“Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King!’”
We just sang those words earlier in the service and now we have read the
portion of God’s Word which gives rise to that song, and many others. In much
of the popular artwork we are accustomed to seeing, we see angels carrying
harps or other instruments, with their lips positioned in such a way to suggest
a song is coming through them. But, there are some who suggest that angels do
not sing. In fact, throughout the Bible, mostly we find reference to angels speaking, and where some English
translations use a word like singing,
the original Greek word can typically be translated as “saying,” or “speaking.”
But, it is not for no reason that some translators opt to use “singing words”
when translating those Greek terms, so we must reason that there is at least
some evidence to suggest that singing is the preferable idea. Based on this
text we have just read in Luke 2, I would say that angels at least can sing,
and have sung. But here, the text plainly says that they were “praising God and
saying,” not, “praising God and singing.” True, however, the words which
they “said” are recorded as being poetic in nature. It would be fitting to call
it a song, and to envision the angels as singing these beautiful words.
Graham Scroggie notes that one of the unique features of
Luke’s Gospel is “its songfulness. It begins and ends with songs, and there is
rejoicing all the way along.” Scroggie calls Luke “the first great Christian
hymnologist, … a preserver of sacred songs.”[1]
Luke is the only Gospel writer who records the four songs of the Nativity that
are found in the first two Chapters of his Gospel. Before our text, there is
Zacharias’s song of praise, known as the Benedictus,
and Mary’s song of worship, known as the Magnificat.
After this will come Simeon’s song of salvation, the Nunc Dimittis. This one in our text is the angel’s song: the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, or Gloria for short. Another unique feature
of Luke’s Gospel is his frequent references to angels. We find them mentioned
23 times in this Gospel, causing Scroggie to observe, “There are more glimpses
of the unseen world in this than in any other Gospel. It resounds with angel
songs, and with the music of their wings.”[2]
So, here in our text, these two unique features of Luke’s Gospel, it’s
“songfulness” and its fondness of angels, come together in a special way to
bring us this song of celebration that accompanies the Christmas Gospel.
This song, unlike the other three nativity
songs, comes down to earth from heaven, rather than the other way around. And
it comes as a glorious doxology sung in response to the angel’s message of the
good news, or Gospel, of Christmas. After narrating the birth of the Lord
Jesus, Luke tells us that there were some shepherds out in the fields keeping
watch over their flocks by night. It was just an ordinary night in the fields
for them for a little while, until an angel of the Lord stood before them. He
had just come from the very presence of God, and was radiant with the glory of
the Lord, filling those dark hills with brilliant light. It is interesting that
in almost every encounter between humans and angels in Scripture, the initial
response of the human is fear. Therefore, in many cases, as here, the first
words of the angel is, “Do not be afraid.” The reason the shepherds can take
courage is that the angel says, “I bring you good news of great joy!” The words
“I bring you good news” translate the single Greek word euaggelizomai, from which we get our word evangelism. To evangelize is to proclaim good news. The noun form
of this word is what we translate in English as “gospel.” The angel is saying
to the shepherds, “I have come to you with the gospel!” The Gospel of Jesus
Christ is indeed “good news of great joy”! Now, once that message is announced
to the shepherds, an angelic choir breaks forth in song, singing, “Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased.” The
Christmas Gospel, that God has come in the person of Jesus, to dwell as a man
among men, to rescue us from sin, evokes a song of joyous worship and praise
from the choir of heaven when it is proclaimed! Theodor Christlieb wrote, “Did
ever any assembly receive a message like this, with such a hymn to follow it,
or listen to a sermon with so glad a close?”[3]
There are two stanzas to this heavenly Gospel song. The
first stanza is a proclamation of heaven’s response to the Good News of
Christmas. The second is an announcement of the earthly results of this Good
News. Thomas Dehaney Bernard writes, “It is but a fragment of the songs above.
Yet is it a guide to songs below … embracing things in heaven and things on
earth, and as turning first to God, the source of blessing, then to man the
subject of it.”[4]
Christlieb called this song the “source and key-note of all other Christian
songs.”[5]
This song shows us how we ourselves should respond to the going forth of the
Gospel, and what that Gospel will accomplish as it is proclaimed and received
in the world.
So, let us consider the first stanza.
I. The heavenly response to the Christmas Gospel is glorious
worship (v14a).
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, the model prayer
included the statement, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In
heaven, from the time God created the angels, they had never ceased to proclaim
and praise the glory of God. Here on this night, in these fields, before these
shepherds, God’s will was being done on earth as it is in heaven. When the
angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest,” that phrase “in the highest” does
not mean, “to the highest degree,” although that would never be inappropriate.
