Okay, we can open our Bibles to Luke chapter 2. So you know, when you travel and go into what we call third world countries, you're overwhelmed by the fellowship and the camaraderie, the friendship that you can have with believers that you've never met halfway around the world. as you have that in Christ, which is sweet. But also at times as you go, you travel, you see the vastness of the earth, how large it is, and you see people. Especially in these countries, you see people everywhere. You see people going and coming, working, walking, carrying things, carrying loads. And you see children, children all over the place. In fact, probably at least half the population in these countries are children. And so there's just swarms and swarms of people. And you see so much poverty as well and suffering and want. And at times you can be discouraged and think, why Lord? When does this end? And then you see, as well, especially in Nairobi, you see the two worlds that touch, namely the world of Islam and the world of Christianity, as there is unrest there, particularly with Somalians on the Kenyan border. In fact, the first hotel that we were going to possibly stay at, Marie said, no, you can't stay there. It's in Islay, which is a Somalian neighborhood, and you would not be safe there, et cetera. So you just see that there's this friction between these two religions. The one being obviously a violent, grace-hating religion that is becoming more and more radical, more and more militant. And really the more devout one is in Islam, the more likely that they would be prone to violence. And so you see this friction and this tension and the violence that does happen. There's much Christian persecution going on in other countries such as Nigeria and especially in Malaysia and in India and certain other countries where these religions are are bordering. And you just think, with all of this anti-grace and anti-Christ kind of sentiment among some, and with all of the poverty and the overwhelming want that you see in general, and you just think, what a mean, cruel world at times. As you see the haves and the have-nots. You see excessive poverty. You see these growing hatreds. And you have that on my mind as I'm coming back. And then I'm also thinking we're going to be landing and we'll be landing right in the middle of Christmas mania here December 12th. I think that is when we landed. And it was interesting when you're there, there's no Christmas mania. I mean, they practice Christmas, I'm sure, but obviously the climate's much different. The scenery is much different. All the culture is different. You don't even hardly know Christmas is going on. And with those two things on my mind, it just dawned on me that that is the solution, isn't it? The message to the human suffering and to the violence and the hatred and all that you see on earth also touches up or the Christmas message offers the hope or the solution. In fact, if you turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 2, we know the story well. We know the angels and the story of the birth of Christ. We know how Joseph and Mary had to proceed to Bethlehem in light of a census that was decreed by Augustus. And they found themselves in Bethlehem and she was pregnant. And the story is in verse 7, she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Verse 8, now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were greatly afraid. And 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. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. So back in verse 8, we see that our scene begins when there were those that were shepherds living in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. In the same country these shepherds were doing their job. Now what about these shepherds, as we think of the shepherds? You know, the shepherds was a semi-skilled laborer. There were no colleges, even today, there are no colleges and advanced degrees that offer graduating degrees in shepherding. It's really not that difficult a job. Even a dog, in fact, can be trained to guard a flock of sheep. And unlike farmers, shepherds were often wage earners. They were hired laborers, paid. to watch sheep that belonged to others. Shepherds typically lived apart from society. They were largely nomadic and out in the wilderness, they would call it. It was mainly a job of solitary males without children, or the younger sons of farming peasants who could not inherit any land, or maybe an elder who couldn't help much with harder work anymore, and he took to shepherding in his later years. Yet, shepherds were an extremely important part of the economy. Sheep were a vital part of the economy, and the maintaining of sheep and shepherding of sheep was important, a needed workforce. Yet shepherds didn't hold a very high place in the social pecking order of the day. They were not the most highly regarded. They had even a reputation of being untrustworthy. I was trying to think how could we find some comparison to this job of shepherding, and I thought of truck drivers, because there's a lot of comparisons. In fact, often truck drivers are driving for others, not owning their own truck. It isn't a super highly skilled work, not needing college degrees, yet it was some skill required. Often truck drivers are away from home, live a somewhat nomadic life, and yet theirs is also a very necessary work, important work without which our economy would truly suffer. So it's a very important job in that sense, and yet not as highly regarded as other trades. And so perhaps this would be a good analogy, to think of our shepherds out in the fields, So here's a group of fairly ordinary guys going about their business on a fairly ordinary night, so it seemed. And then suddenly we read, behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were greatly afraid. So imagine this. You're there in the field or you're sitting on a rock. Whatever you're doing, crackling fire maybe. Some guys are sitting around. Shepherds are dozing. One's snoring. Maybe they're making jokes about funny noises coming out of them. And then all of a sudden, boom! There's this tremendous brightness. And there is brightness everywhere. And as you kind of get your sight orientated, here is an angel. An angel standing right amongst them. He stood before them. an overwhelming experience. This would clearly generate fear. In fact, if angels appeared, they're probably thinking, he's going to waste us. God's judging us. There's something wrong. This is an angel of destruction of some sort or something. But then immediately, when they had their attention now, 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. