"Proclaim Joy"
Have you ever wondered, “Who is Christmas for?”
It’s a simple question, but one that upon some thought, doesn’t seem so easy to answer. If we were shooting from the hip, we might say, “Christmas is for us,” or “Christmas is for Christians,” “Christmas is for the world,” maybe even “Christmas is for the kids.” The question, “Who is Christmas for?” has confused many great thinkers throughout history, especially that green, furry, pot-bellied, pear-shaped, snub-nosed recluse, The Grinch. If you’re familiar with that classic story, after stealing all the Christmas decorations and presents from Whoville, the Grinch could still hear the Who’s down in Whoville singing! Do you remember that moment?
“He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise! Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all! He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same! And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: ‘How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags! And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!’”
Perhaps Christmas does mean a little bit more! And perhaps this season has made you ask other questions, aside from “Who is Christmas for?” Questions like,
“Why did Jesus come?”
“Why was Jesus sent to us?”
“Why did Jesus dwell among us?”
And sometimes the answers we give to those questions are too elementary. We’ll answer these questions by saying things like,
“To save us.”
“To die for us.”
“To show us how to live.”
And while those answers are correct on their own, by themselves, those answers share a common theme that can make us the astronaut who trained to take a solo mission into space. Have you ever heard about that astronaut? He wanted to take the solo trip so that the entire universe could revolve around his own “space.” In other words, at times we make the focus of Christ’s work exclusively about you and me, as if you and I were the only reason that Jesus Christ came.
Are you and I the only reason that Jesus Christ came, entering into time with the fullness of God dwelling in a fragile newborn baby? Or perhaps, like the Grinch, should we see that maybe, all of this means a little bit more?
Well, according to the Bible, there is much more. The primary, the supreme, the first, and foremost foundational reason beneath all other reasons that Jesus dwelled among us was…not for us, but for God. Why the first Christmas? The answer Ezekiel gives is this:
That’s what Ezekiel tells us in the passage that I read for us.
If you’re not familiar with him, Ezekiel prophesied to God’s people after they had been carried off in exile to Babylon. Ezekiel was himself one of those people carried off to exile with the rest of the people during the time Jeremiah ministered in Judah. Allow me to give you some bearings about the book.
God leads Ezekiel to record his word where, in the first 24 chapters of the book, Ezekiel points out that judgment has come to the people of God for their own sin, that exile has not occurred by chance, and that it is the judgment of God on his people for their rebellious hearts against his Law and ways. From chapters 24-35 the focus changes a bit and rather than judging his own people for their rebellion, God pronounces judgments on the nations around Israel for their refusal to obey him. When we come to Ezekiel 36, God changes his tone. After pronouncing judgment in full on his own people and the nations surrounding them, we then see God promise restoration. God’s promises that life and light will reign where only death and darkness has been present. God will pour out his Spirit on his people, and the destroyed temple will be restored, and God will once again dwell with his people. And that’s wonderful news, but naturally, questions arise for us:
How will God restore his people?
Why will God restore his people?
When will God restore his people?
All of these questions are answered in this book.
Our focus this morning is just Ezekiel 36:22-23, but I want to offer you some context to our focus by reading for us beginning in Ezekiel 36:16. This will give us the whole scene of our passage, so, hear the Word of God:
Ezekiel 36:16 (ESV)
The word of the Lord came to me:
Ezekiel 36:17 (ESV)
“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity.
Ezekiel 36:18 (ESV)
So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it.
Ezekiel 36:19 (ESV)
I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.
Ezekiel 36:20 (ESV)
But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’
Ezekiel 36:21 (ESV)
But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.
And this is the context for our focus text his morning. Just a moment ago, I mentioned that in this text we find the why, how, and when of God’s action to restore his people.
It’s his name which is being profaned.
When God’s name has been vindicated, all the nations, including Israel, will know that he is the Lord.
In response to having his name be profaned by his people’s wicked living and the nations wicked scoffing, God is stirred up to act.
Who is God acting for? Who is God acting in behalf of? Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name…” The reason God is about to vindicate his holiness before the people is not because of his people, but because of his passion for the fame of his name. To put it another way, God is about to act for his glory. This is why it says “the nations…everyone… will know that I am the Lord” after he acts in behalf of his great name.
I cannot emphasize this detail enough. The phrase “…and you…” or “…the nations…shall know that I am the Lord…” in Ezekiel 36:22-23 also occurs 57 times in the book of Ezekiel. The only other place in the Bible this phrase is used so repeatedly is in the book of Exodus, showing that God saved his people out of Egypt for his own glory, that Pharaoh and all Egypt would know who the Lord really is.
