One night, long past…
In a field, many years ago now, a group of people went about their jobs. The darkness of night soaked the familiar landscape on which they worked in a deep, rich blackness. The stillness of the surrounding countryside was broken only by the occasional crackle of a small fire and the rustling of the cluster of sheep that huddled together on the wispy ethereal pasture.
Without warning, the night was replaced with a light so brilliant that the people, shepherds by trade, immediately fell into fear. In that light, a being appeared, and the shepherds knew at once that the being was an angel of God. Looking at them, the angel first assured them by telling them to fear not. He then proclaimed that, as a messenger of God, he had “good tidings of great joy” for all people. Although the shepherds themselves didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger, the angel proclaimed that a savior had been born.
The Need for a Savior
Genesis chapters 1 and 2 outline God’s orderly creation of the earth, its development as a home for life, the creation of the plants followed by the animals; all leading up to the creation of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. As implied by the meticulous and expansive planning and execution that led to mankind’s creation, God didn’t create man to live for a few short decades before being lost to oblivion. Adam and Eve were the pinnacle of God’s earthly creation. Adam was created in “God’s image” (Genesis 1:27). Although we cannot understand God’s complete nature, we do understand that He is perfect, and, by logic, the “image” of perfection is perfect. Adam and Eve were given the opportunity for continued, perfect life. This life depended on their obedience to God, and they were warned of the consequences for disobedience (Genesis 2:17). However, although perfect, Adam and Eve had the free will to choose their own actions, and they chose to disobey God (Genesis 3:6).
Disobeying God is the definition of sin, and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23). The just penalty of death fell on Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:17-19) and through them their descendants, consisting of every member of mankind since then (I Corinthians 15:22). For generations afterward, and even into the present day, people are born and all people die. Regardless of any person’s status, struggle, wealth or actions, mankind, on its own, is powerless to save itself from the death penalty incurred by its progenitors in the Garden of Eden.
An Unbreakable Promise
Generations passed with mankind in the same position. Eventually, due to a man named Abraham’s faithfulness, God issued a promise to Abraham, and through him, to all mankind. God would repeat this promise to Abraham several times (Genesis 12:2-3, Genesis 13:14, Genesis 17:3-8, for example) and further repeated His promise to Abraham’s son Isaac (26:3-5), and then to Isaac’s son Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15), who God would later rename Israel. God’s repetition of this promise wasn’t necessary to assure its outcome, for God’s word alone is enough to ensure the outcome of His will (Isaiah 55:11). Because of the grand scale of God’s plan, generations of mankind would pass while His plan progressed. The repetition was intended to imprint God’s promise onto not only Abraham and his descendants, but upon any of mankind who would hear and understand it. To further solidify His intention to mankind, God even swears by Himself to keep His promise (Genesis 22:16-18).
Although different iterations of God’s promise include different levels of detail, when examined as a whole, a few thoughts stand out. One of these is that through Abraham’s descendants, all “the nations of the earth” will be blessed (Genesis 22:18). Other iterations of the promise, such as Genesis 12:3, use the phrase “all the families of the earth” instead. Either way, the intention of the promise is that God’s blessing would extend to all people.
Although the details were not clear, mankind at last had hope through this precious promise that God would provide some type of salvation from the just but powerless condition they found themselves in. Although its full context would not be understood until some time afterwards, another piece of the puzzle of mankind’s salvation would be put in place by God some years later, as God began a new relationship with the descendants of Israel.
God’s Law and Eternal Life
During Jacob/Israel’s lifetime, a famine forced him to move his family out of Canaan and into Egypt (Genesis 47:11). As time and generations went on, Israel’s descendants multiplied in Egypt, but they were also reduced to little more than slaves (Exodus 1:12-13). Exodus describes how God led Israel’s descendants out of Israel and into the land that He had promised to their ancestor Abraham. Although God had dealt with individuals like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel previously, God was now directly dealing with a larger group. This culminated in God offering the descendants of Israel the opportunity to become His chosen people, to which the descendants of Israel agreed (Exodus 19:5, 8).
