But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  

Luke 2:10-11

A group of shepherds were going about their nightly routine on the hills overlooking Bethlehem, when suddenly they were greeted by an angel with God’s glory shining around them.  The angel said, “Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).  As the angel spoke, the shepherds suddenly saw a multitude of angels praising God saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke 2:14).

There is no indication that the shepherds were righteous or prayerful or in any way seeking God, yet God chose them as the recipients of His glorious birth announcement.  God’s messenger describes Jesus as “a Savior… the Messiah, the Lord.”  Jesus is Savior, Messiah and Lord.

I recall welcoming and longing for the Savior, and being accepting of the concept of the Messiah, but struggling with the Lord thing. Our culture embraces independence, hard work, standing up for ourselves, and so-called self-made people. Bowing before others is not part of our cultural norm, so the notion of bowing before Christ Jesus and surrendering my life to Him as Lord was a massive stumbling block for me. I wanted all the benefits of the Savior so long as I was able to continue as lord of my life.  

But we must stop and ask, is that possible?  Is it possible to receive His holy gift of grace, to receive salvation, redemption, reconciliation with God without exalting Him, surrendering to Him and submitting to His Lordship?  Is it possible to have a Savior who is not our Lord?

Paul begins by quoting Deuteronomy 30:14 as he writes,

 But what does it say?

“The word is near you,
    on your lips and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. Romans 10:8-10

The passage says salvation is connected with believing and confessing Jesus as Lord.  And in Philippians he writes,

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death – 
    even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
    so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
    and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

It is unclear whether Paul quotes a hymn or poem or creed from the time, or whether he penned his own as part of the epistle; however, the message is clear.  God the Father exalts Jesus whose name is above every name.  Every knee should bend before Him.  Every person should surrender to Him and publicly confess that He is Lord, for God’s glory.

Through Jesus we move from death to life, from condemnation to salvation, from darkness to light. Through Jesus, our sins are forgiven.  Through Jesus we are reconciled with God.  Through Jesus we are justified, we gain atonement, we are saved.  And He is the only way.  He is worthy of our exultation, praise and worship, and as we lift Him up we necessarily become lower, bowing before Him, surrendering to Him.

What does this look like?  Jesus explains the life He offers is available to everyone who engages in relationship with Him and He uses many different words in an effort to describe what this looks like.  He connects it to believing in Him (see John 3:18, 3:36, and 5:24), hearing His voice (see John 5:25), consuming Him (see John 6:57), following Him (see John 8:12), and entering through Him (see John 10:9 and 14:6).  He urges us to abide in Him so that He, the Holy Spirit and God the Father abide in us (see John 14).

Jesus also connects believing in Him with doing His works saying, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12), and He explains that those who love Him will keep His commandments (see John 14:15).  While that sounds like an awesome responsibility, He discusses it in a way that reveals it is not a burden, rather, it is the natural result of His holy indwelling and our resulting spiritual transformation.  He says, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).  As the Holy Trinity dwells within us, we gradually take on Christ Jesus’ holy image, seeing the world through His eyes and doing His works and following His will happen, not as a result of our effort, but as a result of His presence and our transformation through Him.

Appearing to the shepherds the angel said, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).  The angel begins saying, “Do not be afraid.”  Jesus is Savior, Messiah and Lord, but do not be afraid.  He offers new life, reconciliation with God, redemption, eternal life, and while this sounds great, new life means we must leave our old life, reconciliation with God means we must leave lives of intentional, habitual sin.  

And many are afraid of this level of change.  They fear that they might miss their old life, that they might prefer a life lived in bondage to sin over new life with God through Christ Jesus, and their fear is rooted in their inability to trust God. Jesus says, 

 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.  John 3:17-19

Do not be afraid.  Light is better than darkness.

Christ Jesus is Savior and Lord.  Receive the fullness of His new life, His life abundant, His eternal life, now and forever.  Amen.