Uploaded after worship service because of livestream difficulties

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 55:1-3
• Hymn — Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin — based on Isaiah 53
• Assurance of Pardon — Romans 8:1-2
• Scripture Reading — Isaiah 40
• Pastoral Prayer
• Hymn — O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
• Sermon
• Hymn — Of the Father's Love Begotten
• Outdoor Congregational Singing
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Peace, Person, and Peoples of Salvation

Scripture: Luke 2:29-32

I. Simeon Praises God for the Peace of Salvation

A. The Hebrew concept of shalom frames Simeon's words

1. In the Pentateuch, shalom is often used as a verb denoting peace that comes through restitution — an offender pays a penalty to the offended, resulting in friendship and security
2. Example: Numbers 25:12 — God makes a covenant of peace with Phinehas, who turned aside God's wrath by acting against those who were profaning the tabernacle
3. After his resurrection, Jesus's first words to his disciples are "Peace to you" (Luke 24:36) — made possible because he paid the penalty for their sin, and his resurrection confirms that payment was accepted

B. The new covenant is a covenant of peace

1. Ezekiel calls the new covenant a covenant of peace (Ezekiel 34:25; Ezekiel 37:26), echoing Jeremiah 31
2. Like Phinehas, Christ has made restitution for sin, turned aside God's wrath, and by his blood and resurrection established an everlasting covenant of shalom
3. Simeon dies with peace because in Christ he sees not God as judge but God as friend

C. Shalom also carries the meaning of internal rest for the soul

1. Old Testament sacrifices could not cleanse the conscience (Hebrews 9:9); they instead served as a daily spotlight on Israel's sin (Hebrews 10:3)
2. The sacrificial system was meant to be exhausting, so that the people would long for true shalom — rest from a burdened conscience
3. Sin brings exhaustion and unrest, as seen in God's words to Adam after the fall in Genesis 3
4. Christ spells the end of the exhausted, sin-burdened soul — in him alone the conscience is quieted and the soul finds rest with God
5. Christmas reminds us we belong to the new covenant, defined by peace and rest for the sin-sick soul — freedom from sin's guilt and power

II. Simeon Praises God for the Person of Salvation

A. Salvation is found in a person — the person of Jesus Christ (Luke 2:30)

B. Luke chapter 2 repeatedly emphasizes Christ's faithful keeping of the Mosaic law

1. Circumcised on the eighth day according to the law (Luke 2:21)
2. Mary and Joseph perform purification and sacrifice according to the law (Luke 2:22-24)
3. Everything done according to the custom of the law (Luke 2:27, 39)
4. Jesus described as filled with wisdom — for an Israelite, conformity to God's law (Luke 2:40)
5. His parents kept the Passover annually according to the custom of the law (Luke 2:41-42)
6. At age 12 in the temple, he listened to and astounded the teachers of the law
7. He was submissive to his parents — fulfilling the fifth commandment (Luke 2:51)
8. He increased in wisdom (Luke 2:52)

C. From infancy to death, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law of God — a paraphrase of Hebrews 4:15

1. He is the Israelite who fulfills the Mosaic covenant, bringing a new covenant of peace in which the law's condemnation no longer hangs over Israel
2. Because he fulfills the law at every age — infant, toddler, teenager, adult — he is savior for every person of every age

III. Simeon Praises God for the Peoples of Salvation

A. Simeon identifies Jesus as salvation for all peoples — both Jew and Gentile (Luke 2:31-32)

1. Fulfillment of Isaiah 42:6 — the Servant will be "a covenant for the people, a light for the nations"
2. With Christ's birth, the new covenant encompasses all nations

B. Gentile salvation depends upon an Israelite man fulfilling Israel's law

1. Though Gentiles do not have the Mosaic law, they have the law of God written on their hearts as image-bearers (Romans 2:14-15)
2. The conscience that accuses us proves the law is written on every human heart

C. All 613 Old Testament laws are applications of the Ten Commandments

1. The Ten Commandments, written by God's own finger in stone, inscribe God's holy character permanently
2. All subsidiary laws safeguard that holy character and Israel's reflection of it
3. Every law ultimately comes down to: honor the God who created and redeemed you — for Jew and Gentile alike

D. All mankind has failed to reflect God's glory (Romans 3) and needs a man to fulfill the image of God perfectly

1. Mankind needs one who can ascend the holy mountain with pure hands and a clean heart
2. Jesus Christ, the God-man, reflects the holy character of God in every step from infancy to death
3. United to him, believers become a new creation made after the image of the second and last Adam — Jesus Christ our Lord