What does this mean bringing this phrase into the context and issues at play within the book of Ezekiel? It means the reason God is about to show up and restore his people, the reason upholding and founding all other reasons, the reason that gives meaning and vibrancy to all other reasons is his own glory among the nations! This is why God saves his people! He did this way in Egypt and he is about to do it again when he saves them out of captivity in Babylon!
Now, we have answered the question of why and how God will restore his people, but we have not yet answered the question of ‘when’ God will do this. God will act, not for the sake of his people but for the sake of His holy name, vindicating his holiness before all nations…but when will do this?
I started our time by telling you that Ezekiel is a prophet of God who is in exile and like the other prophets, God speaks a promise of restoration to Israel through Ezekiel. We know that our God is ever faithful and we remind ourselves that God has shown his ability to restore when he led his people out of the very exile that Ezekiel is in by leading Israel back into the Promised Land. Is that return to the Promised Land then answer to when? No. Why not? Because once they came back, peace didn’t last, power was absent, and God’s glory seemed smaller than it had been before in the days of David and Solomon. God had told them the how and the why, but the people are left waiting for another time of restoration that wouldn’t just be in part, but whole, full, and final.
This brings us to Christmas, but not for the beautiful lights on our homes or trees. No, it brings us to our earlier question of getting down to the reason why we celebrate the momentous occasion of Christ’s coming, Christ’s arrival, among us each December. We’re not going to set aside the remaining question that lingers, but I do want us to entertain a new question because, if we can answer it, then we can answer the question about when.
Why did Jesus come?
In the New Testament, there’s a really famous letter. It’s Paul’s letter to the Romans and the apostle opens that letter with by declaring that all mankind are sinners. Doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or you’re not a Jew, all are sinners. There is where God says that every last human being has fallen short of God’s standard and because every one of us has, every one of us stands guilty and accused before God. Remember my speeding ticket story from last week? I broke that speeding law. Well, we’ve each broken God’s law. We’ve each done the crimes and we’re helpless to avoid doing the time. So Paul tells us in that letter that we need to be redeemed. And after we’re made aware of our helpless condition before a holy and righteous God, though we are helpless to save ourselves, the letter doesn’t leave us hopeless. No, after all this, Paul gives us what has to be one of the most glorious, superb, magnificent, wonderful, and marvelous paragraphs in the whole Bible. In Romans 3…
Romans 3:21 (ESV)
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
Romans 3:22 (ESV)
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
Romans 3:23 (ESV)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:24 (ESV)
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Romans 3:25 (ESV)
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Romans 3:26 (ESV)
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
That’s 129 words of glory-filled, gospel saturated truth that if I were to try to mine the full depths of value from them, would take me years to preach to you, but allow me to try and briefly do it justice. I’ll tell you why afterwards.
“But now…” from Romans 3:21 is a mighty blast of comfort after such a lengthy description of our sin. That “but now” invites us to understand that things are now different, but we’re left to wonder, “how so?”
“The righteousness…” from Romans 3:22 is the same righteousness revealed in the gospel (1:16-17), the same righteousness we suppress though it has been clearly revealed in creation (1:18-20), the same righteousness the Law and our consciences condemn us for because of the faith and obedience we lack (1:21-3:20). That righteousness of God has now been revealed. How has it been revealed? Through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, all lack this righteousness, all are sinners and have fallen short, but all can be made righteous by his grace as a gift, redeemed by Christ, whom God put forward and displayed to be the atoning sacrifice in his blood. How is his bloody sacrificial act of atonement applied to us? By faith. We receive it by faith.
Why did God do this? Remember Ezekiel 36:22? To make it known that he is holy and righteous.
Why would God need to make it known? Because in his divine patience, God passed over sins long ago. So the atoning work of Jesus showed that God is still righteous and that he simultaneously, without losing his righteousness or compromising his justice, makes sinners who have faith in Jesus…righteous! Here redemption is disclosed, displayed, described, and delighted in by all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. That’s the wonder of these 129 words!
Do you see why we came here after seeing what God promised to do in Ezekiel 36? Do you see it? Paul is explaining what is the fulfillment of the promise of Ezekiel 36. God came and vindicated his holy name, not for the sake of sinful men and women, but for God’s own sake. And he vindicated himself in the stricken, smitten, afflicted, and crushing of the God-man who was born in Bethlehem on the cross.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for “civilized” people like you and I, but don’t dismiss God’s purpose with the cross of Jesus Christ! On the cross, God publicly displayed his righteousness, slaughtering his innocent, sinless Son for the sins of his people. God did this so that all those morally bankrupt people who would have faith in Jesus Christ would receive Christ’s holy and righteous credit in their account. This is the glorious exchange on the cross, where God vindicated the holiness of his great name for all who have eyes to see.
