as shepherd to His followers, He leads them to food and shelter also protecting them from all harm from the forces of nature and the evil ones. His purpose for coming and His position as Shepherd affects me personally if I follow Him!
Through this reading, we can see that human emotions are stressed. The feelings mentioned are fear, joy, and peace! In the greeting, we see that the shepherd's feeling of fear is to be discarded. The angel's message is marked by great joy. Messages of "good tidings" bring joy, hope, encouragement, and strength to all that hear and believe that it is for themselves. Yet the message of joy is not just for the shepherds but for all people! From heaven's viewpoint, this event will break down all walls that separate race, nationalities, gender and social class! Everyone will be affected since this is a message of joy!
But the message is not limited to the command to release fear nor the hope of happiness for all but expanded to include peace for the earth. The NIV stresses the thought that it is peace "for those on whom His favor rests." Peace is available for everyone but is conditional on those that have the favor of God.
Who has the favor of God? Isaiah 66:2 describes the individual who has the favor of God:
“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.
This verse is connected to Isaiah 66:1 which gives us the question of where could you build a house for the Lord since He fills the heavens. It also addresses the thought of who could even build a house for Him. He then answers the two questions but stating that it is not a temple made by human hands that are the place that gains God's favor but it is the individual who would be humble. That individual's understanding of God's greatness and recognizes that we can do nothing either for or to Him (afflicted), the awareness that we deserve nothing but destruction from Him (broken in spirit), and the desire to do nothing other than what He commands (trembles at my word).[1] God's favor rests upon the individual whose heart is wrapped in humility and who has respect for God and His Word who only desires to obey His commands!
What does the birth of Lord do for me? His coming releases me from fear and gives joy and peace to my heart and mind! As humans, our greatest fear is the fear of death. What is it like? What will I feel? Will I be alone? What will I face? His coming was needed for Him to be able to defeat my fear of death which was a weapon that Satan had used against humanity from the beginning of Adams original sin. The resurrection of Jesus was the means of Satan losing his power of death, yet the resurrection could not have happened if Jesus had not been born, lived and died (Hebrews 2:14-15)! Just as the shepherds are to trade fear for joy, we are to do the same understanding that death is what we enter into the "joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21)" or eternal life!
Not only was fear taken from me but joy and peace would be extended to me by His coming. His entrance into the kingdom of darkness at birth began the process of meeting what was needed for the Holy Spirit to live within me! His sinless blood meet the required conditions that would allow the Spirit to come into my body! The birth of the Spirit also causes me to enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5). This kingdom is not a kingdom of meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17). The byproduct of the Spirit coming within would be the Fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith,
gentleness, goodness, faith,
23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The announcement of the birth of Jesus to the group of shepherds was joy while the same report to Herod was troubling (Matthew 2:3)! From the beginning, we see that the message of a Savior will be received differently by individuals. To those who are humble and understand their sinful condition this promise of help will bring joy while others will be troubled by the challenge of seeing a new King become the controller of their lives rather than their own self-will. Submission of your self-will to complete obedience to the Word of God will produce the proper temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) that God desires to dwell in.
Your Response:
Take time to slowly read and meditate on the thoughts that you have been reading. Examine yourself. Do you have a humble heart and a broken spirit? If not join David and humble your soul with personal fasting (Psalms 35:13). Are you totally dedicated to doing the will of God? That can only be accomplished by knowing the will of God. You will know the will of God as you read and meditate on His Word! His favor will be gained when you are in alignment with His Word through complete obedience to it.
[1] John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). 667.
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