Once the people’s commitment was made, God proceeded to deliver a series of laws and sacrifices which the people were expected to keep. They were expected to keep these instructions in word and in spirit; meaning, God did not expect rote obedience. He expected the people to understand the intention of the instructions and to let this understanding of the intention guide their actions. God also indicated that any of the people who kept His instructions perfectly would have a right to life under His justice (Leviticus 18:4-5)
Unlike any time before in human history, a pathway to life was now available to mankind. However, two insurmountable problems still remained. First, God only made this agreement with the descendants of Israel, and thus only issued His laws and instructions to them. The vast majority of mankind wasn’t a descendant of Israel, in that they either lived prior to the time of God’s agreement with the descendants of Israel or they simply weren’t descended from Israel and thus, God’s laws and instructions weren’t applicable to them. Second, the promise of life and salvation from the penalty of death was unattainable even for the descendants of Israel who entered into the agreement with God. Gaining life under God’s law required a perfect keeping of all of His instructions in both action and intention. Such a perfect obedience proved to be impossible, and thus, none of the descendants of Israel could achieve the life promised by God under His law.
In both cases, salvation from the death penalty continued to remain out of reach for all of mankind. However, God’s plan for their salvation was unfolding, piece by piece. The stage was now set for one of the most dramatic and significant events in all of mankind’s history.
The Savior is Born
John 1:1-5 records the miraculous truth of how God’s only begotten son (John 1:18), a spirit being referred to as the Word, chose to further his Father’s plan by leaving his spirit existence and taking on the form of a human. Luke 1:26-38 recount how the angel Gabriel visited a woman named Mary, and informed her that, through God’s grace, she would soon conceive a son, who she was instructed to name “Jesus.” He also tells her that Jesus will be known as “the Son of the Highest.” The “Highest” is a reference to God, who is above all beings and things, and thus “highest” (Ephesians 4:6).
Shortly after these events, Mary and her espoused husband Michael traveled from their home to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-5). Despite being ready to give birth at any time Mary was obligated to make the trip to pay taxes. While they were in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Perhaps because so many other people were also in Bethlehem to pay taxes, Mary and Joseph were unable to find an inn to stay in, so Mary gave birth to Jesus and had to use a manger, which is a type of feeding trough for animals, as a cradle for her newborn son (Luke 2:7).
Elsewhere in the night, a group of shepherds were watching over their flocks. Without warning, the darkness of the night was replaced by “the glory of the Lord,” which completely surrounded the unsuspecting shepherds (Luke 2:9). As the scripture indicates that this “glory” “shone” around the shepherds, it is logical to conclude that it included some form of visible light that, to the shepherds, whose eyes were adjusted to the darkness of the night fields, must have been dazzling. Understandably, the shepherds were filled with profound fear.
In the middle of that “glory,” an angel of the Lord appeared and spoke some of the most well-known, profound and inspiring words ever spoken in the history of mankind:
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
As the angel finished his words, the night erupted in a spectacle that would be impossible to describe in simple words, as not one, not a few, but a multitude of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, all praising God, and proclaiming that there would be peace on earth and good will toward men.
Mankind’s Ransom Price, Paid
Through God’s grace, His followers have been blessed an understanding of Jesus as mankind’s savior. Jesus was a descendant of Israel, and was thus eligible for a right to life if he was able to perfectly keep God’s instructions. Unlike any who had come before him, Jesus remained obedient to God until his death (Philippians 2:8). However, Jesus also willingly allowed his life to be taken from him (I John 3:16).
