Your Daily Devotional for December 24, 2006

 

December 24, 2006

 

 

Pass It On

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

 

 

Luke 2:9-14

 

 

In our passage today, we see the angel of the Lord announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds. This was not an ordinary angel but was the Lord Himself. The angel of the Lord would come to earth when something special was about to happen. In certain cases as in Abraham’s time, it was the angel of the Lord that called unto Abraham to stop him from killing Isaac as we see in Genesis 22:11 “And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.”

 

In Joshua 5:13-14a, it was Christ who appeared to Joshua as the captain of the Lord’s army. “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.”

 

The message the angel brought to Mary was not just another announcement—it was the birth of Christ! God sent His highest angel to tell the world of Jesus’ birth. God passed this message on to the angel and the angel passed it on to the shepherds who passed it on to everyone they knew.

 

Throughout the years, this message has been passed from generation to generation. Some have tried to stop it, but they have not succeeded. This is a message of love and redemption: the message that God wants to save the world from their sin.

 

At age sixteen, Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist and received a visit from one of the most renowned pianists of the day. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities; he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann. 

When he finished, von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. "My son," he said, "when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, 'Take good care of this kiss—it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play.' I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it."

God Himself has given us the incomparable privilege of passing the message of His Son to others! Have you been passing on the message of Christ’s birth to those you know? Find someone today who doesn’t know the true meaning of the season and share with them the story of Christ’s birth. Then tell them of God’s love and sacrifice for them. Pass on God’s gift this Christmas season!

 

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