Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: We have so much to be happy about, so much to rejoice in. Even if you are troubled and busy and wiped out because of all the busyness of the season, don't forget we can miss the reason for the season by getting all into the celebration. It's like we celebrate Christmas because of Christmas.

Kurt: We sing Joy to the World, but Pastor Brett Meador asks on today's word if we've missed that the Lord has come.

Brett Meador: We have to remember we're celebrating Christmas because of the promise given, the promise fulfilled, and the promise future. We have much to be really rejoicing about.

Kurt: For too many, getting swept up in trying to make Christmas meaningful, it's easy to forget where the true meaning actually comes from in the first place. The search for just the right gift can lead us to overlook that we've received our greatest need in the gift of the Savior. Pastor Brett Meador opens today's word revealing the good tidings of great joy there is for all of us.

Brett Meador: Luke chapter two, let's take a look. It's a great announcement and we're going to see it right here from the angels to the shepherds who are watching their flocks by night. Let's check this out. It's Luke chapter two, verse 10. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men." There it is, some great tidings of great joy, peace on earth, good will toward men. What is it that made these angels, I mean, can you imagine the scene? Talk about a Christmas Eve service. And it was this glorious moment in history where God announces something. What is he announcing? When you read the whole Bible and you study it, you spend a life just kind of studying the Bible, there's so many dots that are connected and so many things that this announcement actually means. But to fully understand it, you kind of have to do some thinking.

You see, this isn't just an announcement. This is an announcement that a promise is being kept. But before a promise is kept, a promise must be given. When was there a promise made and what did it mean? Well, this is where you go back all the way a couple thousand years earlier and you find a guy named Abraham who was the father of the nation of the Jews. And Abraham gets a promise. It's called fancily in the theological terms, the Abrahamic Covenant. And this is where an amazing promise was given.

That's really the first point that I want us to kind of think about is what was this promise that was given to Abraham and really to the Jewish people? It's an interesting promise. Let's take a look at it. I'll just remind you from Genesis chapter 12, the Lord said unto Abraham, "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

It is interesting this last phrase is what we often overlook. In thee, the Jewish people, Abraham, shall all families of the earth be blessed. Is that true? Have the Jews blessed the families of the earth? Well, the answer is absolutely yes. Boy, if you know anything about invention and about art and music, if you know anything about medical discovery and science, oh man, I could just go on for days. From the very earliest of their history, they've been productive in this way. But you see, this promise that was given, I don't believe the Abrahamic Covenant was just about invention and all the health and science that the Jews have offered.

You could make that argument and it is possibly part of the promise. But I believe that it was the fulfillment of what these angels are announcing right here in our text. The promise given is a promise, number two, a promise fulfilled right here in Luke chapter two, verses 10 through 14. For unto us this day, a child is born, good tidings of great joy, peace on earth, good will toward men. The greatest gift that we would ever receive from God came through Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And then it continues in verse 17, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

This is the glorious gift of God. God so loved the world. Though we're sinners and miserable wretches, the Lord still just says, "But I love you and I love you so much that I gave my only begotten Son, gave as a gift." But the truth is just because something is a gift doesn't mean it's yours. It must be received. The gift of God must be received. So that's something. In fact, we'll come back to that in a second. Now there's been a promise given that all the world would be blessed, the families of the earth would be blessed by the Jews.

The biggest blessing the Jews ever gave us, even though they've given us thousands of other blessings while the world's chanting "Death to the Jews," shocking irony, but the greatest gift of all was Jesus Christ, salvation for the sinners of this world, and that's all of humanity. What a precious and wonderful gift. So we have number one, a promise given. Number two, a promise fulfilled perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the sins of the world, came to this world for that single purpose, born to die, and that the world through him might be saved. I love that final part of that scripture.

So promise given, promise fulfilled. But there's another part of this that makes me really excited as well. There's part of the gift that is explained by these angels at the sermon there in Luke two. There's part of it that we haven't fully realized yet, but it's part of the gift as well. And this is where we kind of finish up with this third point, a promised future. Because Jesus Christ came to this world, there's more to that. It's almost like you could call this the gift that keeps on giving. The fact that you are saved from your sins and go to heaven, that'd be enough wouldn't you say? If that's it, that's enough. God has done amazing things.

But there's more. There's a promised future that relates to this. In fact, if you go back to our text here in Luke chapter two, the first part that we noted there in verse 10, good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, that is the gospel. That's what we just told you about, Jesus, the gift of God coming to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. That's Jesus. And that's fulfilled. You can sort of check that box. Good tidings of great joy to all people, check.