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." And so the angel immediately stops them and says, do not be afraid. And words of comfort are the first words out of the angel's mouth. Instant words of comfort. So the angel was not coming to bring destruction or judgment. The angel was actually coming to bring good tidings. Just the opposite. So this actually would be a time of rejoicing, not a time of fear. And notice the words that are expressed, the sentiments behind them. The angel says, I bring good tidings. Well, good tidings means good news. And when you have an angel appear in front of you and he says, I bring you good news, that's a pretty good day. That's not bad. In fact, he says, I bring great joy. And this great joy and this good news is for all people. And this news is specifically about a Savior, about Christ the Lord. And of course, the Jews were people that were anticipating a Christ, because Christ would carry the idea of Messiah. They were anticipating even a Savior that would help them with the Roman political situation. They were anticipating someday God would remember them, though many maybe had lost their hope. And so here the angel says, good tidings, great joy, all people, Savior, Christ the Lord. These are words that resonate with good news. Positive. And the angel says, on this day, verse 10, the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which are to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David. And this day, the terminology there signifies a start. Something is starting. What is starting on that day? It's the birth of Christ. It's the incarnation of God into this world. On that day is the beginning of the time of the Messiah and of Jesus Christ. And so, on this day, the events begin. The clock starts ticking. And note the titles for the Lord Jesus Christ. He calls Him Savior, Christ, and Lord. As the angel brings all three of these in into his message, he says, verse 11, There is born to you this day in the city of David, this day, Right now, in the city of David, a Savior. Who is He? He's Christ and He's the Lord. Savior. What does a Savior do? That's the task at hand that Jesus came. He came to rescue. A Savior delivers and rescues. This sounds good. He is the Christ, which means the Anointed One or the office He will hold as Messiah. And He's the Lord. He's God on high. God who has come in the flesh, entering into this depraved world. Savior Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you, the angel went on. The sign is you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. What is the sign? First, you'll find a babe. An infant. A brand new newborn. This is odd. This is to be an anointed one, the Messiah. We start thinking in terms of majestic glory or king of kings, and instead the shepherds were to look for the absolute opposite, a newborn infant babe. And in fact, you'll find this babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. And as you know, the swaddling clothes are really unfit for birth. These are clothes for the grave. This is very odd as we know that he was born to die. And you'll find him in a manger. What humble and lowly beginnings. Just the opposite of how the world would introduce their greatest. We see the Lord entering into the world in a meek way. And so, this is the sign. In fact, this is what you're to look for. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts now. And they were praising God together. And they're saying, glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace, good will toward men. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. And so here we go again now with this sudden appearance. These shepherds are just getting used to one angel in front of them. And now they look up and there's who knows how many filling the sky and singing what must seem like a deafening chorus. Tons of angels and a specific message. The message is glory to God. They're giving glory to God in the highest for what He is bringing forth on this night. because of what is happening. You see, grace is now going to be unleashed in a way that it has never been before through the person of Christ. And they said, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill with whom he is well pleased. Now there's a little bit in verse 14, a little bit of textual variant in there. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. Exactly how is that to be understood? It's a genitive, not a nominative. The NIV seems to carry a really good way of saying it. It says, And on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests. So on earth, peace, goodwill toward men on whom God's favor rests. And so we see in verse 10, if you go back, it says, Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to who? All people. So this is a message for all people, for all humanity. This is an appeal to everybody in verse 10. But in verse 14, the peace and the goodwill is going to land on those on whom God's favor rests. You see, in Romans 5, verse 1, we're told for the believer. For the one who is in Christ, therefore, having been justified by faith... What is it that the believer has? What is it that you have right now if you're saved? You have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is a positional peace. This is true of every believer, whether you're practicing it, enjoying it in a personal way or not. The fact is, is that God has been reconciled and he has put his arm around you in a heavenly Father way. You are his child and that will never change. And he's not against you. And so the believer has a rest and a positive knowledge that they have peace with God. But if you never put your faith in Christ, as we'll see, if you never trust what God is providing through this message of glad tidings, well, then the unbeliever has a different story. As John 336 says, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life. That's good. But he who does not believe the Son shall not see life. But what does he see then? He sees the wrath of God that abides on him. As the wrath of God is abiding on the unbeliever. as they have not yet chosen to put their trust in Christ. They have not yet received the forgiveness of sin. And if they die in that state, as John tells us, as the Lord says in John 8, they will die in their sins. And so the wrath of God abides. on them. And so we see then that this is good tidings and good news for all people, for all humanity. This message that's going to come forth starting with that baby born in the city of David. And it's going to be extremely a message of peace and goodwill for those who put their trust in Christ and respond by faith. We find a parallelism in this verse as well. We see, I guess I didn't highlight it very well, but we see glory and peace. We see parallel with that, highest and then on earth. And we see God contrasted with men. And so we see that it's glory, glory to God and peace toward men. Peace, praise goes toward God. Peace goes toward the human who puts their faith in Christ. And God in the highest is making this available to men on earth. And peace refers here, again, like we said, to the response to Christ. In fact, peace refers to the fullness of blessing that one receives when you put your faith in Christ. It's used in this way, for example, in Acts 10, where we read, The word which God sent, this is Peter speaking, to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Notice they're preaching peace through Christ. And that word, which is the preaching peace through Christ, you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism, which John preached. Now, what did the apostles preach in the book of Acts? They preached the gospel, right? They preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, of his death, his burial, and his resurrection, and who he was. And so that became synonymous, this preaching of peace through Christ was the message of the gospel itself, an idea of that. Come full circle around. We have the famous story, the angels and the baby in the manger. The shepherds are going to now go and see the baby in verses 15 and 16 and such. And we have the classic picture portrait. And we say, Merry Christmas, right? Happy Holidays, blah, blah, blah. So what? As we've become insensitive and we've been dull often to this very scene at times. And we think, Merry Christmas. glad tidings and peace and yet that isn't really the experience that we're seeing around us in this world as we think of the world situation. The optimists among us who believe in the inevitable progress of man either forget or ignore the fact that the 20th century was by far the bloodiest, most destructive century in human history. The century's two world wars resulted in the deaths of 60 million people at least. The Russian Civil War that preceded that, 1917 to 1921, killed five to six million more. Between them, tyrannical regimes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao killed at least another 60 million of their own citizens. And many millions more were killed in dozens of other, yet smaller conflicts. In fact, if you look, It was quite a bad century, and this doesn't even have the events of the 90s and some of the genocide that took place in Eastern Europe and in Central Africa. It was not a good year of peace. We're not heading toward peace. In fact, it seems the opposite. Besides the violence and the bloodshed mentioned, we're facing changes today on many moral fronts as well. Only as we discuss these moral issues more and more, the traditionally held views have been overturned and are now in the minority. Whether it's the nature of homosexuality, gay marriage, cohabitation, divorce, abortion, euthanasia, legality of drugs, sexual promiscuity. Could this really be the march of advancing and progressing humanity into a better life? However, outwardly, you might answer the question. Inwardly, a hollow realization cannot be shaken. A realization that things really are not getting better. There's more and more of a cultural shift away from God and the values consistent with Him. And when you're alone with your thoughts, when you're thinking in terms of the condition of the world, there lies a looming pessimism that will not depart. In fact, Scripture supports it. As we know in Timothy, we're told how the last days will be. And we can see how things are in motion. It's interesting that the depravity of man is the most empirically verifiable reality, and at the same time, it's the most intellectually resisted fact, as it just shows the condition of our human heart. You can hear the despair in Longfellow's Christmas hymn, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Not the watered-down version you find in most hymnals, but the real words written in 1864 while America was in the middle of a devastating civil war. Notice his lyrics. He said, I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, goodwill to men. I thought how as the day had come, the belfries of the Christendom had rolled all along the unbroken song of peace on earth, goodwill to men. And in