Text: Hebrews 1:1-9
We could celebrate Christmas on a different day. We don’t have to celebrate on December 25. Now I am not suggesting that we change the day of Christmas. The reason I mention this is because some people will attack Christians and the celebration of Christmas by pointing out that December 25th had been used by some ancient people as a day to celebrate the Winter Solstice. The people who point this out are usually suggesting that there is something wrong with Christians using December 25th as the celebration of Christmas. I am not going to go through all the reasons that December 25th was chosen for the Celebration of the Savior’s birth. Ultimately it doesn’t matter since we could celebrate on any day. The important truth of this holiday has nothing to do with what calendar day we choose to celebrate. The importance of this holiday is about God’s grace. Today we see that Jesus Reveals God’s Glory.
Part 1: We don’t always want others to see this glory
The main focus for our meditation comes from the first phrase of verse 3. There it says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” Those words remind us that Jesus reveals to us exactly who God is. All the splendor of God’s glory is shown to us through Christ. When Jesus was born into this world, he revealed to us the face of God. This wasn’t the first time that God’s glory was revealed. However, it was the clearest revelation of that glory. As we think about Jesus, we will also glance at a few other times and ways that God’s glory was revealed.
Think about the creation of the world. Jesus is identified as being part of creation. Jesus is the very Word of God that was spoken when the entire universe came into being. Creation was a revealing of God’s glory. It showed his power and his grace. He had the power to create all this and then he showed grace by creating Adam and Eve. He showed Adam and Eve that he had created all things for them. Even after they fell into sin, God revealed to them that he would send a Savior one day to rescue them.
The power that we see from God at creation can certainly lead us to see what verses 8 and 9 are talking about. They say, “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy’” (Hebrews 1:8-9). God shows his power over all at many times in the Scriptures. Creation is just one example. He shows himself to be a perfectly sinless God who loves what is good and punishes evil.
He showed his power in many ways in the Old Testament. For example, when he was freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, he revealed his power by sending the 10 plagues against the Egyptians. The last of those plagues was the death of all the first born in Egypt. As the Egyptians tried to pursue the escaping Israelites, God divided the waters of the Red Sea so that they could pass through on dry ground. Then he used those same waters to drown the Egyptian army. God showed his power to punish those who oppose him and his power to save his people.
Even before the miracles I just mentioned, God called Moses to be the leader of the Israelites. When he did this, he appeared to Moses in a burning bush. Moses was terrified because he knew of God’s righteous anger against sin. He knew that it was improper to stand before a righteous God. It reminded him that his sin deserved death. But God was gracious and spared his life. In spite of that grace, Moses didn’t want to be called into service as the leader of the Israelites. He used every excuse he could think of. He was afraid to share God’s Word with others. He was afraid to reveal God’s glory to others.
That reminds me of another prophet who didn’t want to share God’s glory. This prophet wasn’t afraid. He had a different reason. I am talking about Jonah, the prophet who was swallowed by the giant fish. After being spit out on land, he went and shared God’s message with wicked people. But he reveals why he didn’t want to do that in the first place. He didn’t want those people to repent. He knew that if they did, God would be gracious. Jonah had thought that he was better than those other people. He thought he was more worthy of being a child of God than the wicked people to whom he was preaching.
There are times that we react like Moses and Jonah. We have this amazing Christmas message but we don’t always reveal that glory to others. Perhaps like Moses we are afraid of what other people are going to think of us if we share God’s Word. Maybe they will ridicule us or persecute us for speaking about Jesus. So what do we do? We remain silent. We don’t share the love of Jesus. We do our best to blend in with everyone else during this Christmas holiday. Sure we come to a couple extra worship services but during the rest of the month, we look just like everyone else. We shop for presents. We give presents. We receive presents. And the whole time we barely make a mention of the true reason for Christmas.
Or perhaps we are more like Jonah. We think that we are so much better than those terrible unbelievers who don’t know what Christmas is all about. We ridicule their materialism. We talk amongst ourselves about how terrible it is that nobody honors Christmas anymore. We hope that they get what is coming to them for their lack of belief. But do we ever reach out to them with the love of Christ? We ought not to treat them with hatred and disdain but rather we are to speak the gospel to them. Do we understand that our hearts are just as sinful as theirs? We too deserve punishment because of our sin and are only saved through the grace of God. We ought to reach out to others with this humility.
Part 2: Christ first speaks to our hearts and then we share
Just like with Moses and Jonah, Christ helps us overcome our sinfulness so that we can be encouraged to share grace with others. Let’s take another look at verses 2 and 3. Those verses tell us, “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:2-3).
There are two key phrases there which emphasize that the glory of God is meant to focus our attention on God’s grace. The verses talk about how Jesus provided purification for sins and how he has sustained all things by his powerful word. He accomplished our purification for sins through his life and death. He was sinless for us and he paid the penalty for our sins. He continues to be gracious to us by sustaining us through his word. He helps us to recognize our sinfulness and to come to him again and again for his forgiveness. That is how he sustains us in our life of faith and encourages us to speak the truth.
I go back to the example of Moses again. When Moses was at Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments, God partially revealed his glory to Moses. God passed by Moses but protected Moses from his full glory. As God did that, he spoke of his grace. He said, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). Even though God hates sin and wants to punish sin, he shows here how he wants us to deal with sinners. We are to proclaim the message of forgiveness.
Think about how Mary and the Shepherds reacted to the Christmas message. When Jesus was born, they had reactions that we can follow still today. We see Mary treasuring those events and pondering them in her heart. That is our first reaction. We treasure the grace of God that we have and then we meditate upon these wonderful truths. Then we see the shepherds coming to worship Jesus, telling others about Jesus, and returning to work while glorifying and praising God. This is our next reaction of faith. We come to worship. We speak the truth to others. We glorify and praise God in our daily lives.
How does this look in our lives? It starts in our hearts. Worship is just one component. We make use of other worship opportunities and we do so regularly. We offer several Bible Study opportunities as a congregation. There are many good resources that can be found online or through Christian book stores like Northwestern Publishing House. Take time to read through your Bible. As we spend time in the Word, the Holy Spirit blesses our faith.
Jesus reveals more and more of his grace to us through his powerful word. Then we are built up and sustained to do the work of the Lord. We deal with others as people who need God’s grace as much as we do. We see our fellow Christians as people who commit sins just like us and need reminders of forgiveness. We see unbelievers as lost souls who need the blessings of faith. We go and speak to them with a humility that recognizes that we too would be lost if it wasn’t for the grace of God. We lovingly use law and gospel for the good of the kingdom.
Conclusion
When people attack the Christian celebration of Christmas, it does make us upset. Whether they bring up the Winter Solstice point or some other argument, it is good to think about how we respond. Even though it is frustrating when people say those things, it is good for us to respond with a gracious message. We look at how Jesus revealed the glory of God to us. He came as that Savior to win us forgiveness and eternal life. We understand this. We believe this. But this message isn’t just for us. This message is for all people. Help others to see the grace of the baby born in the manger. Speak your faith so that the glory of Christ may be revealed to all people.