But the bottom part is where people become disillusioned and maybe you're the cynic like we talked about before, there in verse 14 when the angels say, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Now if you're honest, you're like, "Well, has that really happened? Is there good will toward men? Does it seem that way? And also is there peace on earth?" If you know your world history, there's only been a few hundred years in the world's history of peace where there were no major wars going on or battles between people groups.

Wars have been fought just constantly, steadfastly throughout history. The Bible says in the last day there's going to be wars and even rumors of wars. So when this angel comes and says, "Peace on earth, good will toward men," well, that hasn't happened. And some people say, "Well, a lot of good Jesus did." Well, that's because they don't understand what Jesus is going to do. It's sort of a two-part promise. The peace on earth, good will toward men, that's coming. That's a guaranteed promise that the Bible tells us great detail about when that's going to happen. It has to do with the coming of Christ, the first coming and the second coming.

The first coming was Jesus born in a manger in Bethlehem and he came as a carpenter. The second time he comes, he's coming as a conqueror. The Bible tells us in Revelation 19, when he comes, he's going to come on a white horse. Not in a manger, but on a white horse with a sword coming out of his mouth. The imagery of the Book of Revelation is that of a conquering king coming in battle. And on his thigh is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's a very different coming, the second coming.

You say, "Well, Brett, that doesn't sound very peaceful." Oh, it's not going to start out peaceful, but it's ultimately going to bring in peace. What kind of peace? Lasting peace. The peace is going to last for a thousand years. The Bible calls it the Millennial Kingdom, or the Kingdom. That's why Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Why is the will of the Lord not being done on earth? Because we're here and we're sort of in charge to some degree. But even worse, the Bible says Satan is the prince of this world.

In fact, Jesus called Satan the god of this world. That explains a lot right now. But there's coming a time the Bible promises, even as the Bible promised his first coming, the Bible also promises his second coming. And that is something for us to really look forward to. Can you even imagine what a perfect, righteous king could do to rule? It's hard to imagine because there really hasn't ever been a perfect king, or a perfect president, or a perfect prime minister. There's always been flawed, sinful people ruling and leading.

But when Christ comes, he is the righteous king. He's called the righteous judge. It's going to be during that time where Christ rules from Jerusalem for a thousand years. But a thousand years of peace and blessing. You know who talks about this perhaps the most? Sort of cryptically, but in an interesting way, Isaiah the prophet has a ton of stuff and the more I read Isaiah's depiction of the millennial reign of Christ when he comes to rule. Remember the way it works out is there's coming a time where God's finally going to say time's up world.

And he's going to pour out his wrath on a Christ-rejecting, sinful world. What about us? That's why I believe we're going to be raptured, taken up, out before the wrath is poured down. We're taken up. The church of Jesus Christ is taken up to be in heaven. But then the tribulation period starts, the Antichrist, a coming world leader is going to come and try to lead the world. But ultimately, shockingly, they're going to turn all their guns toward Jerusalem of all places. Today, the world hates Jerusalem. The world's mad at the Jews in Jerusalem.

It's not that far of a stretch to think the whole world eventually says, "Yeah, we're going to blow away Jerusalem." But that's when God says, "Uh, no. Not going to let that happen." You know, there's only one city in the world with God's name on it. Did you know that? The Lord says, "Jerusalem is mine. I have written my name on it." And so the people that think, "Oh, Jerusalem belongs to the Jews," or "Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians," and they're trying to divide it and figure it all out, the Bible says anybody who tries to handle that question will handle a cup of poison, a cup of trembling.

But eventually, when all the world aims their guns at Jerusalem, the Bible says that's when Christ returns. And he's going to wipe out those nations that are against the Jewish people and he's going to set himself up as king in Jerusalem. And he's the rightful heir to the throne. If you know the whole story of David, the line of David all the way through Mary and Joseph coming to Jesus, Jesus is called the Son of David because he's rightful heir to the throne. So you say, "Well, what's that going to look like when God is, are we going to still be doing our jobs here in Oregon and know that well, I guess Jesus is over there somewhere in Jerusalem ruling, I guess everything is, is it going to be the same?"

Not even close. But what's going to happen? Well, let's kind of do a little bouncing through Isaiah. He explains it. First of all, Isaiah 32:1, "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." Who are the princes that are going to rule with the king? Anybody know who that is? Us, shockingly. But we're going to be much improved than we are now, but we're going to rule and reign with him, the Bible says. We get to do that. Isaiah 32:1 talks about that.