But think about it, where does the road to the cross begin? The manger. The Incarnation. But bring the whole of Ezekiel 36 forward with it: God did not carry out the whole of the Incarnation for his people’s sake, he did it for the sake of his name which had been profaned among the nations, to vindicate his holiness, or as Paul said it, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
What the reason beneath all other reasons that the first Christmas occurred?
Here’s another link to our text and Advent. Do you remember who saw the Christmas star and traveled to see the Son? Not Jews, right? Who? The Gentile magi. The fame of God’s name sent the Son of God to earth, the nations saw it, and now that more nations would see the fame of his name, God now sends us to all nations with the message of the gospel.
How is this hitting you? What are you thinking right about now? I wonder, do you see all of this God-centered, Christmas reality as good news for you?
Well, if you’re having trouble with this, here’s another reason why this is such good news for us… If we return to Ezekiel to see what happens in the rest of the chapter, we can specifically focus on Ezekiel 36:25-27 to take note of the results of God having concern for his holy name. God says this about people who come to him through faith in Jesus Christ:
Ezekiel 36:25 (ESV)
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV)
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:27 (ESV)
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
These verses describe in great detail the benefits God’s people receive when God comes to vindicate the holiness of his great name. You see, you and I are people with a heart that is naturally stony and hard. Our only hope of salvation is for God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to remove our hard stony hearts and give us new hearts that are moldable and soft, fit for his forming and purposes. What is needed is not merely a new moral direction or a deeper resolve or stronger decision to live a better life. What is needed is not a new set of clever strategies, or a spiritual retreat for rehabilitation seeking to make us live better lives from the same resources. We need to become new in every meaning of the term or else there is no hope for change.
Sin has totally broken us, and now we find ourselves in need of a complete transformation from the inside out, and in these verses God promises that he’ll do it. When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, and the nations began streaming to him, and as his gospel went out people heard it and put their faith in him. When they did, what did they find? A new heart, a new Spirit, a new obedience. A change so deep in them that it effected what they desired. Do you know what Jesus calls this change in John 3? The new birth. To be born again.
This is good news of great joy. This is a call for unspeakable joy. God has come for his fame and the very people who deserved exile for their sin, now by faith, get benefits they don’t deserve! Benefits that transform their very existence.
Is that you? Have you been born again? John 3:5 “Jesus [said], “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” And if you have been born of the Spirit, then you can say with complete confidence, “I know I am not yet what I ought to be, I know I am not yet what I hope to be, but praise his grace I also know that I am no longer what I used to be!” I am new!!
But why would he show such favor to such underserving sinners like you and I? Look at Ezekiel 36:32 and see the same thing we’ve been lingering on this morning, Ezekiel 36:22 “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.” This great work of God in the Incarnation, to clear his name from being profaned, to proclaim his holiness, to give sinners exactly what we need for salvation, God does for his own glory. God wants us to know it. “Let that be known to you.”
I want to bring all this to close with a question.
It’s not as pointless a question as you may think, and your answer to it reveals whether you’re a believer or an unbeliever. Many in our world are familiar with the Christmas story, many know the details of it, but do those many truly know it? You see, the difference between believers and unbelievers isn’t knowledge, the difference is deeper. The matter of knowledge about the Christmas story is, by and large, the same between believers and unbelievers. You know what’s not the same? While the matter of knowledge may be the same, the manner of knowing is vastly different. On one hand, unbelievers may know a great deal. They may know the same Christmas story we know, but in all of their knowing they don’t see in it anything of worth, anything of greatness, anything of a holy and heavenly light that captivates them and draws them in. The believer, on the other hand, knows this Christmas story and in their knowing, they see beauty and glory and worth and excellence and gravity and gladness and hope because they see in it a soul-saving, transforming light.
So I return to the closing question. Do you know the Christmas story (head), or do you know the Christmas story (heart)?
Do you now know what Cindyloowho knew and what the Grinch learned? That Christmas isn’t about ribbons or tags or boxes or bags? Do you now know that Christmas means…just a little bit more?
May you know and may your knowledge of this story give you a great and vast knowledge of the God who arrived and dwelled among us for his great glory!