despair, I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Then from each black, the cursed mouth, the cannon sundered in the south. And with the sound, the carols drowned of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. It was as if an earthquake rinsed the heart stones of a continent and made forlorn the households born of peace on earth and goodwill. toward men. Then peeled the bills more loud and deep. God is not dead, nor does He sleep. The wrongs shall fail. The right prevail with peace on earth and good will toward men." But when does this happen? When do we see this happen? You know, 50 years later, exactly 50 years later, you've heard of the story perhaps of the 1914 World War I armistice. It was a truce that began on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1914. German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region they were in in Belgium. They began placing candles on trees and continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably, Silent Night, Still at Night. The Scottish troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols. The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other and soon thereafter there were calls for visits across the no man's land where small gifts were exchanged. Whiskey, jam, cigars, chocolate, the like. The soldiers exchanged gifts, sometimes addresses, drank together. The artillery in the region fell silent that night. The truce also allowed a breathing spill where recently fallen soldiers could be brought back behind their own lines. Proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned their dead. paid their respects. At one funeral in no man's land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read from Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. The truth spread to other areas of the lines, and there were many stories of football matches between the opposing forces. A certain film suggests that letters sent home from both British and German soldiers related that the score was three to two in favor of the Germans. They could just settle the war that way, wouldn't that be good? In many sectors, the truce lasted through Christmas night. In some areas, it even continued all the way to New Year's Day. The truce occurred in spite of opposition at higher levels of the military. Earlier in the autumn, a call by Pope Benedict XV for an official truce between the warring governments had been ignored. British commanders Sir John French and Sir Horace Smith Dorian vowed that no such truce would be allowed again. However, both had left the command before Christmas of 1915. And all the following years of the war, artillery bombardments were ordered on Christmas Eve to ensure that there would be no further lulls in the combat. They were ordered that they would shoot. Troops were also rotated through various sectors of the front to prevent from becoming overly familiar with the enemy. Despite those measures, there were a few friendly encounters between enemy soldiers, but on a much, much smaller scale than the previous year. Peace on earth. We go out of our way to prevent it at times. Is it really only an echo from the past? This world is full of turmoil, and the turmoil is but a reflection of the inner turmoil that exists within the hearts of many. This world is in need because something is wrong. What's wrong with us as human beings? There's some fundamental flaw to our human nature, as you know, that we need to come to grips with. What's wrong with us that we who are the only creatures on earth that murders and tortures our own species? What's wrong with us that we make weapons capable of destroying 500 million people in an hour? What's wrong with us? with a man and a woman called a husband and a wife who can hurt each other so deeply, shout at each other so deeply and be cruel to each other. The two closest people on earth. What's wrong with us? That a mother and a father can actually abuse their own child. What's wrong with us? That we can so successfully harbor resentment toward one another. Resentment that might even span a whole lifetime. So strong and so real. Often against brother or sister or parent or friend. What's wrong with us? What's wrong with a child who rises up against their own parent? What's wrong with us as we fight and cheat and lie and lust and dishonor ourselves and greed? What is wrong with us? And why is peace so remote? And it's because we're so deeply flawed, because we're people who hurt and harm one another, that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who is to be known as the Prince of Peace. He sent him to provide some hope, some good tidings, some good news for people that are damaged. It's reminded of this true story of a boy named Gunther. In World War I, his mom deserted him because he was born, or soon after he was born, had rickets. Rickets is the deforming of the bones. His dad was lost in the war and his grandmother raised him, despised him, called him human garbage, kept him locked up out of sight, a secret. Finally, at age nine or ten, she sent him to a home for handicapped children where he first time he found some love and some kindness. And he also developed a special friend, another child who had severe epileptic issues and was actually approaching death. And on Christmas Day, after arriving at the home, his good friend died on his last Christmas while it was Gunther's first Christmas. And he cried in despair and he said, everything. Why is everything cracked? Why is everything broken? We can only say he made a good observation. It shouldn't be hard at all to acknowledge the presence of sin around us, but even within us. It should not be hard to see the sin in our own heart and life. We are indeed broken people. In fact, turn with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 7 for a minute. As in order to really understand and appreciate the good tidings and the good news of God through this