Also Isaiah 32:16-18, "Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." Man, today you can't leave your doors unlocked, but there's coming a time where the whole world is going to be a quiet assurance place where you can be assured that things are going to be okay and the Lord says, "My people will dwell in peaceful habitations."

So government rule will be perfect if you would because it's a theocracy. God is in charge. Jesus on the throne. Righteousness will bring in peace on earth, good will toward men. That's part of the promise of Luke chapter two is this millennial kingdom. Isaiah chapter two, verse four, "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

What a glorious promise that when no longer need for military ammunition and munitions and weapons, they're going to instead make farming equipment. That sounds good to me. Now, if you want to see something hilarious, the United Nations building, they have a big stone wall outside the front yard of their building and on the stone wall it says part of Isaiah 2:4, the second part of it. It says, "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." And so the United Nations are sort of claiming, "Yeah, we're going to do that. We're going to be in charge of making sure people don't war anymore."

How's United Nations doing with that right now? It's worse today than when they first started. But here's the problem with the United Nations is this. They left out the first part. What's the first part? "And he, Jesus, shall judge among the nations, shall rebuke many people," and then what's going to happen? It's the millennial kingdom. It's when Christ comes. The United Nations probably won't survive the tribulation if you ask me. They're going to be a ceased group and Christ is going to come and rule. It's Jesus who brings in this peace, not United Nations. Let's make that clear today.

Jesus is when, if you want peace on earth, if you're a peace activist, don't be pro-United Nations, be pro-second coming of Christ. That's going to be the ultimate expression of peace that we'll ever see. Peace on earth, good will toward men. That's going to happen when Jesus comes. Isaiah 35:1 and 2, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God."

Can you imagine the deserts of the world suddenly blossoming and everything becoming, talk about climate change. Suddenly when Jesus comes and rules, suddenly the desert's going to blossom like a rose. It'll be like the glory of Lebanon. Now, you might say, "Brett, that doesn't sound very good. I saw a picture of Lebanon. It looked like a dump." You want to know one of the saddest things? Did you know Lebanon used to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world, not that long ago? When Lebanon was called the Riviera of the Middle East.

In Bible times it was known to be even prettier. Do you remember what Solomon did when he wanted to get the beautiful trees for the temple building? Where did he go? The cedars of Lebanon, he got them because these giant cedar trees in Lebanon were so beautiful. He said, "We're going to get the best trees from the earth." And they went up to Lebanon of all places. Now it's just a war-torn country with rubble. It's so sad. Well anyway, that's the idea that the earth is going to be, you know, agricultural will be more productive is kind of the prediction. Isaiah talks about that elsewhere as well.

And everywhere's going to be beautiful. There's no famine, no shortages, no inequities, plenty for everyone. Isaiah 35:10, "And the ransomed, or the redeemed, of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Like in this world today, all the stuff that's going on, or the busyness or the troubles of life, turns out when Christ rules, there's going to be no more sighing, no more sorrow, and it's all going to flee away. What a beautiful time. Brett, that's enough Isaiah, we got it. No, I can't stop.

Isaiah 25:8, "He will swallow up death in victory; the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it." So disease and death will not prevail. Joy and prosperity will take the place of weeping and mourning. Isaiah 11:6, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." Can you imagine a child leading a lion around? And a lion laying down with a gazelle saying instead of, "Wow, little Triscuit snack right there," instead they'll be buddies, the gazelle and the lion. That's going to be the millennial kingdom.

Creation will no longer prey upon one another in the millennial kingdom, the Bible says. Now all this makes sense because the world is in a fallen state. Romans chapter eight says it this way, Paul said, "Because the creature, or the creation, itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." So there it is, what a bummer. Creation is fallen.

But good news, when angels come and announce that he's born today this day in Bethlehem a Savior, he's the Savior of the world in so many ways. Saving us from our sins, that's why there's good tidings of great joy, but the second part is going to be so glorious. The second coming when there will be ultimate peace on earth, good will toward men. If you want that for the world, pray for Christ's return. "Thy kingdom come, Lord, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So these promises, this is kind of what we look at today, a promise given, a promise fulfilled, but also a promise future.

And I don't know about you but that just makes me really glad around Christmas time. We have so much to be happy about, so much to rejoice in. And even if you are troubled and busy and wiped out because of all the busyness of the season, don't forget we can miss the reason for the season by getting all into the celebration. It's like we celebrate Christmas because of Christmas. But we have to remember, no, no, no, we're celebrating Christmas because of the promise given, the promise fulfilled, and the promise future. We have much to be really rejoicing about.

