God’s Good Pleasure at Christmas
Every year I select a theme for a series of messages in December, centered in some way around the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Over the years, these messages served to deepen my love for our Saviour. Someone (who unfortunately came to hold that we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas) once charged me with loving Christmas too much. On the contrary, I replied, it’s the Lord Jesus who I love, and what he has done for us. That is enough for all of us to celebrate Christmas, in my opinion.
This year we followed an extended word study on a word found in the angels’ announcement to the shepherds (Lk 2.14).
Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The word “good will” got my attention, and reminded me of this word by the Father to the Son when John baptized Jesus:
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
That “well pleased” is actually the same word as “good will” in Lk 2.14. Thinking about this word led me to wonder how the Bible uses the word and if there might be something there for us for a Christmas series. Sure enough, there is!
First of all, the word as a noun (“good will,” “acceptance,” “favor,” “pleasing”) is uniquely a Biblical word. The verb form occurs outside of the Bible, but the noun seems first to find use in translating (in a few places) a particular word in the Old Testament. That word is translated in Lev 19.5 as “accepted” by the NASB in relation to a peace offering. In other words, it describes God’s approval of the offering – it is in keeping with his will, it gains his favor. That favor is the prayer of the Psalmist in Psalm 19.14, when he pleads,
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Here, both the Hebrew word and the Greek translation coincide with this notion of acceptance and favor of God to man. The prayers of the Psalmist indicate that men have a sense of need; they innately know something is not right in their world: they lack God’s favour. They know their lives are not acceptable. For his grace they plead.
That notion finds reinforcement in Leviticus 19, as we find God’s stern standard for acceptance revealed: “Be ye holy for I am holy.” (Lev 19.2) For men to gain God’s acceptance, the first and only real way is absolute perfection. Well, no one can meet that standard! God thus provides the various offerings of the Old Testament as substitutes for human imperfection. That’s where Leviticus 19.5 comes in, as mentioned above. God provided the substitutionary system, but he insisted on perfection in the system. One couldn’t offer any old gift on the altar, only a perfect specimen found acceptance (God’s Good Pleasure). Consider Malachi’s rebuke of the Israelites:
Malachi 1.6-8 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
The Old Testament teaches us of our need for God’s acceptance, of his good pleasure. It also shows that the only way to receive it is either absolute perfection of person, or a perfect substitute upon the altar. There is no other way.
We come to the New Testament and find marvelous revelation in Ephesians 1. Verses 3-14 in our English Bible are one long sentence in Greek. They contain a lot of theology, which is beyond the scope of what we want to focus on here. Instead, let’s note a few key features. Paul begins this “eulogy” (“Blessed be God…”) with a recitation of the spiritual blessings bestowed on us by God. There is the choosing of us in him (Jesus) to be holy and without blame before him (the Father) in love — this choice came before the foundation of the world. There is the predestination of us unto the adoption as children by Jesus Christ to himself. What motivated this plan of God? “According to the good pleasure of his will,” Ephesians 1.4. The NASB translates “according to the kind intention of his will.” This “good pleasure” or “kind intention” is that which the angels spoke of in announcing the birth to the shepherds. It is God’s good pleasure, something bestowed in his plan before the foundation of the world. Regardless of one’s view of the theology, that statement itself ought to bring us to pause and bless God for his blessing to us! We were not accepted, we were not acceptable, yet God granted his good pleasure to us in such a way as to plan for our acceptance in Christ before time began.
Which brings us back to the actual putting His plan into practice, Luke chapter 2:
Luke 2:10-13 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.
Luke 2:13-14 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.
The NASB (and others) make a particular point about God’s good will. It puts the last phrase this way: “And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
God’s good will, his good pleasure, doesn’t rest on all men. His standard remains. He grants peace to those men with whom he is pleased. Who might they be?
For one, we find that God is pleased with one man in particular.
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
This at the inauguration of the Lord’s ministry shows that here is one man who meets the Father’s approval. Again, the same is said of him on the mount of transfiguration as Jesus prepare for his coming sacrifice on the cross.
Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
When it comes down to it, no other man in all history meets God’s standards and receives (in themselves) God’s approval. “All we like sheep have gone astray… we are altogether unprofitable… there is none righteous, no not one… “ On and on, the Scripture witnesses of our unacceptability. However, in him there is complete acceptance, God is well pleased with him.
Having said all that, we come to the main point: the reason the angels celebrated the birth of Jesus. You will note above in their “glory to God” that they said peace was upon men with whom he is pleased. That would be more than one man, though only ONE man meets with his approval in all of history.
That is because at Christmas the unfolding of God’s marvelous plan began. In that one man who meets God’s approval, who receives God’s good pleasure, God brings about the means for unacceptable men to find acceptance. If you will “Hear him” (Matthew 17.5), submit to him, call on him for salvation, you will be found in Him, as the apostle Paul likes to say. Being found in him, you are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1.6). You have God’s Good Pleasure if you belong to God through Jesus Christ, your perfect sacrifice.
Glory to God in the Highest!
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.