Rather, “in the highest,” means “in the highest realm.” As the Savior comes
into the world, and the Good News of salvation dawning is proclaimed, all of
heaven is breaking out into song, proclaiming the glory of God and ascribing
glory unto His name.
Of course God is all glorious in Himself, and there is
nothing that can be done by humans or angels or any other created thing to make
Him more glorious. But when we ascribe glory to His name, we are recognizing
His glory, we are confessing our comprehension of His glory (limited though it
may be), and we are reflecting His glory back upon Him as the moon reflects the
light of the sun. That is what the angels were doing. Notice in verse 9 that
when the messenger angel appeared, the glory of the Lord shone around the
shepherds. This angel was illuminated by the very glory of God Himself, and in
the song of the choir of the heavenly multitude, that glory was proclaimed and
praised.
All of heaven was rejoicing in this moment for here God’s
glory was on display in the world in a brand new way. The writer of Hebrews
says that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the radiance of His Father’s glory
(1:3). Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:6 that “God, who said, ‘Light shall shine
out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” In the face of this
baby boy who had been born to Mary, wrapped in clothes and laid in a manger – a
feeding trough for animals – the glory of God Himself was shining into the
world in a way that it never had before. Isaiah had prophesied that the people
who walk in darkness will see a great light, and upon those who live in a dark
land, the light will shine. That light had come into the world in Jesus Christ.
He had come as a demonstration of the glory of God’s grace, to rescue sinners
from the dark bondage of sin, and all of the angels were rejoicing in the display
of that glory.
Peter said that the Gospel, this good news of Jesus Christ
and His salvation for sinners, was something “into which angels long to look”
(1 Pet 1:12). Remember that when God gave instructions for the building of the
Tabernacle and its furnishings, He said that there was to be an Ark of the
Covenant constructed, and its lid would be the mercy seat where the blood of
the sacrifices was to be sprinkled for the atonement of sin. On either side of
that mercy seat, there was to be fitted cherubim – angels – with their wings
spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings. The faces of these
cherubim were to be turned toward the mercy seat (Ex 25:20). That is, their
gaze was fixed upon the mystery of God’s grace toward sinners, toward the blood
that takes away sin. The Bible tells us that the tabernacle and its furnishings
are copies and shadows of the things in heaven. Here in these physical objects
was a representation of the metaphysical realities of heaven, where the angels
had, since the moment of their creation pondered at the inexplicable mercies of
God in His dealings with sinful men. For the duration of their existence, they
had pondered how God would reconcile this rebellious race of beings to Himself.
And here on this night, their unquenchable curiosity was satisfied in the Good
News that a Savior had been born. Heaven broke forth into worshipful song
because God was finally bringing about the fullness of His eternal plan to
redeem humanity from the curse of sin and demonstrating the fullness of His
infinite glory in the birth of His Son.
The angels of heaven show us what the appropriate response
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly is. It is to break forth in the worship of
this glorious God who so loved the world that He took upon Himself human flesh
to live for us and to die for us, that He might reconcile the world to us in
His Son (2 Cor 5:19). You may have woken up this morning feeling that you have
nothing in your life for which to praise God. You may have come to church this
morning out of a sense of duty rather than joy, but your heart today feels
heavy, cold and distant from God. Perhaps your circumstances are grim right
now. I know how that feels. I prepared this sermon in an uncomfortable chair in
an ICU room to the accompanying sounds of beeps and blips of monitors by the
bedside of a loved one in the throes of death. But it was in that very setting
that my heart was sustained by the promise of this glorious Gospel that God in
His grace has stepped into our world in this baby whose birth we celebrate –
Jesus the Christ – to be our Savior. We are loved, we are not forsaken, and by
faith in Him, we can be reconciled to Him, forgiven of our every sin, and
united with Him in the unbreakable covenant of His saving grace for all
eternity. We have good reason to praise and worship God and give glory to His
name!
If we come to trust this Christ as our Lord and Savior, then
we have the assurance that one day, we will join our voices together with the
voices of a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to
God in the highest!” But, we need not wait until that day to do so. All of
eternity will be devoted to His ceaseless praise, but here and now we can begin
to tune our voices and rehearse our parts. The song of the angels shows us that
the God of infinite glory is worthy of our worship, and when we muster a song
of praise to Him, His will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.
But the glory of the Gospel is not merely a pie in the sky
promise. It is not something that we have to wait until the afterlife to enjoy
and participate in. There are immediate Gospel benefits here and now for those
who receive and believe in the promise of God, and for that, we move to the
second stanza of the angelic song.
II. The earthly result of the Christmas Gospel is gracious
peace (v14b).
Because of the proclamation of this Good News, and the
actualization of it in the birth of Jesus Christ, there is a heavenly response
of glorious worship, and an earthly result of gracious peace. “Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace.” It seems a bit far fetched at times doesn’t
it? If you follow the news, or just pay attention as you live in this world,
sometimes we can be tempted to think that this portion of the angel’s song was
more fairytale than anything else.
