It’s All About Joy!

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." (Luke 2:10)

This Christmas, the angel's announcement of "great joy" answers the deepest brokenness of our world.

Why Do We Celebrate Christmas?

We started this series a few weeks ago called "Why Christmas Is" as we got ready to celebrate. A survey done in 2015 and again this year found that 92% of Americans celebrate Christmas — the overwhelming majority of our nation observes this holiday every December. But when you ask people why they celebrate, you often get what Pastor Mark called "the human dial tone": people just stand there saying, "I don't know why I celebrate."

They may give you reasons tied to family, tradition, and happiness. They may even know the details — Mary and Joseph, Bethlehem, wise men, shepherds, angels. But when you get right down to it, most people don't have a good reason for why we celebrate the birth of a child 2,000 years ago in a place far away. Why was His coming so important that billions of people who name the name of Jesus celebrate it? We have been trying to answer that question biblically.

Christmas Is God's Response to Our Brokenness

The first thing we saw is that we celebrate Christmas because this is a broken world. Man's disobedience, described in the first book of the Bible, reveals that through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all humanity because all sinned. We all experience the brokenness of this world, and there is no more painful, devastating brokenness than death. It is our greatest pain, our greatest fear, and Scripture reveals it is our strongest enemy.

Some of you this year have been confronted with the reality of death in a very personal way. This is the first Christmas you are celebrating without a special someone who died this year. We all realize the brokenness of this world.

I spent a lot of time this last week with people affected by that brokenness. Cory Iverson, a firefighter with CAL FIRE who graduated from Orange Glen High School in 2004, died in the Thomas Fire on December 14th. As a chaplain with the fire department, I sat at many tables this week with firefighters across Escondido. These men see horrific things — tragic accidents, infant drownings, families losing loved ones. But nothing affects them more than the on-duty death of a firefighter. Thankfully such deaths are rare, but when one comes, even men who don't go to church are confronted with the brokenness, and I had the opportunity to talk with them about God.

So point one: Christmas is God's response to our brokenness. Genesis 3 reveals where the brokenness came from. You don't have to be a churchgoer to understand it; everyone in the world knows it. And when sin brought death into the world, God's response was to deal with it. Christmas is all about God dealing with the brokenness of this world.

The Gift-Giving God and the Lamb Slain Before the Foundation of the World

The reason God set out to deal with this brokenness is that He is the gift-giving God. When He saw the world affected by sin and death, He set out to address the problem because that is His nature.

I saw again this week an awesome verse in Revelation 13:8, which says Jesus is "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." That means before God ever said, "Let there be light," before He created anything, He knew exactly what He would do in response to our sin. He had a redemptive, sacrificial plan already in place. God created a world where He would not force us to love or follow Him, so He gave humanity the opportunity to fall through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew our frailty would lead us to disobey, and that sin and death would come. But because He is the gift-giving God, He already had a plan to deal with it.

Every one of us tries to deal with this brokenness in various ways. Many of the happy things we build into holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are really distractions to keep the pain at a distance. For a brief moment we can deaden the brokenness with gifts, gatherings, food, lights, and ornaments. But when the wrapping paper is thrown out and the decorations go back up in the rafters, we are confronted again with the brokenness — sometimes as soon as the credit card bill arrives. Everything we do to deal with brokenness is like band-aids on arterial bleeds; it can never fully heal it. But because God is the gift-giving God, He set out to deal with the root problem, not just the symptoms.

Jesus Is the Father's Gift Because Life Is Precious

Point two: Jesus is our Father's Christmas gift to deal with our brokenness. Why does He do this? Because to God, life is precious. Just as we innately know the brokenness of this world, we innately know that life is precious. That's why a very public death like Cory Iverson's affects us so deeply.

Maybe you were among the thousands who stood and honored him last Sunday as his remains were taken from Ventura to San Diego. My daughter Evangeline and I stood near the Via Rancho Parkway overpass with firefighters and others to honor him. Yesterday I had the privilege of standing with thousands of firefighters at the Rock Church in San Diego for his funeral. The death of Cory Iverson reminds us of the preciousness of life, and we sense that preciousness because God created us in His image. Sadly, our own disobedience brought sin, death, and brokenness into the world — and because God loves life, He set out to deal with it.

The greatest verse of the Bible, John 3:16, says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life." Because of God's love, He sent His Son for us.

The Bread of Life

In John 6, Jesus gave a challenging message in poetic metaphor, though the crowd took it literally. In verse 33 He said, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." He was connecting His coming to the story of Exodus.

In Exodus, God sent Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt. Through ten plagues the people were released, crossed the Red Sea, and entered the wilderness, where about a million people had no food. When they cried out, God gave them miraculous bread from heaven. They woke to find a substance on the ground and asked, "What is it?" — which is what the word manna literally means. For forty years, every morning God provided bread from heaven.

That story points to Jesus. In John 6:50 Jesus said, "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." The crowd took it as cannibalism and vampirism and freaked out, and John 6:66 says many of His followers no longer followed Him. They missed the metaphor. He was saying, "You have to take in My life to have life." Because God loves life, Jesus said, "I give My life for your life." In John 14:6 He declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me."

