Pastor Timothy Patoka Advent 4: The Gift Of Love; December 23, 2018 A Wondrous Sign Shows Wondrous Love Revelation 12:1-6 1) Wondrous Love Is Freely Given 2) Wondrous Love Is Always Given When we think of Christ’s birth on Christmas Eve, our minds typically picture some version of the Nativity scene. It’s a nice, quiet, peaceful scene that has Jesus in the middle lying in a manger, Mary and Joseph standing by and looking down, and in the background are shepherds, sheep, and angels. Everyone is arranged in such a way that you have a truly wonderful Kodak moment. But most likely that night was not as peaceful as we may envision it to be. Mary and Joseph had just finished their long trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem and Mary was ready to give birth. Joseph went from building to building looking for a place to spend the night, only to find out there was no room. Instead, they would have to make due in a smelly stable. As if that wasn’t enough going on, you then have Mary giving birth to her firstborn and the surprise visitation of the shepherds. There was a lot going on in Bethlehem that night! It’s not that often we consider the Nativity scene from this frenzied, non-traditional viewpoint. But even if you have, there’s another way of looking at that Nativity scene which accurately describes it as well. And that’s how our verses for this morning, from Revelation chapter 12, describes that blessed night. As is usual with the book of Revelation, there are a lot of symbols that are confusing at first. But once we break down the meaning of those symbols, we see a wondrous night Christmas Eve was. For it was a wondrous sign which shows wondrous love which is freely given and wondrous love which is always given. 1) Wondrous Love Is Freely Given The way we read Revelation is quite different than how we typically read the Bible. That’s because the book of Revelation is a vision that the Apostle John received and recorded which intentionally uses fantastic symbols to communicate a deeper truth. As we’ll see in a little bit, we don’t hung up on the little details in hopes of seeing what the future reality will look like exactly. Instead we focus on the meaning behind the symbols to give us the overall picture of what will happen between Christ’s birth in Bethlehem and his 2nd coming on the Last Day. Our verses start off with a woman who is adorned with the heavenly bodies and about to give birth. While we initially identify this woman as Mary, John later tells us (Revelation 12:6, 14, 17) that this woman is the Holy Christian Church, the body of all believers. But on Christmas Eve, Mary was representative of the Holy Christian Church. It’s for that reason we can identify Mary as this woman from Revelation for the bit we’re talking about now. We’ll see how that changes later on. 1
Pastor Timothy Patoka Advent 4: The Gift Of Love; December 23, 2018 After meeting the woman, Revelation then introduces us to a fiery, red dragon. This is Satan, the devil, who opposed God and was cast out of heaven in the beginning of time. Among the many details that show us his power is his tail which can knock a third of the stars with a single flick. Yet as powerful as Satan is, he is threatened by the Christ child that Mary would bear. That’s why he did this, “The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” (Revelation 12:4b) Satan knew that the child born on Christmas Eve would forever crush his head (Genesis 3:15). When we take Revelation’s details into account, we view the Nativity scene with a new set of eyes. It is not simply a Kodak moment or a busy place in Bethlehem. It’s a night when Satan himself was trying his hardest to upset God’s plan for our salvation. It’s a night when we see the wondrous sign of Jesus’ birth which shows us that God’s wondrous love is freely given despite the danger. Satan is a very real being who is as evil and powerful as the Bible describes. Yet there are many, even some Christians, who deny that such a being exists. They compare Satan to the bogeyman, an imaginary character dreamed up to scare people straight. They define Satan as a philosophical concept which personifies all that is evil and bad in this world. And when such lies are spoken, they are diminishing the wondrous love our God has given to us. When Jesus came to this world, he faced very real dangers. King Herod threatened his life as a baby boy (Matthew 2:13-18). Satan himself tempted Jesus after fasting 40 days in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). Demons frustrated Jesus’ plan of sharing the good news that the promised Savior had come (Mark 5:1-20). Yet despite the danger it would entail, God shows us his gift of wondrous love in the wondrous sign of his Son’s birth. Jesus birth also shows that God’s wondrous love is given despite the lack prior payment. If you look at the words in italics that are found at the beginning of our worship service, you’ll read that love is rarely a freely given gift. Usually, in order for love to be given, something needs to be done first to earn it. Christmas Eve is just a day away. Who all did you get presents for? It’s for those who you care about, those who have shown you love in some way. I’m willing to guess you didn’t send any presents to that neighbor who disrupts the community vibe or to the coworker you can barely tolerate for 8 hours a day. Yet, what did we do for God so that he would send us his Son? Nothing. Not only because it happened 2,000 some years ago, but also because sinful humans never can do anything for God to merit his gift of wondrous love. And yet, despite the lack of prior payment, God sent his Son to be our Savior. And in so doing, he shows that his wondrous love is freely given. 2) Wondrous Love Is Always Given It’s a love that he continues to show us in the years after Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. We pick it back up in Revelation chapter 12. We left off with Satan, the fiery red dragon, standing 2