On Christmas Day in 1864, in the midst of the American Civil
War, the great poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem to express the
heartbreak of a world full of suffering contrasted with the Christmas message
of “Peace on earth.” His homeland was at war with itself. Just a few months
after the outbreak of the war, Longfellow’s wife was attempting to preserve
some clippings from her daughter’s hair in wax, when the wax dripped on her
dress and caught fire, swallowing her in the flames. She ran into Henry’s
study, where he attempted to no avail to extinguish the flames. She died as a
result, and he was left with permanent burns on his face, arms, and legs.
Longfellow’s trademark beard was a result of the inability to shave his face
after this accident, and a constant reminder to him of his loss. In 1863,
Longfellow received word from the battlefield that his son, a soldier in the
Union army, had been killed. On Christmas Day of the following year, he
composed the poem which we sing from time to time called “I Heard the Bells on
Christmas Day.” The first stanza says,
I
heard the bells on Christmas day; their old familiar carols play;
And
wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men.
From the depths of his own personal suffering and loss, and
surrounded by the tumult of war, Longfellow goes on to write,
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, good will to men.”
Maybe you have bowed your head in that same despair. There
is a lot of talk about peace, but most of it amounts to a lament for the lack
of it, or empty promises of politicians and pundits which they are powerless to
deliver. The world into which Jesus was born was also a time when there was
much talk about peace. With the ascension of Augustus Caesar to the throne of
the Roman Empire in 27 BC, a new era of peace was inaugurated in the world that
lasted throughout his reign. It was called the Pax Romana – the Peace of Rome. The second chapter of Luke opens
with a historical reminder that this was the era of Jesus’ birth: “Now in those
days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus.” Of course, one’s own experience
of that peace depended in large part on whether or not one was a Roman. Ryken
notes that this peace “came at a dreadful cost. Nations were subjugated and
plundered, peoples enslaved, the poor oppressed. There was peace and prosperity
for some, fear and poverty for others.”[6]
But even for those who benefited in some way from the Pax Romana, there were limits to this peace. The stoic philosopher
Epictetus wrote that “while the emperor may give peace from war on land and
sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy. He cannot give
peace of heart, for which man yearns more than even for outward peace.”[7]
It was this kind of peace, which no human being could ever
secure for himself or for others, that the Lord Jesus Christ was born to
accomplish. Bernard writes that peace “comes, not from the rebels who ask for
peace, but from the King who of His own grace proclaims it. There is no peace
on earth of man’s making or seeking.”[8]
This peace was pronounced from heaven and brought to earth in the birth of the
One who was promised to be the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6). The peace that this
Child would accomplish through His life, His death and His resurrection is
first and foremost a peace with God. The Bible says that our sins have made a
separation between ourselves and God (Isa 59:2). But as the angel proclaimed, “there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord” (v11). This Savior is the mediator between God and man, taking the
penalty of our sins upon Himself in His death, and imparting to those who trust
in Him the very righteousness of His life in exchange. Paul says in Romans 5:1,
“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”; and in Colossians 1:20
that Christ has “made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col 1:20).
Of course, until we have peace with God, we cannot have any
other kind of real peace in our lives. We cannot have peace with one another,
with friends or enemies, or even with ourselves until we have peace with God.
Knowing that we have been reconciled to Him in spite of our sinfulness helps us
love others who are hard to love. Knowing that He has loved us enough to not
even spare the blood of His only begotten Son to redeem us helps us to have
peace within ourselves. Geldenhuys says, “It is the work of Christ to bring
peace into all human relations: in man’s relation to God, to himself (his own
feelings, desires, and the like), to his life’s circumstances (calamities and
trials), and to his fellow-men.”[9]
Ryken says, “When we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we have real peace. … We do not need to be
anxious about the future. We do no need to be afraid of what people will think.
We do not need to try to solve our problems on our own. We do not need to worry
how God will provide for us. We do not need to despair of losing what we love.
All we need to do is trust in God and he will give us peace.”[10]
What a wonderful blessing is this peace which Christ has
accomplished! But to whom is this peace made available? The passage at hand has
been translated into English in various ways over the centuries. Most often, we
would quote the words of the angels song as “Peace on earth, good will to men.”
That is after all, how the King James version renders it. The NIV has, “on
earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” The New Revised Standard put it,
“on earth peace among those whom He favors.” The New American Standard renders
the phrase this way: “on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” The
ESV is similar. These newer translations capture the sense of the original
language a little better than the older English versions because they make it
clear that this peace is not available to all men, but only to some – those who
receive His favor, or those who are the objects of His pleasure. But who are
these?