Christmas message, we of course need to have a good grip on what's wrong with us to allow our arrogance to be knocked down. Ecclesiastes 7.20, God settles it very clearly for us. In chapter 7, verse 20, we read, There is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. So there's something wrong with every one of us. You can't sit here and think you're the exception because God says there is no exception. There is no one who is just. No, not one. So there's not a just man on earth who does good and doesn't sin. And in fact, if you turn over to Isaiah, a few pages to your right, notice what the author tells us there in Isaiah 64. Verses I'm sure you're familiar with. But in Isaiah 64.6, the prophet communicates to us by way of the Holy Spirit that we are all like an unclean thing. Is that true of you then? Yes, it's true of you. It's true of me. We are all like an unclean thing and all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And so we have righteousness. We have things which we think are impressive, like Cain going to the offering to God, thinking that there is something of value there. We may think we can contribute. And God says all of our righteousnesses are filthy rats. It's like this man who fell into some mud. And he wants to clean himself. And he reaches into his front pockets and pulls out some handkerchiefs. What's the problem? They're just as dirty. He cannot clean himself. He cannot get rid of it. Sin is like virginity. How do you get it back? You can't. Once you sin, you're no longer just. You're no longer pure. You can act nice. You can be helpful. This man can smile and have a positive outlook. But the fact is, is we're still dirty with sin. So God's glory and righteousness stands as an impossible ideal. We see that we're not righteous. We're not pure. We have been stained with sin. We do do what is right in our own eyes way too often. And what happens is we can get accustomed to thinking that we are something. In fact, hear with me to Jeremiah chapter 17 now as we just make our way to the New Testament. But Jeremiah 17 tells us something very valuable for us to remember. An honest assessment about ourselves. We would like to think highly of ourselves. We try to. We want to. But please be realistic and look around you and at your heart and life. Because God warns us in verse 9 that the heart is deceitful above all things. Now notice that. Could you think of anything else in the entire world that's more deceitful than your heart? And the answer is no. You can try all you want. You'll never succeed. You cannot find anything more depraved and deceitful than your heart. That's what the Bible says. Our heart is deceitful above all things. Desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind. I see it. I know God is sane. And so in what way are we desperately wicked? In what way are we deceitful? We're deceitful in always trying to say we're not that bad. There's someone else who's worse. Someone else is the problem. The problem with me is you. The problem with me is out there. It's not me. I do not want to take accountability. I will not be honest with myself. And that's what we all are, to one degree or another. And we're deceitful. And then we can become so good at covering our sin and blaming others and playing the victim, that when finally the spotlight does come upon you that perhaps you're the problem, you've done something wrong, you've failed to be gracious, whatever, we can't handle it. That's why we get all sorts of, we can even develop bitterness and resentment, strife that even overtakes the physical realm and health issues. Because we just can't honestly admit we're wrong. Why is that? Because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Because that sin nature within you always wants to look good, to be free in its own mind, and to do what it cares and wants to do. It does not want to have any restrictions. It does not want to have to see itself in any kind of honest way. And so here we are with incredibly deceitful hearts. And then the Bible tells us in Revelation, we won't look there, but Satan comes along and he's the master what? The master deceiver and the deceiver of nations. So really what we are like here is we're like some little toddler, some little two-year-old in a professional boxing ring with someone even bigger and meaner than Mike Tyson. We're going to go up against that? You don't have a chance. We have the most deceitful heart with a master deceiver. And therefore, apart from biblical viewpoint, apart from something coming from outside of ourselves, we're going to live a very wretched life. Deceived? And by the way, when someone is self-deceived, that is ugly. That is not someone you want to spend a weekend with, right? Someone who has a high view or some twisted view, something that's really obviously not near reality. That is not a good thing. And yet, we're all prone to that. So we get caught up with ourselves. We get caught up. We know there's some sense of guilt. We know there's some sense of sin. And yet, we don't want to face that. We get our hearts deceived. We can always point the finger at someone else. We can play the game. So some can play the piano, others can play hockey, some can work hard and seek money and comfort, others can waste away in idle depression, some obsess with their weight or their looks, others will indulge in entertainment as we fill the void in our life and ignore this ultimate reality. We work harder, we play harder, and we seek to succeed, which ultimately, in light of eternity, matters nothing. And so we have this problem that we deserve judgment. We're separated from God. And yet on the other side, here's God. We see God as holy and perfect and pure, glorious. He's everything we're not. And as we're aware of him, as we have some sense, as Romans 1 says, every human being has some sense of his attributes and his goodness. There's this glare