Glorious Good News December 16, 2013
It allhappened in a moment.
It wasdark. The sheep had bedded down. The shepherds were kicked back on thehillside, captivated by the lights from the little town below. And then, WHAM!The darkness exploded. The angel appeared. And the shepherds were scared out oftheir minds.
Christmascarols make it seem all warm and wonderful, but the Bible says these guys wereterrified! It’s no wonder. Angels are imposing creatures, and when one suddenlyappears out of the night sky right above you… Yikes! And even once theshepherds got over their initial shock, there was still that blazing light allaround them. And that was the real problem.
The Biblesays the light did not actually belong to the angel himself; it was the gloryof God. The Scriptures speak of God’s glory in two ways. First, God’s glory isthe matchless honor He deserves above all other beings. It is His infiniteworth, His excellent reputation, His supremacy and superiority over everythingelse in the universe. This is the glory referenced in the angels’ song: “Gloryto God in the highest!”
Second,God’s glory is the brilliant light that surrounds Him in heaven. It’s thevisible representation of God’s worthiness and beauty, the created radiancethat emanates from God as He reveals Himself to His creation. This was thelight the shepherds saw that night in Bethlehemwhen “the glory of the Lord shown around them.”
God’s gloryin this sense is His radiant beauty; but to guilty sinners, His glory is notbeautiful. It’s terrifying. If Santa Claus sets up shop at the mall, we’llbring the kids and line up to see him. But if God were to show up in all Hisglory? We’d scatter. Remember the first time Peter realized who Jesus reallywas? Jesus had just blessed him with a miraculous boatful of fish; but insteadof thanking Him, Peter said, “Get away from me. I am a sinful man.”
We recoilfrom God’s glory, not just because we are drab and He is magnificent. We recoilbecause He is holy, and we are sinful. God’s character is so beautiful and Hisnature so excellent that when He reveals Himself, all we see is a blazing lightso bright, it could snuff us out of existence if God didn’t shield us from itsfull brilliance. This is precisely what makes the angel’s message “good news”and not just “news.” A Savior for glory-fearing sinners? Good news indeed!