An unnamed angel preached the first Christmas sermon ever. It was preached to a congregation of shepherds in the open air. It was a gospel-centered, joy-producing message that the baby that was born was the Savior, Christ, and Lord!

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The First Christmas Sermon

Luke 2:1-12

The other day I found myself wondering how many Christmas sermons have ever been preached. It’s mind boggling just to try to estimate how many Christmas sermons are preached every year throughout the world. Surely there must be many millions of Christmas sermons preached since Jesus Christ was born. However, today I want to go way, way back to the very first Christmas sermon ever preached. My goal today, is to simply re-preach that very first Christmas sermon.

The Preacher is an unnamed angel. He is called “an angel of the Lord.”  Although his name is not given to us here, I’ve got a hunch I know who he is, and I be, by now, you know who I think he is. That’s right – Gabriel. I say that because it seems that he is the angel God has assigned to the details concerning bringing His Son into the world. 500 years before this, it was Gabriel who appeared to Daniel and told him how long it would be until Messiah the Prince would come. Later it was Gabriel who appeared to Zacharias to announce that he would have a son who would be the Messiah’s forerunner. He then appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear a son who would be called the Son of the Most High. All along, he has been put in charge of the details concerning the birth of Jesus Christ. So, it is very likely that he is the one who has now appeared to these shepherds.

The Congregation is comprised of “some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.”

The Location for the sermon was not a special building, but out in the open fields surrounding Bethlehem. Truly, this angel was going to preach an open-air sermon.

Actually, there are two angelic utterances in Luke 1:8-20.  The first utterance is made by a single angel. The second utterance is made by a multitude of angels. The first utterance is directed to man, the second to God. The first utterance is the gospel – “good news”. The second is praise and worship. So what we have here is Witness and Worship, Proclamation and Praise. This morning we are going to study the first utterance of the angel, which is a proclamation of the gospel. Next week we will study the second utterance of the angels, which is a proclamation of praise. Isn’t it interesting that the angels first announced the gospel, and then they praised God. We do it just the opposite. First we sing and praise God, and then we hear His Word preached. It would be good to figure out a way in our gatherings to have some praise after the Word, wouldn’t it?

However, before we can jump into the angel’s sermon, we need some background. We need to understand how it  has come about that he is about to announce glad tidings to some shepherds. Let’s go back and trace the events, starting in Luke 2:1.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth (2:1).  Caesar Augustus was the first Emperor of Rome. Prior to him, Rome had been governed by generals. He was the undisputed ruler of the world. “Augustus” is not a name or title, but an adjective. It means “revered one, or majestic one.” He was actually considered a deity and given obeisance throughout the Roman empire. Under his rule, there was great peace, and prosperity. This one man is so powerful that he issues an order that every person must register for a census, and the whole world bows to his wishes. Joseph and Mary had to travel to Joseph’s ancestral city, which was Bethlehem. It was about an 85 mile journey, difficult to say the least for a woman who was pregnant, traveling on donkey or on foot. As a result of Caesar’s decree, an insignificant couple in a far off province found them greatly inconvenienced. There was hardly anyone who was even aware of their journey. However, there was One who was very aware. That One is God Himself. You see, God had given Micah, one of his prophets, a message some 550 years earlier. “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”  Of course, this prophecy that the Messiah would come forth from Bethlehem must be fulfilled. So, how does God make sure that it comes to pass?  Nothing short of a royal imperial decree would cause Mary and Joseph to travel at this stage in her pregnancy. But, in order for God’s Word to be fulfilled, He mysteriously works in Caesar’s heart, so that he freely chooses to make this decree.  It just reminds us that “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Pr. 21:1).

While they were there (Bethlehem), the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (2:6-7).  Evidently Mary and Joseph had no family or relatives who could give them lodging. Further, it was so crowded because of this registration process, that all the space had been taken at the inns. Therefore, they found themselves homeless. They ended up lodging, either in a stable, or a cave for animals (as tradition has it). There Mary gave birth, apparently without doctor or midwife, to her firstborn son, the Son of God. They had no cradle or bassinet, so the feeding trough for the animals became the Son of God’s bassinet! Oh, how this reminds of the tremendous humility of Jesus Christ! We would have thought that when God came into the world, He would be born on silk sheets of the ivory palaces of the Emperor, or at least in a wealthy, upstanding Jewish home. No, he is born to poor, homeless parents in a stable, and cradled in a manger. Oh, the amazing humility of Christ. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil.2:5-7).