coming from spiritual reality. And we know there's a barrier. There's a huge barrier between us and God. And here lies the backdrop now for the Christmas message. We had to go through this bad news to really paint and illustrate the good tidings. The good news. The gospel, which is a term that literally means good news. And the gospel is centered in the love of God. We know that God is a God of love. Love that reaches the undeserving, which you must see as yourself. Love that reaches broken lives. cracked legs, love that is unconditional, love that is everlasting, that even forgives and transforms. Love that is patient and kind. Love that is foreign to us and yet is so wonderful. Love that will give of itself. Love that knows every soul on earth amongst the billions and billions and billions He knows where every head is laid down at night, whether it be in Africa or Minnesota. He knows the circumstances behind every life of every person, of every need. And His love spans the globe and touches and reaches every one of us in an unconditional way. And that's what's amazing. God looks at this wretched sea of humanity and He sees what's in our heart. Yet, He says, and I'm going to do something about it. It's like the precious keepsakes that we may all have. Those that are handmade and have been handed down. The sweater, the quilt the grandmother spent hours on, or the piece of furniture that was made and handed down. There is love in these items. Someone gave of themselves. Provided it. And that's what God has done as we turn to Philippians 2 now. As the good news of the gospel of what Luke is telling us about. It doesn't make any sense apart from the backdrop of the bad news which we've just seen. Apart from hearts being honest saying, what's wrong with me? And now God can reach. And in Philippians 2, we see what He's done. Even as we think of Christmas. Because in verse 5, Paul says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. So what was Christ Jesus' mind? What was His mindset, verse 6? Who being in the form of God. We never were that. He did not consider robbery to be equal with God. But he made himself of no reputation. He took the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself and he became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And so here we see that it was God himself that leaves the glories of heaven, enters into this world. Love comes down. and enters in and takes the form of a human. And for what purpose? To be the king and to ride in the most glorious wealth available on earth? No. Just the opposite. He ended up going to a cross. A cross that Roman citizens would never even have to endure because it was considered so bad. A cross that was called the slave's death and it was a ridicule of death. It was for the worst of the worst. Jesus Christ tastes death in the most humiliating way. And so love comes down and He goes to a cross. And there's no greater love than that. If you turn to Romans 5, as what Jesus Christ did there is He incorporates upon Himself the penalty of sin, which is death. The barrier between us and God, that God and His justice is declared as death. This gap. He's embraced himself and has taken upon himself the guilt and the sin of all humanity, including you and I, including the worst of the worst and the best of the best and everything in between on a human scale needed Christ to do this. Romans 6, we read, for when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Notice, you must identify with the last word of verse 6. If you cannot identify with the last word of verse 6, you will go to hell. Because Christ died for those kind of people. And if you cannot, with any degree of integrity of the heart or honesty, say, that's me, then you will die in your sins. And yet, instead, we see that Christ died for the ungodly. That's the good news. That's you and I. And not only that, he says, verse 7, scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Perhaps for a good man, some would even dare to die. So he gives us a point of contrast. You might be willing to die for your best friend or your firstborn or your fiancé or whatever. You might be willing to push them aside and be hit by the speeding bus or whatever. What a great sacrifice. What a hero we would be. We might do that for someone close. Verse 8, The contrast is God demonstrates His love toward us. And that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still broken and cracked and full of self and sin, while we're in that state, Christ pushes us to safety. He's willing to take the hit. He died for you and I. And that is significant, because please remember, even in verse 7, if you were to die for someone, if you were to push your firstborn out of the way so that your firstborn now could live a full life, but you would die at an early age, you know what you really did, though it was noble, is you really just rearranged the timetables of death, didn't you? Because everyone who is born physically one day will what? You'll die. You're going to die. So what you just did is you died earlier than you otherwise would have in a noble act to save the life of your child. What did Christ do? Did He just rearrange the timetables of death? Would He have died at some point as well? And the answer is no. He was in the glories of heaven. He would never have tasted death. He was never under any condemnation. He was perfect. He's pure. He's God. He encountered and embraced something that was entirely volitional on His part. He never would have experienced it otherwise. That's what He did for you. He tasted death, Hebrews 2.9, for every man. And as a result, He embraced the penalty of your sin. And God then is satisfied as He looks down at that cross and what Christ has done, and He says, it is finished. It is finished. The good news. All of that sin, thought and word and deed that we have has all been, at one point in time, been nailed