How Christmas Heralds Good News for a Cursed World
Try listening to this familiar song with new ears
Norman Rockwell was an illustrator in the previous century who created covers for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for over fifty years. While Rockwell painted Presidential portraits and advocated for crucial social justice issues such as the civil rights movement, he is best known for capturing a sentimental, idealized slice of American life. The name Norman Rockwell represents a simpler time—a low-stress era of peace when all was right with the world.
Even though everything wasn’t right. Not even close. Just ask Emmett Till and countless others for whom nothing about that era was sentimental or ideal.
For the truly idyllic, utopian paradise our hearts long to experience, we must travel way back to Genesis 3, where, in the Garden of Eden, humanity experienced perfect peace. No wars. No racism. No disease. No violence. No theft. No financial crises, no marital conflicts, or ever-rising insurance premiums. No stressors, anxieties, or worries.
Perfect peace in perpetuity. Then, after the great rebellion theologians call the fall, paradise was lost in one fell swoop as the first humans committed high treason against the King. Pandora’s box was open, and the curse spread faster than COVID-19.
Curse, Promise, and a Song from Heaven
Since that time, if perfect peace has been the longing of every human heart, it has been equally elusive. Like hands trying to grasp the fog. The curse now covers the globe, infecting every family unit, every political structure, every business, school, civic organization, non-profit, and Christian congregation. Even creation has suffered the effects.
Yet there is hope.
At the same time paradise was lost, a promise was made that a descendant of Eve would undo the curse. The promise continued through Adam’s family line, from Seth to Noah, Adam’s great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-grandson. From Noah, the promise was carried through the family line of his son, Shem down to his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-grandson, Abraham. From Abraham, it passed through Isaac and Jacob. Then to Judah. Eventually, “the Messianic line” would pass through a shepherd-king named David. Finally, the promise of God to undo the curse would come to fulfillment in the city of David, where the long-awaited descendant of Eve would be born.
His name is Jesus.
Placing his birth in history, along with people, places, and dates, Luke 2 records the arrival of the newborn King, not upon a throne but in a manger, a simple, wooden feeding trough from which barn animals would eat hay.
Upon the realization of the Messianic promise being fulfilled in this child, an angel announced to a group of shepherds outside of Jerusalem the Christ had been born. It was a message heralded as good news for a cursed world—a song from heaven that would ripple through history, bringing great joy for those longing for liberation from the curse.
First, the angels sing of glory.
On the heels of the words “great joy” being spoken into the night sky, a host of angelic beings, thousands upon thousands, appeared as a magisterial chorus, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to those on whom his favor rests.”
Glory is one of those words we know is important but have a hard time defining. In Hebrew, the word glory is kabod, meaning “weighty, substantive, and abundant.” Synonyms for glory in English include grandeur, greatness, and splendor. We speak of a glorious sunset that creates a sense of awe and wonder. We describe a championship victory as glorious as the crowd cheers and confetti falls.
Up to this point in history, no event had carried more weight than what was taking place in Bethlehem, just six miles south of Jerusalem. In response, confetti falls in the form of countless angels, ascribing glory, praise, honor, and acclaim to God in the highest heaven because the long-awaited promise that has traversed thousands of years finally was being fulfilled!
It had been over four hundred years since God’s people had received a prophetic word from the LORD. Had he forgotten? Or was the promise a fading dream? No, he had not forgotten. It was true. The glorious dream was alive—literally—in flesh and blood, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and lying in a manger.
Second, the angels sing of peace.
In the context of glory, the angels sing of peace. But not just peace in heaven. They sing of peace on earth! Peace in our world, on this side of the garden.
Whether we can articulate it or not, the peace we crave the most is more than circumstantial. Our deepest desire is not merely less stress. We want peace with God. We most deeply desire reconciliation through forgiveness. Not cheap forgiveness that wears off by Wednesday, but real, lasting, substantive—glorious—forgiveness. The kind of forgiveness that never wears off and never will reveal the blood-covered stains of our sin.
This is the forgiveness for which Jesus was born to secure. In fact, the same angel who appeared to the shepherds in Luke 2 told Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, “[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”1
The apostle Paul wrote to his pastoral disciple, Timothy, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”2 The same apostle would encourage the Roman believers, saying, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”3
It is experiencing peace with God that influences every other kind of peace. When we know that we have a God who has loved us unto death, we are able to rest through the storms as Jesus slept on the wave-tossed boat on the Sea of Galilee. His example shows us peace isn’t the absence of storms as much as it is the ability to rest in the storms.
Finally, the angels sing of favor.
You may have noticed the final line of the angels’ song has been translated in diverse ways.
KJV, “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”
ESV, “peace on earth among those with whom he is pleased!”
NIV, “peace on earth to those on whom his favor rests.”
Each English translation is trying to convey the meaning of the Greek word, eudokia. Eudokia is formed with two Greek words, one meaning “good” and the other meaning “to think or feel a certain way about something or someone.” When we put these two words together, we get the idea of “looking upon someone favorably.”
Why would God look favorably upon a sinner? Religion says God looks favorably on those who are good. But the gospel tells us God looks favorably upon sinners, not because of the good they have done but because of the grace they have received.
Grace is possible because the baby who was laid a manger would be nailed upon a cross as the means for breaking the curse of guilt. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Christ redeemed [set us free] us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”4 Jesus served the death sentence we deserved.
In Jesus, our chains of guilt are broken. Our sentence of death is revoked. And the curse is undone. On a cross, the Prince of Peace became the object of wrath so the favor of the Father could rest upon us.
An Ancient Promise to Receive and Believe
Isaiah is the prophet who called the coming Messiah the Prince of Peace. This is the same prophet who calls us to believe and embrace the ancient promise, which says, “You, LORD, will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”5
In view of the angels’ song, we are given a simple application.
Look to Jesus, trusting you are forgiven, and you are his. When he sees you, believe his favor rests on you. He is well-pleased. Not because of your own righteousness but because of the gift-righteousness of Jesus in which you now are clothed by faith. As a beloved child of the Father, be confident he is working all things for your ultimate good as his redemptive story of grace unfolds, as hard as the narrative of that story may be at times. Be encouraged that the Christ who suffered, died, and rose is the sovereign Lord who reigns right now and will make all things new.
Like the Jews of old, we wait patiently and confidently—not for the first coming of the King but for his return. Until then, we sing with the angels, proclaiming good news for a cursed world.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
In Matthew 1:21
1 Timothy 1:15
Romans 5:1–2
Galatians 3:13
Isaiah 23:6, NLT