Jesus himself described the giving of his life as “a ransom” (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45). The Apostle Paul later refers to Jesus’ sacrifice as “a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (I Timothy 2:5-6). A ransom is a price that is paid to facilitate the freedom of something or someone else. In this case, Jesus willingly offered his right to life as a corresponding payment, a ransom price, to “pay” for mankind's freedom from the death sentence brought about by the disobedience of Adam generations ago. This concept is concisely summarized by Paul in I Corinthians 15:22. “All die in Adam,” because the penalty of death incurred by Adam’s disobedience carried down to all his descendants even though they were not the ones who directly ate the fruit from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. “In Christ, all shall be made alive,” because Jesus’ sacrifice of his perfect human life balanced the scales of God’s justice for all mankind even though they were not the ones who directly sacrificed their lives to do so. Thus, Jesus paid mankind’s “ransom price,” and is its savior from the death penalty it could not have otherwise escaped.
Good Tidings of Great Joy for All People
A second thought in I Timothy 2:5-6 is that the ransom price paid by Jesus will be “testified in due time.” More than two thousand years have passed since Jesus’ death; yet people continue to be born and people continue to die. However, Paul’s words assure us of the same truth expressed by God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel. “Testified in due time” means that even though people still, at present, continue to die, Jesus has nevertheless saved them from the death penalty. In the fulness of God’s plan, at the appropriate time, this salvation will be made plain to all. Mankind will be restored to perfect life, and every man, woman and child who ever lived, the “ransomed of the Lord,” will be brought back into harmony with God (Isaiah 35:10).
This is the good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. To those who see the worsening chaos of the present world, who see their loved ones continuing to sicken, age and die despite all of the advances of modern medicine, who see the selfishness and inhumanity of some who profit at the expense of their fellow people, who see the proliferation of confused and contradictory messaging and agendas as mankind struggles to find something solid to believe in… who see the seemingly perpetual cycle of war and conflict and the devastation and heartbreak that accompanies it…
… to all those that are of a fearful heart, here are your tidings. Be strong and fear not. Your God has all things in hand. He will save you (Isaiah 35:4). The pieces are falling into place, the great ransom price has been paid. Even now, our returned Lord is preparing the way for the establishment of his just rule, when all mankind will be given the opportunity to draw back to God, in as straightforward a manner as walking a highway (Isaiah 35:8). The time is coming when there will be no more tears, neither crying nor pain, for all of these former things will be passed away (Revelation 21:4). Just as God promised, even swore by His own Self, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
In Summary: Closer Than When We First Believed
Centuries ago, the darkness of the night in the fields outside of Bethlehem gloriously erupted into light and praise to God and afterwards, mankind’s future was fundamentally, permanently and profoundly changed. In a larger sense, mankind’s darkness and night of sin and death is far spent and coming to an end (Romans 13:12). Many see new babies being born and all people still dying and fail to see any difference in mankind’s fate from what it’s always been (II Peter 3:3-4). Somewhat paradoxically, many also somehow feel that many things in society are accelerating faster than ever before. Without really having a full understanding of what they mean by it, many feel that somehow, the current times are in some way “end times.” Seeing all these things, many fall into fear (Luke 21:26).
Those who understand God’s plan understand the cause behind mankind’s need for salvation. They have also been blessed to understand that Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, provided the salvation from the penalty that mankind, on its own, could not escape. They understand that while God’s time frame may not be man’s time frame, God’s time frame is nevertheless as definitive and unchanging as it is perfect. Instead of becoming disheartened that another year has gone by and the fullness of the next phase of God’s plan hasn’t yet materialized, the new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17) understands and rejoices that with the passing of another year, mankind is, by definition, closer to it. As we continue to see the foretold events that herald this time come to pass all around us; as we lift up our heads and look around with the eye of faith and blessing of understanding, the undeniable truth sings out, like the heavenly hosts of that night long ago, that our redemption draweth nigh. The words of the angel on that long ago night were to fear not. The good tidings of great joy are still ours to ring and boom in our hearts, and the time when they will flow out to all people is closer than ever before.
Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
