JESUS: WORSHIP HIM!                                                   

12-24&25-05     Audio

Luke 2:1-20; Hebrews 1:1-6

You have just heard the story of Jesus’ coming to earth from two different perspectives.  In the story as Luke records it, the perspective is from this earth.  In the story as the book of Hebrews records it, the perspective is from heaven.

When the angel appeared to the shepherds on the hillside outside of Bethlehem that night, he brought them an announcement: the Messiah, the Savior, the Promised One of God had been born.  And then a heavenly host, a multitude of angels appeared – all of them praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.

How many angels were in that heavenly host? We have no way of knowing.  But the passage in Hebrews says that when Jesus was born, God the Father commanded that every last one of His angels, untold millions of them, to bow down in worship to this new-born Savior.

Angels are God’s messengers, and 6 times in the Christmas story we read about them.

In Luke 1 God sends the angel Gabriel to the priest Zechariah to tell him that in his old age he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son.  In that same chapter, Gabriel comes to Mary to tell her that she will have a Son, and that without the aid of an earthly father.  In Matthew 1 an angel comes to Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, to help him understand what is going on with Mary.  In Luke 2, the angels appear to the shepherds, announcing Jesus’ birth.  And in Matthew 2, an angel appears twice to Joseph: once telling him to flee along with his wife and young Son to Egypt to escape Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus, and again the angel appears when it’s safe to return to Israel.

Angels; messengers!

That first chapter in the book of Hebrews that we read from a moment ago concludes with these words: Are not all angels ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? 

Not only are angels messengers, they are also ministering spirits. They operate in the spirit world, and help those who follow Jesus.

When Jesus was spending time fasting and praying out in the desert and Satan came and tempted Him, it says that angels came and ministered to Him.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus was going through that night of agony, it also says that an angel came and ministered to Him. 

And this ministry of angels is not just for Jesus.  Psalm 91 says For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Evidently in our times of crisis, God sends angels to guard us, to protect us, to help us.  And some of you who sit in this room could tell stories of some sort of intervention in your life, when an angel came.  You maybe did not see an angel, but something or someone intervened miraculously on your behalf.

These creatures, these ministering spirits were told by God to worship His Son, Jesus, when He was born that first Christmas night. I find that really interesting.

Do you remember the story in Acts 10 when Peter went to Cornelius’ house?  Cornelius was not a Jew, and Peter’s culture told him that as a Jew he was not to even enter the house of a Gentile.  But in a vision God had convinced him that it was OK to go to the house of this Gentile military leader.

Meanwhile, Cornelius had been visited by an angel who had told him to send for Peter, which he did.  When Peter arrived, it says And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. (v.25). How would you like for that to happen? You walk through the door and they fall down and worship you.

Here was Peter’s response: But Peter pulled him up and said, "Stand up! I'm a human being like you!"  What is he saying?  “You are not to worship human beings.”

In the book of Revelation, after the angel had shown this great revelation of things to come to the Apostle John, who was the writer of that book, here is what happened:

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 

But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"  Revelation 22:8-9

You are not to worship human beings; you are not to worship angels; you are only to worship God.  Yet when Jesus was born, The Father said to all the angels: “bow down and worship Him.” 

What does that say to us about Jesus?  It says that He is neither angel nor man.  It says that He is God!

The songs of Christmas tell us:

Veiled in flesh the God-head see; hail the incarnate Deity.

I bring an offering of worship to my King.

Prayer and praising, all men raising, worship Him God on high.

O come, let us adore Him.

Come & worship, come & worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

We read in the Christmas story of magi, wise men coming from the East and bowing before Jesus in worship.  We find people over and over in the Gospels worshipping Him in response to what He did for them.  And Jesus does not say to them as Peter did: “Stand up, I am only a man like yourself.”  He does not say as the angel said to John: “Stand up, I am only a fellow servant of yours.” 

He accepted the worship of the angels at His birth; He accepted the worship of the wise men; He accepted the worship of those who bowed before Him during His 3½ years of ministry.  And He still accepts our worship today.

As the angels worshipped Him the night He was born, so we are to worship Jesus as we celebrate His birth this weekend.

The question is not “are you a worshipper?”  The question is: “What are you worshipping?”  The question is not “To worship, or not to worship?”  God created us as worshipping beings.  We will worship something, or someone.  But are they worthy of our worship?

When Satan, the devil, came to tempt Jesus in Matthew 4, one of the temptations was for Jesus to bow down and worship him.  Here was Jesus response to that temptation: “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Mt. 4:10

What, or whom do you worship?

To worship means to bow down.  But it’s more than a physical thing; it’s a spiritual thing, it’s the bowing of one’s heart in submission. That’s why God says we are not to worship idols, no matter what form that idol may take.  We are not to bow our heart in submission to anything or anyone other than God.  Nothing and no one else is worthy of our submission.

Worship involves the center of our lives.  What is at the center, what is at the place of prominence, what is most important in life to you?  That’s what you are worshipping. That’s what you have given yourself to.

When Satan tried to get Jesus to worship Him, what was he trying to do?  He was trying to get Jesus to substitute Satan’s plan for God’s plan.  God’s plan was for Jesus to suffer and die for our sins on the cross so that we could be forgiven and find eternal life. Satan said: “We can by-pass that suffering stuff.  You can go directly to being king.  Bow down and worship me & I can give you all the kingdoms of this world”.

But Jesus said: “No!  I will not substitute your plan for God’s plan.  I will not give you prominence in My life.  I will not worship you.  I will only worship God.”

We worship God when we submit ourselves to Him and obey Him.  It’s that simple.  We give Him first place in our heart and we submit ourselves to Him.

When God brought Jesus into the world He said: “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

To worship Jesus means more than to sing songs.  It means more than to lift your hands.  It means more than to kneel down.  It means more than to give in the offering.  It means more than going through motions.

Although true worship may include some or all of those things, it’s more than those things.  You can do those things as expressions of your worship, but on the other hand, you can do those things with your heart still filled with rebellion against God. 

When God commanded the angels to worship Jesus, they gladly obeyed.  There was not a moment of hesitation.  They worshipped Jesus because their hearts were already in submission.

In Revelation 5, in a glimpse of a heaven that is yet to come, millions upon millions of angels, joined by millions upon millions of human beings are singing a song of praise to Jesus, and worshipping Him.  Will you be a part of that crowd?  Or will you be a part of the other crowd – in a place of separation and isolation and loneliness and uselessness and hopelessness and suffering?

What you do now determines where you will be then.  Who you worship now determines where you will spend eternity.  Who you give first place in your life, who you submit to now will determine your eternal destiny.  That is the message of the Bible, and that is the message of Christmas.

We celebrate Christmas.  We celebrate the birth of Jesus, whose name means Savior.  The angel announced that they were to name Him Jesus, for He would save His people from their sin.

Is Jesus your Savior?  Have you let Him save you from your sins and from their awful consequences?  Have you given Him first place in your heart?  If not, today would be a wonderful day to do just that.