I'd like to conclude with just that same thing we talked about, that reminder, what is required of us? Remember, I said it earlier, just because something is a gift doesn't mean it's yours. So what do you do to receive the gift? How do you get it? Now on Christmas morn, one of your family members will pick up a box under the tree and walk over and hand it to you and say, "Merry Christmas." And then you probably graciously receive it and say, "Thank you," and you'll open it and you'll take it and it's yours.

It's not different at all than the gift God gives to humanity. God is everything but just handed you the gift. It's free, it's a free gift. We already established that. It wouldn't be a gift if you had to do something or pay for it. So God has given you this gift. The question I would ask is have you received it and do you own it now? Because there's a lot of people that think, "I miss this somehow." God has presented a gift and some people and walk away and they never receive the gift. And God forbid that would be you.

What is required with God's unspeakable gift to humanity? It must be received. You got to receive the gift of Jesus Christ. How do you do that? The Bible makes it so clear. I use this verse often because it doesn't put it any more clear anywhere in the Bible in my opinion. It says this, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

That's the receive that gift of salvation. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." Again, you say, "Well, that's what I got to do?" It really is nothing when you think about it other than you just have to say, "I believe, and I receive that this gift is from God and I'm going to receive it in faith." That's why it says by faith you're saved by his grace through faith you're saved, the gift of God, it's not something you do. So it's just to receive it.

So confessing with your mouth, believe in your heart. Why do you have to confess that Jesus rose from the dead? That's a key part of this verse. There's a reason because believing that Jesus rose from the grave means a lot. Let me just explain there's a couple things. One, it means you know you're a sinner, you realize Jesus died on the cross for a purpose and you recognize that purpose was sin, your own sin. That's where repentance, I think this verse actually tucks a repentance into it even though it doesn't say the word repent. But it's tucked in there because if you're saying, "I believe that Jesus rose from the grave," you're saying, "I believe I'm a sinner, Christ died on the cross for my sins," and then I also believe that he rose from the grave.

The resurrection of Jesus is believing that he is who he claimed he would be. That he wouldn't just die. Jesus said, "If you destroy this body, three days later, I will raise it up from the dead. This is the one sign I will show you that what I am saying is true." So it's up to you whether you're going to receive the gracious gift of God. And I would just ask if there's a reason why you haven't, what is that reason? There's no good reason to not receive the gift of Jesus Christ. It's a free gift, but it's the best decision you'll ever make, the most important decision you'll ever make in your lifetime in my opinion is that you'll accept the gift of God, eternal life through Jesus Christ. And if you already have done that, join me this Christmas season, we have much to rejoice about. Amen?

Kurt: Pastor Brett Meador has been reflecting on the source of true joy that ought to be the center of the celebration of the season. And you're listening to Today's Word Radio. I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment. But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church in the Portland, Oregon area, where Pastor Brett Meador is the senior pastor. We invite you to find out more about Pastor Brett and Athey Creek Church by going to todayswordradio.com.

If you've missed any portion of this study, you'll find all of his messages online at todayswordradio.com. Also I want to mention that in addition to the main Athey Creek campus in West Linn, we also have locations in Hillsboro and McMinnville, Oregon. For more information, go to todayswordradio.com and click on the link "Locations." Again, todayswordradio.com and click the link "Locations."

Okay, Pastor Brett is with me now. As we've been celebrating Christmas and concluding this message titled "Good Tidings of Great Joy," I can't help but think of the character of Linus reading the Christmas story at the end of a Charlie Brown Christmas. And although that's a cute scene, it really is a poignant statement of God's love that he would send his only son Jesus for all of us.

Brett Meador: Absolutely Kurt. You know the little Linus reading there, one of our church congregants, they decorate their house with the Peanuts Christmas. But they have a speaker on their front lawn with Linus reading that and you can walk by and hear the gospel right there because Linus is reading the good news. And really that's why we love that so much is because it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus is God who visited humanity and then lived among us. And Christmas, it's not just about his birth. It's about why he came. He came to lay down his life for the sinful world and that's where we get the good tidings of great joy. It comes from the gospel of Jesus.

Kurt: Yes, it does. Thank you Pastor Brett for that. And friend, we put some of Pastor Brett's teachings on our website that will help you if you'd like to find out more about what it means to be a believer in Jesus. You can just go to todayswordradio.com and click on the link that says "Are you a new believer?" Again, todayswordradio.com and click the link "New Believer." Well, we're so glad you've joined us. Next time Pastor Brett Meador will jump back into our verse-by-verse study in the book of Amos. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.