Good Tidings to You!

Good Tidings To You

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Luke 2:8-14

Let’s take a closer look at verse 10:

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”

I would like to point out a couple of facts here:

1)God sent His angel to share the good tidings with shepherds. Why Shepherds and not council members of the San Hedrin?

~The Shepherds were a humble people. They also were an example of leadership to the Jews such as Moses and David being shepherds. Just as Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

~They were Jews.

~These Shepherds are said to have been tending sheep set aside for sacrifice at the temple.

~I also believe that the chief priests’ hearts were not prepared to receive the message.

So, what is the message?

2)The angel has brought news:

~Good tidings. After doing some research I found out that the way these words are used  together in the Greek means: To evangelize, to proclaim the Good News, to preach the Gospel.

~Great Joy. The word “great” is a definite article which means much emphasis on the word used. The word “Joy” is derived from the Greek word “Chairo” which means:

“Grace, as joy is a direct result of God’s grace.”

~To all people. Not to the Jews alone or a select few but to ALL PEOPLE. God’s desire and will is that all men be saved.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior,

who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

So we have the angel of the Lord evangelizing, preaching the Gospel to the shepherds. Proclaiming the great joy of God’s grace for all people.

For who? ALL People.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

So we see according to scripture, the inspired, inerrant word of God that God sent His only Son Jesus to die for our sins so that we may have everlasting life. Jesus died for the whole world.

Let’s continue starting with verse 15:

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another,” Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger.

Luke 2:15-16

First we see that the shepherds had no doubts about the Savior that was born. The text doesn’t say that upon the angels leaving the shepherds began to discuss what transpired questioning what had happened. They said:

“Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass which the Lord has made known to us.”

Secondly, we see that the shepherds made haste to see the Babe lying in the manger.

A third point is that if indeed these shepherds were tending the flock for temple sacrifice, they left “religion” for a Relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.

~Do we as Christians ‘doubt” the word of God? We need to remember that Jesus Christ IS the word of God.(John 1:1)

~Do we make haste to spend time with Him or do we push Him aside for things of the world?

~Have we sacrificed a relationship with Him for religion? It’s easy to fall into a slump, to just punch a clock at church and do our time. But are we causing harm in our relationship with Jesus? When we fall into tradition or routine we are missing out on a wonderful, loving relationship with Him.

I can tell you from personal experience that nothing, absolutely NOTHING compares with knowing Him, with spending time with Him, with loving Him.

Let us remember the true Reason for the Season Jesus Christ. Not only our Lord and Savior but also the Lover of our souls and our Friend.

Our Prayer:

Oh Heavenly Father, how we love you so much!!! Our prayer Lord is that we would come to a relationship with you where we would have faith and no doubts, that we would make haste in spending time with You each day. We also pray Lord that we would not substitute “religion” for a relationship with You because nothing compares to knowing You Father. We thank You for sacrificing Your Son for us so that we may call upon You and have everlasting life.  We love You so much and desire to be pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!!!