Isaiah 45:20-25
“Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
are deliverance and strength.’”
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.
25 But all the descendants of Israel
will find deliverance in the Lord
and will make their boast in him.
Colossians 1:15-20
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Luke 2:25-40
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss[a] your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[b] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
Listening guide
Discussion questions
No discussion materials available for this sermon.
Isaiah 45:20-25 devotion
Isaiah 45:20-25
December 27, 2020
First Sunday after Christmas
General theme of the week: Little devotions after each lesson. Gain the assurance that to see Jesus is to see God.
Intro
A man John has been part of four seminaries. He says that one thing they all have in common is that everyone knows how to run the school better the board of directors and the president. He says that as a student or professor, he was always saying, “why were the people in power making such stupid decisions about degree programs, appointments, finance, building plans, or other policy questions?” Then as soon as he was president, he felt differently. He always made the best possible decision, but still people were critical. He was a little annoyed, but said he wouldn’t want to work there if he couldn’t hire people smarter than himself.
And now, back as a professor, he says nothing. I’ve always admired those kind of people. Smart, accomplished, willing to offer feedback when asked, but aware
TC – I know how to listen to pastors
What about us? Do we know better than God? Or can we learn better to listen to God?
People have always found this hard. This has always been a struggle.
Maybe manna – when the people saw it, they didn’t say, God has come to rescue us. They said
Questioning moses – they didn’t say, God is speaking to us through moses. They said, who is this moses and aren’t we as good
Some thing happens in this lesson. God has just announced he will make Cyrus his chosen servant. What happens in this lesson from Isaiah, wen God announced that he would use Cyrus, the people didn’t say, I’m sure you’re right. You must be right God. They said, really God?
I think it is wrong to take from this that we should never question religious representatives. Pastors, teachers, priests, missionaries are often wrong. Seriously. We make lots of mistakes. We need to be challenged and held to account.
That’s what God says
To us God says, come and see. “Gather together and come to me; You’re ignorant if you talk about idols. Simply turn to me and I will give you what I want.”
I think this is worth noticing when you look at this lesson. God doesn’t turn away people who ask questions. God is not saying here, look, when you’ve got a question or a problem, just be quiet and go away.
He says, I will have a human servant who represents me. This is the gospel message. He does not just come to be lord over us or a servant under us, he is a person with us.
And as hard as it is to listen to people like, people who seem to be strange choices to represent God, they bring you God’s voice.
Come and see.
Colossians 1:15-20 devotion
(Stand up front without robe on) If I hold up shrink wrap in front of me, I’m kind of distorted. You can’t see me as well. And if you had to describe me, you might not do as good a job of describing who I am.
I’m standing here. No robe or alb as we call it. You can clearly see me. Some of you know me like this. Who do you think I am?
If I put my robe or alb back on, you not only see me clearly. You see me as the fullest representation of the honor given to pastors.
Adults have this experience all the time, because we look in the mirror and we see ourselves and think, who is that person?
What about you?
Seeing someone through the glass
“Meeting” someone in the photograph, then meeting someone for real. You say, “You’re nothing like I imagined you.”
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15)
He is not just saying that Jesus is like a picture or a statue of God.
He is saying that he appeared in many physical forms or appearances over the years to his people.
The burning bush
The light that made Moses’ face glow
The army that surrounded the Assyrians
And yet staring at Jesus is not staring at God himself. The Triune God is not a man. That’s not a bad thing, for no one can look at God and live.
Yet Jesus is the fullness of God and the image of God. He is the proper representation of God. This makes all the difference
Many religions will say there is God. He is a far off creature. He is glorious and powerful. Others will say you can become God. If you work hard and live a really good life, you can be a god. Only Christianity says, God became a man to be with you.
When you see Jesus, you see the fullness of God with you.
Luke 2:25-40 devotion
To see Jesus is to see God.
(example) Fairly religious people tend to see Jesus as a strict person. A person who demands they follow all the rules and says they’re bad if they don’t.
(examples) Irreligious people tend to see Jesus as a merciful person. Certainly Jesus won’t turn me down? God loves sinners.
Simeon and Anna saw the real Jesus.
Simeon saw the obedience of Jesus. “the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required”. He saw Jesus do what had to get done.
Anna saw the mercy of Jesus. “she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem”. Anna saw Jesus as someone who was coming back to redeem her. To buy her back from sin, death, and the devil. And neither went away unchanged.
Simeon’s words are probably the most famous. “You dismiss me in peace because my eyes have seen your salvation.”
That is still true today. To see Jesus is to see God and that will not leave you unchanged.
One of the best examples is a man named Carl Zorn who lived in the late 1800 and early 1900s. He went to school he trained to be a pastor or missionary. School must have been a lot more exciting for him, because as a student, he got in a sword fight and was wounded. He started to ask these big questions about life. What should he do? Should he just end his life?
He told his mother what he was thinking and she tried to get him to turn to Christ. He didn’t know how, but a while later he found himself in a pastor’s house. The pastor made conversation with him and did not try to convert him. Eventually Carl told the pastor his views on religion, and the pastor very bluntly said back to him, “if you really believe, teach, and hold to these ideas, you will certainly be lost eternally”. And because Carl was training to be a missionary or pastor he said, “and you will take others along with you.” Carl laughed and answered, “Pastor, that's your opinion. I guess it’s time for me to leave.”
But those words wouldn’t leave him. His conscience bothered him constantly. One evening when he went to bed he saw his whole life wasted under the judgment of God. The next night the same thing happened. He finally went back to that pastor and he asked the pastor if he could help. The pastor told him, “Christ already has you; you just don’t realize. You must try to understand more clearly who Jesus is.” “How do I do that” Carl asked?
“Read the Gospels with the prayer that God would teach you to know Jesus.”
He was disappointed and exhausted, but he did it. He read them again and again until one night, he was filled with spite and hatred toward God. He prayed, “God let me relate what happened, even if seems unbelievable or a delusion.”
He said it was as if all at once the chains of his heart were broken. He says, “I knew Jesus in his divine glory as my Savior.”
When you meet this baby in the Bible, you are meeting God himself.
He won’t let you turn him and twist him and shape him into what you want or think he should be. No matter how hard you wrestle with him, the only thing that will happen is you will be defeated. One way or another. Either you will walk away saying he is an illusion, just a figment of imagination. Or you will believe in him.
He will deal with you exactly how he is. It is you who will be changed.
Because to see Jesus is to see God.