The Armies of
Angels
There
the shepherds were, in the middle of the night, out in the fields near
Bethlehem. They were minding their own
business, looking after the flocks of sheep sleeping under their care, when the
stillness and the quietness of the evening was suddenly broken by an angel from
heaven. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for
all the people. Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a
baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And if that wasn’t enough: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly
host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:10-14). Can you imagine how startled those shepherds
must have been? Not only did they actually
see an angel with their own eyes, but an entire army of angels appeared in the
sky. That’s what a “heavenly host” is:
it’s simply another way of referring to an army from heaven. An entire army of angels praising God in
thunderous unison! What an impressive
sight that must have been! What an
impressive sound that army of angels must have made!
But what
those angels looked like and what they sounded like wasn’t the most impressive thing
about that scene above the hills around Bethlehem that night. It was what those angels sang about that made
the biggest impression on the hearts of those shepherds. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Sounds
pretty good, doesn’t it? “Peace to those
on whom his favor rests.” Not a worldly
kind of peace, of course. But a peace of
mind. A peace from spiritual
enemies. A peace lasting for eternity. A peace of the heart that would only come
through the One that had just been born.
But of course that begs the question: If this was a peace for those on
whom his favor rests, on whom does God’s favor rest?
What Prompts
God’s Favor?
Does God
look with favor on you? I’m sure that
you would hope so, but can you be sure?
Is there any reason God would look with favor on you? Because normally in this world if you look
with favor on another person - if you like a person or accept a person or are
comfortable with a person - it is because the person has proved themselves to
be likeable or acceptable or comfortable to be around. So is there any reason why God would look
with favor on you? Have you done
anything to earn his favor? Maybe he
looks with favor on you because you try hard and do your best. Unfortunately, that’s not going to cut it
because God makes it clear in the Bible that you aren’t good enough and you
don’t try hard enough. Maybe God looks
with favor on you because you are here in church this evening and a lot of
other people aren’t. But that doesn’t
matter either; God doesn’t hand out brownie points for church attendance. Maybe God looks with favor on you because you
are a relatively nice person and you try to be kind and you try to be caring. But trying to be kind and trying to be caring
don’t earn God’s favor either because he doesn’t give out an “A” for effort. Unless, of course, you are perfectly kind and
perfectly nice and perfectly caring in every single way every single day to
every single person you meet. Do you fit
into that category? I know I don’t.
Well
maybe the Lord looks with favor on you because of what you have given him. Maybe because of your generosity and your
sacrifice he is pleased with you. But that
won’t do it either. God doesn’t need
anything from you that he doesn’t already have.
What about who you are at your very core: maybe if you are a person of
integrity and honesty and truthfulness, then maybe that’s a reason for God to
look with favor on you. If he knows who
you really are deep down inside that has to make a difference, right? But that’s not who you really are deep down
inside. And that’s not who I am
either. According to God himself in his
Word, this is who we are deep down inside: “There
is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who
seeks God. All have turned away, they
have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one”
(Rom. 3:9-12). That’s who we are at
our very core: imperfect, impure, spiritually worthless people by nature. And so let me ask this again: why would God
ever look with favor on people like us?
Why would God like us, accept us, or be comfortable with us if we aren’t
the kind of people he has commanded us to be?
Jesus Won God's Favor
The
answer to that question lies in a manger.
The truth is, God wouldn’t have
ever looked with favor on us if it weren’t for the event we are celebrating
tonight! Because of Jesus’ birth, and his
subsequent life, death, and resurrection, God now does look with favor on
us! And this is why: the one lying in a
manger took our place. Jesus was the
person we were all supposed to be! He
was perfect when we were not. He was
loyal and faithful and dedicated to his Father when we refused to be. He took the pain that we could not. He took the torture that we could not. He took the punishment that we could not. And he had to do that for us because there
are consequences for sin. Consequences
of death - physical and eternal. And
those consequences were exactly what we had to look forward to. But then the Son of God was born into this
world as a real human being. Which meant
that Jesus basically stood up and said, “I’ll take it, Father. I’ll bear the consequences of death and
hell. Put them on me. I’ll be their substitute. I’ll be their sacrifice. My life will be the ransom for theirs.” And so that’s exactly what happened. This child whose birth was announced to
shepherds outside of Bethlehem one evening would one day be crucified by
soldiers outside of Jerusalem one afternoon.
This baby lying in a manger would one day end up lying in a tomb. This infant wrapped in strips of cloth in a
countryside barnyard would one day remove his own burial cloths when he broke
free from the grave. And this all
happened because God’s anger had been redirected: from us to the Son. Jesus was treated like the sinner. Jesus was punished like a criminal. Jesus was sentenced as if he were the guilty
one. And on the other hand the
perfection and the purity and the innocence that Jesus himself had achieved, he
gave to you. Everything that Jesus
earned, he gave to you. Now you are the
one who is credited with perfection and purity and innocence. You are the one whose record is clean. You are the one without anything held against
you.
We Are Favored
by God
You are the
one that God looks with favor on. Not
because you’ve been so good or have tried so hard. Not because you came to church tonight or
because you try to be such a nice person.
Not because you give back to him or because you think that you really
are decent at the core. Your God looks
with favor on you because of Jesus: what he
did, what he took, what he gave.
God looks with favor on you only because of the cradle and the cross. Only because he was a true human being in the
womb and true God out of the tomb. Only
because of Jesus’ life and his death… and his life again. You are one on whom God’s favor rests. But only because of Jesus. Only
because of Jesus.
That first Christmas evening must have been an
incredible experience for the shepherds: an announcement from an actual angel,
a choir of heavenly beings, Jesus himself lying in a manger, and the chance to
tell other people about it. I wish I had
been there! Don’t you? But even though we missed out on that first heavenly
choir made up of angel armies, we won’t miss the second. Although we weren’t there to physically see
Jesus lying in a manger, we will see him sitting on his throne. Although we didn’t hear the majestic “Glory
to God in the highest!” we will sing those words right along with those same
angels one day soon. Because God’s favor
rests on us. God’s favor rests on
you. Through faith in Jesus as your
Savior, God’s favor rests on you. And
because his favor rests on you, he gives you peace. Peace of mind, peace from every spiritual
enemy. Peace that lasts forever. What a comforting thought to take home with
you tonight. What a joy to wake up with
tomorrow on Christmas morning. What a
promise to carry with you for the rest of your life. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Amen.
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