We must remember what the Bible says of the entire human
race. In the days of Noah, the sinfulness of the entire human race was
described this way: “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and … every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5).
Isaiah said, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to
his own way” (53:6). In Romans 3, Paul says, “There is none righteous, not even
one. There is none who understands; there is none who seeks for God. All have
turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good,
there is not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(3:10-12, 23). With a universal indictment such as this covering the entire
human race, we can conclude that there is no human being on the earth who can
earn the favor of God in his or her own ability or merits, and none who deserve
the pleasure of God on our own accord. We have inherited the curse of sin from
our forefather Adam, thus it is written, “through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all
sinned” (Rom 5:12).
But remember what is written of this baby who was born in
Bethlehem on that first Christmas. Thirty years after His birth, He came to the
Jordan River to be baptized by John, and the silence of heaven was broken with
an audible voice which declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
As G. Campbell Morgan writes, “Mark well the connection.”
“This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
“… on earth
peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Morgan observes,
That Baby became the Man in Whom
God was pleased. Peace will come to the earth when men are like Him. That is
the way of peace, and there is no other way. … The heavenly host was chanting
the anthems of welcome, not merely to that Baby, but to the new race. … the
race that will spring from that Baby. That Baby is the second Man; that Baby is
the last Adam. From that Child, that Son of God, Child of Mary, born and laid
in a manger, will spring the race which shall satisfy the Divine demands, and
please the heart of God. Peace there is, peace for them. … He has come into the
world in order that the race that is displeasing to God because of its sin,
revolt, and pollution, may be made pleasing to God.[11]
And thus, the Bible says,
But God
demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. … For if by the transgression of the one the many died,
much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus
Christ, abound to the many. … For if by the transgression of the one, death
reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to
all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification
of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were
made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made
righteous. … so that, as sin reigned in death,
even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:8, 15, 17-19,
21).
And
so this peace is offered to mankind in the person of the Baby who was born as
our Savior, Christ the Lord. Because He pleased the Father, and the good
pleasure of the Lord God rested upon Him, all who trust in Him are found
pleasing to God through Him, and receive the gracious favor of His peace: Peace
with God, peace within ourselves, peace with one another, peace in a world that
desperately lacks it and desperately needs it. Again quoting Geldenhuys,
“According as Christ is honoured and is given admission to human lives, to that
extent the peace on earth, which He came to bring, becomes a glorious
actuality. In so far as people live outside Him, the earth remains in a state
of disorder and strife without real peace.”[12]
The song of the angels, this Gloria in Excelsis, announces to us that in Jesus Christ, God has
extended the ultimate olive branch of peace to mankind, and whosoever receives
Him receives that gracious offer of peace. The Gospel is Good News because unto
us has been born a Savior: He was born for us; He lived for us; He died for us;
He rose again for us; that by faith in Him, we might come into His Kingdom of
peace and righteousness.
This song instructs on how we ourselves should view the
Christmas Gospel. Everywhere this Good News of Jesus is proclaimed and received
by faith, there is a joyous celebration of worship among the angels of heaven.
Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
who repents” (Lk 15:10). And if there is joyous celebration in heaven with the
going forth of this Gospel, then there should be on earth as well, that God’s
will might be done on earth as it is in heaven. Everywhere this Good News of
Jesus is proclaimed and received, the peace of God advances in a world of sin
and strife. We become agents and messengers of that peace as we proclaim it,
and the company of heaven’s peacemakers on the earth grows whenever one sinner
turns in faith to believe this Good News and receive this Lord Jesus as their
Savior.
Glory to God in the
highest! On earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased!
[1] W.
Graham Scroggie, A Guide to the Gospels (Grand
Rapids: Kregel, 1995), 371.
[2] Ibid.,
380.
[3] Theodor
Christlieb, “The Angels’ Message on Christmas Day.” In Wilbur Smith, Great Sermons on the Birth of Christ (Natick,
Mass.: W. A. Wilde, 1963). Online at http://www.ccel.us/greatsermons.ch8.html.
Accessed December 11, 2015.
[4] Thomas
Dehaney Bernard, The Songs of the Holy
Nativity (London :
Forgotten Books, 2015), 108-109.
[5]
Christlieb.
[6] Philip
G. Ryken, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” in Daniel Doriani, Philip Ryken, Richard
Phillips, The Incarnation in the Gospels (Reformed
Expository Commentary; Philipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), 111.
[7] Quoted
in Norval Geldenhuys, The Gospel of Luke (New
International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951),
112.
[8] Bernard,
112.
[9]
Geldenhuys, 113.
[10] Ryken,
113.
[11] G.
Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Luke
(Grand Rapids: Revell, 1931), 37-38.
[12]
Geldenhuys, 113.
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