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened (2:8-9).  I can just imagine old Gabriel. He is so excited. He has completed his assignment. The Son of God has been born into the world, safe and sound in Bethlehem. But, he’s got to tell somebody. He’s just going to burst if he doesn’t. But, who is he going to tell? It’s the middle of the night, and nobody is awake! Except, for some shepherds out on the hills watching over their flock. So, in he cruises to where the shepherds are, and suddenly stands before them in the glory of the Lord. To these astonished shepherds it must have looked like a prolonged lightning bolt, lighting up the sky. No wonder it says that they were terribly frightened! It’s interesting to me, that every time in Luke 1 and 2 that an angel appears to someone, they are frightened, and he tells them, “Do not fear.” Well, having appeared to these angels, he is ready to give his sermon, his announcement of what has taken place. The entire “sermon” is one sentence long, and would take about 15 seconds to speak! But, oh, what profound wonderful truth was uttered in those 15 seconds! Men have been pondering the truth revealed in those 15 seconds for the last 2,000 years and we will be pondering that truth for all eternity, and will never reach the bottom of it!

This morning we are going to meditate on this first Christmas message of the angel under four heads:  The Characteristics of the Message, The Content of the Message, The Comprehensiveness of the Message, and the Confirmation of the Message.

1.  The Characteristics of the Message

It Was Gospel-Centered

The word for “good news” in verse 10, is the same Greek word that is used throughout the New Testament for the preaching of the gospel. The first Christmas sermon was a gospel message. It was gospel-centered. The gospel is the good news about what God has done to save sinners through Jesus Christ. This message was all about Jesus – how He is Savior, Christ, and Lord. Because this was a Christ-centered message, it was a gospel-centered message.

I strongly believe that every sermon should reveal Jesus Christ! There should be enough of Christ in a sermon for a sinner to be saved, and a saint to be sanctified. In fact, if all we do is proclaim Moses, and the Law, and man’s guilt and depravity, we haven’t preached the gospel at all. All of that is just a warm-up, a lead-in to the greatest message the world has ever heard – the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!

It Was Joy-Producing

Because this message was gospel-centered, it was joy-producing. Notice the words of the angel, “I bring you good news of great joy.” This angel didn’t just bring a message which might produce a little lift, a temporary warm feeling which would quickly fade away. This angel brought a message which would produce Great Joy! This message was so joy-producing, that it had the ability to transform someone’s life permanently. This message had the ability to create within the heart of a sinner a permanent joy which he would carry within him for the rest of his life. This message was powerful! This message creates the emotion and the fruit of joy!

The message of the Law and our guilt doesn’t produce joy. It produces fear, anxiety, dread, and desperation. And, frankly, every sinner needs to go through a period in which he honestly faces his guilt for having broken God’s holy Law, and come to the place where he is undone, and feels absolutely doomed. However, once a sinner has been convicted of sin, it’s time to pour in the gospel medicine. And this gospel produces joy – joy unspeakable and full of glory! Has the preaching of the gospel ever filled you with joy? I pray that it will fill you and re-fill you every time you hear its joyful sound! May the gospel fill you with great joy this morning.

2.  The Content of the Message

A Savior Has Been Born

The message of the gospel will never fill someone with great joy, unless they first have realized their desperate need. If I was standing in a long line in a bank, and you rushed in, grabbed me by the arm, tore my shirt, and dragged me out of the bank, I would be made! “What do you think you’re doing!” If you replied, “I’m saving you from the bank”, I would probably say, “Thank you very much, but I didn’t need saving. Now, please let go of my arm, so I can go back in and conduct my business!”  You tore my shirt, hurt my arm, made me lose my place in line, and embarrassed me in front of all the other customers.  However, if when I was in line at the bank, a group of bank robbers burst into the bank, and held all of us hostage at gunpoint, and then you rushed in, rescued me from their hands and pulled me out of the bank, things would be very different, wouldn’t they! I would be so very grateful, and filled with great joy. I wouldn’t mind it a bit that you tore my shirt, and hurt my arm. So, what’s the difference? In this first situation, I didn’t see myself in any danger, but in the second situation I knew I was doomed unless help came from the outside. Oh, if you have ever seen yourself guilty, condemned, and under the awesome wrath of Almighty God, and then heard the gospel preached, it brings great joy! But if you hear the gospel preached, but think you’re a good person, and don’t really need it, you tend to ignore it as irrelevant, or you tend to become irritated with those who preach it.

My friends, you are in the greatest imaginable danger. You are in danger of perishing eternally, if you are not in Christ! Heaven is real, and Hell is just as real! Once a man dies in his sins, there is never any chance that he can ever escape Hell. After death, it’s too late to repent.

