Let Us Go and See
Minister: | Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: | 12/25/2018 AM (Christmas Day) |
Text: | Luke 2:15 |
Psalters: | 408, 281, 247, 297 |
- What they heard.
- In the darkness of the night, the glory of God Himself shone round about the shepherds. Great fear!
- Immediately after the night darkness returned and all was still, the shepherds talked about what had just happened.
- They decided to go immediately and see.
- They were relatively close by, for they were “in the same country” as Bethlehem.
- They left their earthly responsibility for a greater, spiritual responsibility: to see what was told them. With haste!
- The boys went to see the Messiah, the Lord, but they saw a frail new-born baby surrounded by great material poverty.
- They enter a stable of some kind and see their Savior lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, able to be touched.
- That He is the Savior God was completely concealed, beyond the range of human vision.
- They believed what the angel said for they perceived more than what they saw.
- They perceived that the paradox in Bethlehem’s manger was necessary because of the purposes which brought Him.
- But if this is the Messiah, why was His glory hid? It had to be hid in order to save His people from their spiritual poverty.
- With the eye of faith the shepherd boys saw their own spiritual poverty and lack of any goodness and righteousness.
- In this Child the fellowship of God with man was amazingly close.
- Notice in the stable the divine mercy for there was nothing which would terrify (make sore afraid) the shepherds.
- There is no flaming sword to keep us away from the tree of life.
- They perceived the greatest love evidenced in the profound humility to descend to the manger and then to the cross.
- May we eagerly go and perceive by faith. His little hands would one day hold the scepter of universal dominion.
- They perceived that the paradox in Bethlehem’s manger was necessary because of the purposes which brought Him.