In fact, turn with me to Colossians 2. And here's the cry of victory. When you understand this message, this is the good news. This is the good tidings that's now been expressed to humanity. Because through Christ, we learn in Colossians 2, what happened on that cross. In Colossians 2, we begin in verse 13. He's talking to believers here. He says, "...and you being dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. So notice at the end of verse 13, what has happened on that cross is when you put your trust in Christ, God has forgiven you past tense, stated as a fact. The believer in Christ can look at this verse and know with certainty that they have been what? Forgiven. Forgiven what? All trespasses. And therefore, verse 14, he goes on, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers. This is what Christ has done for us. He has disarmed these powers. There's a victory here as he's made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. which was what would often happen in those days. A general would return from a victory. With the spoils of war, they'd have a parade and those who were captured and things that were captured, material things, would all be paraded and it would be an open spectacle. That's what Christ has done to all spiritual powers. A total victory. An absolute victory. What is it that you have done? Verse 14 has been wiped out by the handwriting of the requirements that was against it. We walk in light of that. We walk in light of this finished work of Christ. That's the good news. Every thought, every little lie, every failure, every sin has been paid for, has been and can be forgiven. And what is Jesus Christ now? He's resurrected. And He's alive today and He is now offering life. He's now offering eternal life as a living Savior. As he has paid the penalty of sin, he has taken upon himself your guilt and shame, identified with your sin, and now stands victorious. No wonder the angel said, on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. On earth, there's good tidings. This message on that Christmas night was the beginning of this message. The specifics of an age-old plan to make the world right. There is salvation in Him. There is hope in Him. And as you know, the way you respond, as John 3.16 reminds us, for God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In fact, if you'll turn now with me to Romans 5. You see, God is offering this as a free gift. And so as you are reading this. It's a simple matter of have we ever received or responded to this gift. As Romans 5 verse 15 Paul says, the free gift is not like the offense as he's comparing Christ with Adam. For if by one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many." And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. The judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. But, in contrast, the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. How many times does God have to say this is a free gift? You don't work for a free gift. The best thing you can do to insult God and call Him a liar is seek to offer something for this gift. Whether it be your token repentance, or asking Jesus into your heart, or coming forward, or pledging a promise. If you want to insult God, you can cling to those things. Where God is saying what Christ did was enough, and now what's available is a free gift. That's why verse 17, if by one man's offense death reigns through the One, which it did, much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign, not maybe, but will reign in life through one Jesus Christ. And therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, which was true, resulting in condemnation, even so, through one man's righteous act, that's the Gospel, that's Christ, the free gift came to all men, It's available to all, resulting in justification. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. Notice verse 19. Where does your obedience fit? Where does your faithfulness fit in verse 19? We're made righteous how? By one man's obedience. Who's that? That's not you. That's Jesus Christ. And when you respond to Him by faith, you receive a free gift. That free gift in this passage is called righteousness, justification, life, and it's written with certainty. And so, at a point in time, you respond by faith. You see, here we see the guilty sinner that is deserving of God's judgment. And all of this is abiding on Him. All of this is over His shoulders. There's some sense and awareness of this in the unbelieving heart. And whoever rejects the Son, John 3.36, says God's wrath remains on him. But God has sent good news, hasn't He? and good tiding, where Jesus Christ came and He Himself receives God's punishment and wrath and anger and hatred of sin. He takes that upon Himself and now the choice is up to each individual to believe in Him. And when you believe in Him, you find yourself where? in Christ. And now, are you receiving that punishment and that wrath? No. It's already been received. It's already been taken care of by Christ. And instead, the believer in Christ, you become an object of grace. And upon you now is God's love and His mercy, His kindness, His forgiveness of sin. And this is the state that we're to walk in and walk and to grow by faith in day by day. The unbeliever, though, It still has the wrath of Biden on it. Notice those who are in Christ are up in the corner. It's been paid for. That's been settled. But if you've never trusted Christ, if you've never placed your faith in Him, you will receive God's judgment yet future. Romans 5-1 reminds us, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have what? Peace with God. We have peace. And notice how that can carry out in our life. Go with me to Galatians chapter 2. We're just about done. Galatians chapter 2. A few closing verses. But this is to make a difference. This isn't to be something we yawn at. This isn't to be something we say, been