Jesus Came to Die for Our Life

Point three: Jesus came to die for our life. It's a simple statement — the simple statement of the gospel, the good news — yet it is profound. If you've been around church a long time, this isn't new to you, but we need to be reminded of it, because we so often add other things to the good news.

Through our sin, death came into the world; but the One who originally gave us life came down to take death for us, to challenge it, and to rise from the dead so that we could have life. We add all kinds of requirements — attendance at a specific church, a specific mode of baptism, service, giving — and say you have to do all these things to have salvation. But Jesus simply says, "I came to die in your place," and all He calls us to do is trust Him. John 1 tells us that as many as received Him and believed on His name, to them He gave the right to be called the children of God. We must constantly come back to the simplicity of the gospel.

Abundant Life, Not Endless Brokenness

Jesus did not merely die so we could have eternal life; He died so we could have abundant life. In John 10:10 He said, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly" — life to its fullest.

In Genesis 1 and 2, God created a garden full of trees that were beautiful and bore wonderful fruit. Among them were two unique trees: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which would bring death, and the tree of life, set in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:9). If God is the gift-giving God who loves life, why didn't He immediately let Adam and Eve eat from the tree of life after they had eaten of the forbidden tree? In fact, Genesis 3 says He expelled them from the garden and placed an angel to guard the way back, so they would not eat of the tree of life.

The only thing we can deduce is that God did not want them — or us — to live forever in a broken world. It is not His desire or design that we live forever in our broken state. And that's good, because I have to be honest: I wouldn't want to. Yesterday I slipped walking down our carpeted stairs in socks and fell on my shoulder, and it's killing me this morning. If I had to live forever in a broken world, that would be horrible. My hope is life in the kingdom of God where there is no sorrow, no tears, no sickness, no pain. That is the abundant life we are looking forward to.

Psalm 16 and the Path of Life

What exactly is that life? It's the life described in Psalm 16, written about three thousand years ago by King David.

I want to tell you a beautiful story about this psalm that I heard yesterday. At Cory Iverson's funeral, his widow, Ashley Iverson — a strong believer in Jesus — got up and shared. On the morning of December 14th, she was reading Scripture and happened to be in Psalm 16, which addresses the problem and pain of death. She thought maybe the Lord was giving her that passage for a family member facing cancer. About two hours later, the CAL FIRE chief showed up at her door to tell her that her husband had died in the Thomas Fire. She realized the passage wasn't for her uncle — it was for her. In His infinite wisdom and grace, God had given her this beautiful Scripture.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:9–11)

A thousand years before Jesus came, David said, "God, You will not leave me in the grave. You will show me the path of life." And Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me." In His presence is fullness of joy.

Good News of Great Joy for All People

Point four: Christmas brings everlasting joy to a broken world. That is awesome good news. When we gather as families and read the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew, we need to remember this is God's answer to the brokenness of this world — a world broken by sin and by death, the most devastating brokenness, which Jesus came to deal with.

In Luke 2 we read how a decree from Caesar Augustus sent everyone to be registered, and Joseph went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem with Mary, his betrothed wife who was with child. While they were there, she brought forth her firstborn Son, wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. Shepherds were keeping watch over their flock by night when an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people."

Point five: the gospel is good news of great joy for all people. It is not just for the good, the wealthy, the healthy, the clean, the Jewish, or even the American people. It is for all people. That is why for the last 2,000 years the church has carried out the commission Jesus gave: "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28); "Preach the gospel in all the world to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

God's desire is to deal with the brokenness in every human life — not just those who are starting to straighten things out or the good-looking, happy people. No one ever comes to Jesus good enough, beautiful enough, happy enough, intelligent enough, wealthy enough, or healthy enough. We don't have to be enough to come to Christ. Jesus came down to us in our brokenness, and this is what Christmas is all about.

Sharing the Gift This Christmas

Christmas exists because the world is broken and our God is the gift-giving God who loves life. Because He loved us so much, He came and gave Himself so that you and I could have life. That is the good news of this season.

When you gather with family and friends, there is an awesome opportunity to ask, "We're all celebrating Christmas — but do you know why?" You may find that people you've known a long time don't know, because they don't know Jesus. As we exchange gifts, may we set out to share this gift. What an amazing exchange: our sin, shame, guilt, and fear for His forgiveness, grace, joy, peace, and rest. The prophet Isaiah says God takes away our ashes and gives us beauty, takes away our mourning and gives us praise. He exchanges all the brokenness of our lives for all the grace and goodness of His. That is what this holiday is all about. Amen.

This is about joy coming to the world, so make a joyful noise to the Lord. The Bible doesn't say sing with a good voice; it says make a joyful noise. So if all you can do is make a happy, joyful noise, then make it.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your great grace. Thank You for a holiday such as Christmas, for us to gather together as friends and family members and rejoice in the good things You have done. This truly is all about joy coming to this world. Jesus, You are the joy of this world, our Savior, in Your wondrous love for us. We thank You that You demonstrated Your love, that while we were yet sinners You died for us. Lord, I pray that You would overcome our fears, our embarrassment, our timidity, that with boldness we would share the good news of who You are and what You have done for us by coming to this world. We praise You and thank You for this opportunity to rejoice in Your goodness. Give us strength to sing loud. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.