A few years ago, there was a cave-in at a mine in Chile. 33 people were trapped inside the cave. They were trapped 2,300 feet below the surface (or about ½ mile down) and about 3 miles from the mine’s entrance. Now, that is a good picture of someone who needs to be saved! These folks had absolutely nothing they could do to save themselves. If ever they would be rescued from perishing, the help had to come from outside of themselves. And, that’s exactly what happened. The entire world watched with breathless anticipation as after 69 days, each and every member of the 33 was rescued from the collapsed mine. My friends, God sent a Savior! That means you were going to perish unless He did something. Do you really believe what the Bible says about you? It says you are helpless, blind, deaf, depraved, and dead. God’s wrath abides on you. Once your eyes are opened to really see that truth, you’ll run with all your might to Christ, and drink deeply of His gospel, and it will be joy-producing in your life!

The Christ Has Been Born

The angel said, “A Savior, who is Christ.”  The word “Christ” is the Greek version of the word “Messiah.” It means “Anointed One.” There were three kinds of people anointed in the Old Testament – Prophets, Priests, and Kings. Well, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, who has come as the Anointed One. He is our Prophet to speak God’s Word to us. He is our Priest to offer Himself up as our atoning sacrifice for sin. He is our King to wisely and graciously rule over us. Jesus is the One who was prophesied from the beginning. He is the Seed of the Woman who would crush the Serpent’s head. He is the Seed of Abraham through whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. He is the Son of David who will reign on his throne forever. He is the son of the Virgin who would be called Emmanuel. He is the Priest after the order of Melchizidek. He is the Mysterious Man who Wrestled with Jacob. He is the Fairest of 10,000, the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Friend that Sticks Closer than a Brother, The Sun of Righteousness, the Branch, the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Servant of Jehovah who would be crushed for our iniquities, and the Desire of the Ages. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s prophecies, and man’s age old desires. And the angel was announcing, “He is here!”

The Lord Has Been Born

This Savior, will not only be the long-awaited Messiah. He will be the Lord. That means that He is God. He is Master over all. He is the Lord God Jehovah. True, Jesus came into the world as a helpless infant, about 20 inches long, and 7 or 8 pounds. He was absolutely dependent on his mother and father to take care of Him, just as any other infant is. But He was also the Lord of heaven.  Listen to the wonderful lyrics of Graham Kendrick in a song entitled “Meekness and Majesty”

Meekness and majesty, manhood and deity, in perfect harmony, the Man who is God

Lord of eternity, dwells in humanity, kneels in humility and washes our feet.

Father’s pure radiance, perfect in innocence, yet learns obedience to death on a cross.

Suffering to give us life, conquering through sacrifice, and as they crucify prays Father forgive.

Wisdom unsearchable, God the invisible, love indestructible in frailty appears.

Lord of infinity, stooping so tenderly, lifts our humanity to the heights of His throne.

O what a mystery, meekness and majesty, bow down and worship, for this is your God!

Folks, the angel was telling these shepherds, that God has come down. God has visited His people. The Lord of heaven and earth has appeared this day. Oh, what great joy!

3.  The Comprehensiveness of the Message

All the People

When the shepherds first heard this message, they would have understood it as “all the people of Israel.” However, over time, God’s light broke through revealing that this Savior came into the world for a far greater range of people. God revealed to Peter that “what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This led to Cornelius and his household, who were Gentiles, coming to faith in Christ and added to the church. So, Jesus has come into the world for “all the people.”

Allow me, this morning, to show you Jesus, the Savior, Messiah, and Lord, come for all the people, in the greatest possible extent.

1.  Jesus is a Suitable Savior for All People.  Jesus has died for sins. What does all sin deserve? Death! What did Jesus suffer? Death! He has paid the penalty that sinners deserve. He is a sin-bearing Savior. What He did, fits their situation. You will never meet any person on this planet whose need Jesus can not meet. They are sinners, but He is a Savior. He, as Savior, is suitable to the desperate problem of all sinners.

2.  Jesus is a Sufficient Savior for All People.  What Christ accomplished in His atoning work was sufficient. It was enough for all people. No other sacrifice is needed. His work alone is a sufficient atonement for the needs of any man. He is the Savior of all men, especially of believers (1 Tim. 4:10). He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). Now, this is not to say that all men will be saved by His atonement. It is to say, that if they came to Him in faith, His atonement would be enough for even them. The Canons of the Synod of Dort put it this way, “The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world… And, whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves.”

3.  Jesus is a Savior Offered for All People.  We are called to offer, invite, and command all people everywhere to repent and trust in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation. And, this is a genuine, bona fide offer. It is real. God truly, and really offers Christ and salvation to every person on the planet.

