Daily Devotion--The Message of the Angel “And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” Hebrews 1:6–8 When the angel appeared to shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born to announce the arrival of the Saviour, they were not where most of us would have expected them to be. To our thinking it would have made more sense to have them appear in Jerusalem to proclaim to the political and religious leaders that Jesus had come to Earth. Yet God’s plan did not involve the high and mighty. Jesus came to seek the lost, not those satisfied with their current situation. When the announcement had been made, the one angel was joined with a great host of angels who had come to worship God. They proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). It is always right and fitting to praise and worship God, but perhaps no time is better suited for worship than Christmas. We should never lose sight of the amazing grace that provided the very Son of God as a sinless substitute to bear the penalty of our sin. The focus of the Christmas story is not about a baby born in a manger after a long trip or shepherds or wise men. The focus of the Christmas story is the glorious grace of God come down to provide us hope when we had none. That deserves our constant praise. As Joseph Mohr put it in the carol “Silent Night,” “With the angels let us sing, Allelujah to our King.”
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 12:49:02 +0000