Reflection
- Read the accounts of the angels concerning the Messiah:
- Luke 1:8-25
- Matthew 1:18-25
- Luke 1:26-38
- Luke 2:8-15
Discussion
As you ponder these accounts of angels around the birth of Jesus, notice that the same angel appears with the same message, but in a different manner for each person.
- Zacheriah: In a vision in the temple
- Joseph: In a dream
- Mary: Showing up like a person
- Shepherds: A glorious scene in the night sky
One of the attributes of God is that He is immutable – that is He does not change. God is eternally the same forever past, present, and future. Additionally, God’s Word does not change either by the passing of time, the changing of culture, or the preference of people.
One thing that can vary is the delivery of the message from God to His people. In the Old Testament God would send prophets with His message for people, groups, and even nations. In the New Testament we are given the Messiah then the Apostles. In our day we have the Bible, God’s own revelation about Himself to us.
Additionally, each of us will experience our salvation through Christ and relationship with God in different manners. We encounter the Savior at different points in life, through different circumstances life brings us through, and God uses these experiences of our lives to reveal Himself to us. It is certainly true that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Connection
Why does the angel show up in a different way to each person?
What does this say of our experience with God in relation to others?
Each of these experiences is different and each of the responses by people receiving the message is different in the beginning, but they all end the same way. What does this tell us of the beginning, middle, and end of our Christian experience?
The whole event of Jesus’ birth did not happen in any way people would have imagined. What does this tell us about the way God works among His creation?
Expansion
God the Father has eternally existed in the past and will eternally exist forever in the future. He alone is the sovereign creator and supreme ruler of everything. He is unchanging, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and entirely holy in every capacity.
Genesis 1:1, Exodus 3:14, Genesis 1:26-27, Isaiah 40:28, Romans 11:36, Malachi 3:6-7, James 1:17-18, 1 Kings 8:27, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:18-20, Job 9:19, Revelation 19:6, Luke 1:37, Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 40:13-14, Psalm 147:5, 1 Timothy 1:17, Jude 1:25, Romans 11:33-34, Romans 16:27, Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8, Psalm 111:9