as we see in the book of Revelation, angelic hosts sing His praises. They surely marveled at His condescen sion in that He left the celestial city to come to this earth to die for our sins. Perhaps they could not under stand why the Lord of Glory would want to redeem such wicked and de graded creatures. You and I know why He came. It was because of His incomparable love and grace. The first testimony was shared with a group of shepherds in nearby surrounding fields. Some question how these men would be out on a cold December night. The truth is, no one knows for a fact that Christ was born on the 25th of December. It is the traditional day of our cele bration, but the exact date is com pletely unknown. It is the positive fact of His birth, not the date of it, that is so significant. But why shep herds? A fact like this should be told to kings and potentates, and most certainly be known in Jerusalem. Because man is a self-righteous crea ture, he does not like to hear of his need for salvation. He rather resents the fact. Human nature has been the same from the time Adam was put out of the Garden of Eden. The high and the mighty are slow to hear. There was a great queen in Eng land who was an outstanding believ er. Her reign was characterized by faith in Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. She said that she thanked God for the letter, “M”, pointing out that the Bible says not many mighty would be saved. The “M” changes “any” to “many”. The shepherds properly heard first for they were servants. The Saviour Himself was a Shepherd (John 10). In my trips to the Holy Land, I have been very interested in watch ing shepherds with their flocks. I recall seeing a Palestinian shepherd with a little lamb wrapped around his neck, almost like a collar. He was singing with this little furry bundle around his neck. The other animals Page 20
followed him down the road. You see, the good shepherd always leads his sheep because he loves and cares for them. The real heart of the message to the shepherds is found in the Sav iour’s description. Note the first state ment: “Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour...” Man desperately needs a Saviour. One ev idence of this fact are all the varied religious attempts to earn salvation. There are all kinds of rituals and ceremonies being observed. Christ was called “The Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). As the Old Testament animals had to be killed so that their blood might be shed, even so Christ had to give up His life. You see, it is only the blood of Jesus Christ that can cleansp us from all sin. There is no other way of salvation (John 14:6). The third emphasis in the message of the angels was that Christ was the Saviour for all men. He gave His life to ransom every person in the world. If your heart is hungry then turn to Jesus; He wants to satisfy the innermost longings of your soul. How exciting this must have been for the shepherds. Their response was immediate. Immediately they went to the Babe. They found Him exact ly the way the angel had described. Those who came to Him will never be cast out. The lives of the shepherds were changed. No one who meets the Lord can ever be the same. A man, having received Christ some time before, said, “I’m not what I hope to be; I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I want to be. But, thank God, I am not what I used to be!” Has your love been changed; have you become a new creature in Him? Voices are not coming from the skies now as they did to this little group of shepherds. But we do have a revelation from heaven — God’s Book, the Bible. We do not have to
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