What Do You See?

Recap

Welcome to the final episode in our short series on the shepherds! Over the past two weeks we've looked at how to hear well - pondering and treasuring God's word - and then last week we explored making peace with God and living without fear through His perfect love.

Today we're wrapping up with the fourth response the shepherds teach us: Behold. This is the word that ties it all together.

The Missing Word

Let me read verse 10 from the shepherds’ story again, this time from the New King James Version:

Luke 2:10 (NKJV)

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.

It includes the word that the NIV missed out. The word "behold" that sits between "do not be afraid" and "I bring you good news".

Most modern translations like the NIV miss it, but it's there in the original Greek that Luke wrote in. And it’s really important.

The angel is essentially saying: Do not be afraid - look!

What does that mean for us? It means look! Take the time to consider the message of the Gospel once again. Ponder and treasure it. The degree to which we behold - gaze at, consider, rejoice in - the good news of Jesus, to that degree the fears in our lives will be undermined.

What Are We Beholding?

So what exactly are we being invited to behold? The Good News.

Luke 2:11 (NIV)

Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

We're invited to look at, to really see and acknowledge, that the Creator of the universe came into our broken world to rescue us.

I like this analogy from C S Lewis, but first a bit of context.

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space. The Russian Premier at the time said we have gone into space and discovered that there is no God there.

And C.S. Lewis wrote an article in response.

He said, if there is a God who created us, we could not discover him by going up into the air. God would not relate to human beings the way a man on the second floor relates to a man on the first floor. He would relate to us in the way Shakespeare relates to Hamlet. Shakespeare is the creator of Hamlet's world and of Hamlet himself. Hamlet can know about Shakespeare only if the author reveals information about himself in the play. So too the only way to know about God is if God has revealed himself.

And He has. But he hasn't only revealed information about Himself - He wrote himself into the story. He came into our world to rescue us.

The Invitation

Look!

Fear not!

You have not been left alone to fend for yourself. You have not been left without a Saviour. You don't have to know it all or have it altogether. You don't have to live a life of self-preservation and anxiety and worry.

The Creator has saved his people.

And we're invited to respond. To believe. To behold. And, as the shepherds did, to glorify and praise God for all the things they had heard and seen.

A Particular Fear

I want to address one very particular kind of fear, before we close. One that has been on my mind for a while.

It's the fear of punishment or judgement from God.

Let me ask you a personal slightly old-school question: If you died tomorrow, how sure are you that you'd have that eternal life promised in John 3:16?

If you don't yet follow Jesus then I'm sure your answer is not at all sure, maybe because you're not sure whether heaven is even real. That’s fair enough. And I hope you continue exploring faith and asking the necessary but sometimes hard questions.

But what about those of you who do follow Jesus? Would you say you’re 100% sure?

Maybe you're only 50% sure or 75% sure depending on the day you've had.

Can I remind you of John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Whoever believes in Him. Whoever believes that Jesus Christ has died for all the wrong things they've done, thought, intended.

We can add caveats like we must believe and follow or believe and do good works in order to be saved. But we're getting confused. This verse says what's required: whoever believes. The following Jesus and the good works are proof of the belief, not requirements for salvation.

Let's look at 1 John 4:18 again, this time with verse 17:

1 John 4:17-18 (NIV)

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

This verse tells us that perfect love drives out fear. Including the unhealthy fear we may have of God.

Holy fear is good - we should fear the Lord but not in the sense of being scared of Him, but of being in awe of Him. Holy fear draws us closer to God.

But there can be an unhealthy fear. Where we're actually scared of God, scared He might punish us, scared of judgement. That fear pushes us away from God. And that's a sign that we don't yet fully understand God's perfect love. That we don't yet trust Him.

And while we're living in that space, we'll never be 100% certain of his love for us, of our salvation, and we'll keep trying to save ourselves. Keep trying to do the right thing, and be on God's good side. Not out of a place of love for God but out of a place of trying to earn his love and save ourselves.

The Truth About God's Love

I say this often but I'll say it again today: You are loved exactly the same on your best day and your worst day.

Why? Because God's love for you is not dependent on your performance.

Yes, our wrongdoings and all the ways we mess up - continually for me, I've never had a whole day where I've got to the end of it and felt like I've done everything right, that's just reality - all those wrongdoings do require judgement and punishment if God is going to be a God of justice, which he is. But that's why Jesus went to the cross.

Some of us are fearing the punishment that Jesus has already taken.

And we've put our own conditions on salvation which leave us questioning whether we're even really saved.

And that leads us to a life that's insecure, that's ruled by fear. And God has told us that His perfect love casts out that fear. Our role is to acknowledge His love.

Do you believe Jesus died for you? Yes? Then the certainty of your eternal life with Jesus in heaven, the best life you could ever imagine, is 100%.

That's the good news.

Wrapping Up (pun intended)

So here's what the shepherds teach us:

1. Hear well - Ponder and treasure God's word

2. Make peace - First with God, then with others

3. Fear not - God's perfect love casts out fear

4. Behold - Look at what God has done for you

The shepherds heard the message, believed it, went to see for themselves, and then couldn't help but share it with others, glorifying and praising God.

That's our invitation too.

Question for Reflection

Here's your question this week: What would change in your life if you were to truly behold - really look at and grasp - the good news of Jesus? What would be different if you lived with 100% certainty of God's love for you?

Prayer

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for the ultimate act of love you showed for us on the cross. I lift up each person listening who wants to know more of your love. Maybe they cognitively know it but don't fully believe it yet. Maybe they need to experience your love. Maybe they need to hear from you today, that they truly are beloved, that you know the number of hairs on their head, that your thoughts about them are more than all the grains of sand on the earth. We can hardly fathom your love but we want to. So, Holy Spirit come. Immerse us in your love. Give us a greater understanding and awareness of it. That we would walk in freedom from fear. In your precious name Jesus, amen.