there, done that. No, this is something that is to grip us as the love of Christ compels us. 2 Corinthians 5.14 reminds us. But Galatians 2.20 is a great passage for the one who is in Christ. You see, the one who is up here and is in Christ by faith. We read, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, Paul says, but Christ now who lives in me. This new life. This newness of life. And the life which I now live physically in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. Why? Because He loved me. He gave Himself for me. And so we see the Christian is now to live a new life. A life that is in response to what Christ has done. Yes, we're broken vessels. We can think of a life of broken vessels, but when you get saved, Christ now lives within you. And you have a crack. And what God wants to do is through trials and through growing experiences in life, to see Christ outworked through you. And as time goes on, those cracks get bigger and God is able to bring glory to Himself through cracked, broken vessels like you and I. As we focus on what Paul just said in verse 20, the Christ life, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And as we grow, the Spirit of God can produce more and more of that Christ life. And that spreads out into our communities, our families, our local churches in a positive way as we grow in Him. As this is the working out your salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in you, both to will and to do, is a good pleasure. It's what's on the inside that matters, isn't it? And when you're saved, it's Christ who's on the inside. You know, you can't change the world. I can't change the world. You look at the poverty and the needs and the things you wish you could resolve that. I can't change the world. But He can change me. Starting from the inside. And as a result, I can impact the world around me with Him. And that's true of every one of us. We can't change the world. It's too vast, too big. But Christ can change us. And He can change our worldview, our motives, our hearts, our thoughts, our values. And as He changes us, we can have a great impact in the immediate world that we find ourselves in. And you know, the world itself hates this when this happens. I mean, you show the world good works. You show them charity and good works and things. They can applaud that. They can be okay with that. But you show them Christ. You show them grace that rubs against that sin nature in us. You show them their unholy, ungodly character. And they hate it. When Paul did this in Acts 22, making his defense, they listened to him until this word when he spoke of grace. And then they raised their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live. Now, is that the rational, thinking man here? No, this is pure emotion because we hate that message. You show them good works, they can okay. But you show them Christ. You show them grace. This is what you're going to get. But that's okay because there's those who are looking for that. There are those who are hungering for that. And though we know from Christ's words Himself, the majority are going to be lost, that doesn't mean there's not around every corner someone that you could share that Gospel with, that someone might be hearing, that someone might be looking for that. So in closing, on earth, peace, good will toward men. This is what the world needs. This is really what they need. Even where there is a lost and dying world, a lost and dying world needs life. It needs rescue. It needs salvation from a certain doom that lasts forever. Those in utter poverty and those in wealthy societies need this alike. Those who have and those who have not need this alike. That's really the only issue on the table. Spiritually, we either have life or we don't. You're either on your way to heaven or you're not. And so this truly is glad tidings. This truly is a remarkable, radical message that reaches through every society, culture, economic status, and strata of mankind. With the most penetrating, meeting the most obvious need and providing the greatest benefit. So, if you're not saved here tonight, I'd encourage you to take hold of life. Simply believe on Him today. And if you're a saved believer, it's the same, isn't it? Take hold of life. Walk by faith in Him as He would want to produce His life through us. And allow Him to change the world around you. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for It's just a reminder of this age-old story we hear all the time. And yet, may it not lose its luster as we think of this is indeed glad tidings and good news for all men. This indeed is your evidence of how much you love the world because you sent your only Son. May those who are saved here tonight, Father, be encouraged again and desire to see the world around them and their small communities and their circle. even impacted because of Christ living outwardly through us. So I pray that we would walk by faith in those things. And for those who aren't saved, may they see there's something wrong with them. May they see that they are facing a Christless eternity. That they do not bend their knee and recognize there is no other salvation available. So may they see your love for what Christ has done for them and even believe on Him tonight. So we thank you that we can just review these things. Thank you again for the trip to Africa and your word going out and people responding and just the encouragement that was. We pray for Pastor Oxford even in El Salvador now, tomorrow, that you give him stamina and ability to teach all day and that the believers there would just be rejoicing in the common salvation that most who are saved, I believe, there would have. May they enjoy good fellowship as well. And thank you, Father, that one day it'll all be made right as we look forward to that day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hey, thank you, you're dismissed.