Because we come from the Reformed tradition here at The Bridge, these are precious truths that we can easily forget or overlook.  Jesus is suitable to every person. Jesus is sufficient for every person. And, we need to offer Jesus to every person!  He’s for all people. He’s for those so far sunk in sin that they can barely lift up their heads for shame. He’s for the self-righteous moralists, who feel they don’t need anyone or anything. He’s for all races. He’s for all ages. He’s for all genders. He’s a Savior that God has provided, and offered to all! Oh, never feel constrained in your preaching or witnessing! The gospel comes as evidence of God’s great goodness. Offer it freely, indiscriminately, to everyone!

For You

The angel said in verse 11, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior…”  Now, who was this angel speaking to? He was speaking to shepherds. That may not seem very significant to you, but it’s very significant to me. Let me tell you a little about shepherds. Shepherds were social outcasts. They were on the lowest rung of the social ladder.  They were considered ceremonially unclean because they were constantly coming in contact with unclean animals and carcasses of animals. Thus, they could not attend worship at the temple. They were also considered dishonest, and thus were not permitted to give their testimony in a court of law. Now, don’t you find it a little strange that when God wanted to announce to someone that Jesus had been born, He would go to the outcasts to do it? I mean, wouldn’t you have thought he would go to the Sanhedrin, to the people of power, and wealth, and influence to announce the birth of the Messiah?  First, His parents are poor and homeless. Second, He is born in a cave and laid in a feeding trough for animals. Third, the birth is announced to the lowest of the low. Why? I believe it was because God delights to hide these things from the wise and intelligent and reveal them to babes (Luke 10:21). Not many wise, mighty or noble are called. Instead God seems to delight in calling the foolish, weak, base, and despised. Why? So that no man may boast before God! (1 Cor. 1:26-29).  In fact, God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom (James 2:5).  And that’s good news! No one is so poor, sinful, or rejected that God’s grace can not reach them and transform them!

4.  The Comfirmation of the Message

The angel tells the shepherds in verse 12, “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Now, what did he mean? A sign of what? The angel was giving them a sign that what they had told them was true. It was just like what Gabriel did for Mary. He told her that Elizabeth had conceived in her old age. When Mary saw that Elizabeth had conceived, it confirmed to her what Gabriel had told her about bearing the Son of God. So too here. There is nothing unique in a baby being wrapped in cloths, but there is something very unique in a baby lying in a manger! You don’t see that every day. When these shepherds found the baby lying in a manger just as the angel told them, it would confirm to them that his message about this baby being the Savior, the Christ, and the Lord was true.

Gang, has God given us any “sign” that the gospel is true? Sure! For starters, He has given us the fact of an empty tomb. If the tomb of Jesus was not empty, His enemies would have removed the body and paraded it through the streets of Jerusalem to silence the apostles when they were preaching the resurrection. But they couldn’t do that, because there was no body in it. If the tomb of Jesus is empty, that means that He was telling the truth when He told His disciples that He would rise again from the dead on the third day. If He was telling the truth about that, He must also have been telling the truth when He told them that He was the “I Am”, and that He had come into the world to lay down His life a ransom for many. God has graciously given us signs to confirm the truth of the gospel.

Another “sign” is the transformed lives of those who have believed this gospel. Is there anyone here who can honestly say that their life is radically different after believing this gospel than it was before? This room is filled with people like that. And you could go around the world and interview literally millions of people who would tell you of lives lived in sin and debauchery, until they were converted and became followers of Jesus Christ. The sign of a changed life confirms the truthfulness of this gospel.

Conclusion

My friends, I get to announce to you the same thing this angel announced 2,000 years ago.  A Savior is born!

A sergeant was once explaining to a group of soldiers about to make their first parachute jump what to do if their main chute did not open. He said, “Snap back immediately into a tight body position. Then pull the rip cord of your reserve chute, and it will open, bringing you safely to the ground.”  A private nervously raised his hand. “What’s your question, soldier?” the sergeant called out. “Sergeant, if my main parachute doesn’t open, how long do I have to pull my reserve?” The sergeant looked directly into the young private’s eyes and replied earnestly, “The rest of your life, soldier. The rest of your life.”

How long do you have to respond in faith to the good news that Jesus Christ is Savior? The rest of your life. The problem is, none of us knows how long that’s going to be. My 40 year old brother, was out for a ride on his motorcycle, never dreaming that he would never come home alive. Folks, we don’t have tomorrow guaranteed to us. Only a madman would know that would sit on a box of explosives when the timer has been triggered. He could say, “For all I know, it could be another 3 weeks until this thing goes off. I think I’ll just sit down and have a bite to eat.” You would say that guy is insane, and you would be right. Sin makes us insane. It tells us we can continue to indulge in the lusts of our flesh, and ignore the offer of mercy in Christ, because we’ve got a long time to live. My friends, make your peace with God today. Come to Jesus Christ. Trust Him. Turn from sin. Begin a life of following Him as Savior, Messiah and Lord.

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