Pastor Timothy Patoka Advent 4: The Gift Of Love; December 23, 2018 in front of the woman about to give birth so that he might devour the child as soon as possible and protect his power. The reason why Satan is so afraid of this child is because of a reference to Psalm 2, that this child “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” (Revelation 12:5a referring to Psalm 2:9) A scepter is a symbol of power, something that a king would have with him. This scepter is made out of iron, one of the strongest metals of the time. Satan wants to devour this child because he knows how powerful Jesus is. He has the iron scepter to rule over every nation, even over Satan himself. Yet before Satan do any harm to this child, this child is taken to safety in heaven. Satan is rightfully angry about this and intends to exact his revenge on the woman instead. But God does not allow that to happen. Instead he has the woman go to a place in the wilderness where God protects her from Satan and takes care of her needs until the Last Day (1,260 days equals 3.5 years which is symbolic for the New Testament era. This era spans from Christ’s ascension into heaven to his return on the Last Day). You may be asking yourself, what does this show us about God’s love for us today? Think back to who this woman represents. It’s the Holy Christian Church, the body of believers, people like you and me who have chosen to come here this morning to hear, learn, and live what God’s Word says. And God shows his love by protecting and taking care of his children. Like this woman living in the wilderness, we too can often feel like life in this world is like living in a wilderness. Things just aren’t right, especially around this time of year. Christmas time is a time when friends and family all gather around. But when we see the empty chair where a loved one used to sit, or receive a gift that was given to make up for some past mistake, or see first-hand how all things are not well within the family, Christmas may not bring us the joy it once did as children. Even during the most joyous of holidays, life can feel like living in a wilderness. And when those emotions and thoughts get to us, we can begin to wonder if God’s wondrous gift love was a one-time thing given in Bethlehem many years ago. But it isn’t. God’s love is a wondrous love that is always given to his children. Simply look at what your Savior did for you after his birth in Bethlehem. It’s because of his wondrous love for you that he willingly went to the cross, so that he could die on it and receive the punishment for all our sins. It’s because of his wondrous love for you that he made his resurrection from the grave public knowledge, so that we may know that our Savior has beaten death and has the power to give us life after death. And God continues to show us his love while we live in this wilderness of life. And you can be sure of this because of Revelation and where it shows us Christ now is – he’s in heaven, sitting on the throne of God, wielding his iron scepter to rule on behalf of his children, on your behalf. Think about that – the one who makes Satan himself quake in his boots is on your side. He will protect from all of Satan’s temptations one way or another. He will take care of your 3
Pastor Timothy Patoka Advent 4: The Gift Of Love; December 23, 2018 needs all the days of your life. He assures you that this wilderness of life where things just aren’t right is not what life is going to remain. For we have the promise that we will one day be free from Satan and all his wiles because we will be with God in heaven. And you can be sure of that because God’s wondrous love for you is always given. When we think of the Nativity scene, we typically picture a peaceful, quiet night that’s fit for a Kodak moment. But when we consider the reality of the situation, we soon realize it may not have been all that peaceful or quiet of a night. Revelation chapter 12 shows us in a visionlike way what was happening in that stable in Bethlehem. Satan was trying his hardest to destroy that Christ-child before he could wield that iron scepter. But it was on that night when the wondrous sign of Jesus’ birth shows us that God’s wondrous love is freely given. Our Savior came into a world that was full of danger. Our Savior came into this world despite the lack of prior payment from us. Yet despite the danger or prior payment, God freely gives us his gift of wondrous love. It was also the night when we see that God’s wondrous love is always given. The Christ-child would grow up and do what was needed to be our Savior. That child would ascend to God’s throne in heaven to rule on our behalf with his iron scepter to protect us and take care of us while we live in this wilderness of life. As we prepare to celebrate our Savior’s birth, let us remember Revelation’s words so that we may see the wondrous sign that shows God’s wondrous love. Amen.
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