Louie Giglio - We Beheld
I was reading recently an article by the people who have put the Bible app in our hands and who monitor that app throughout the year. By the way, how many of you have the Bible app on your phone or on your tablet? Did you know there was a Bible app? Okay. Lot of folks do, lot of folks don’t, so that’s pretty exciting on both sides. Seven hundred million people have downloaded the Bible app, that I fantastic. It’s in multiple languages and it puts the scriptures right at your fingertips day or night. And, they’ve got reading plans on the Bible app and all different kind of tools to help and encourage us as we read God’s word.
And, obviously they’re monitoring all of that and so they know, the Bible app people, as much about our spiritual journey with scripture as anybody else does 'cause they know when you start a reading plan, they know if you finished the reading plan, they know how much of the Bible you read this year. They know what parts of the Bible that you read this year. And in this article that I was reading they said the most searched theme in 2023, so, you got 700 million downloads of this app, all these people are searching for different things, looking for different scriptures, different circumstance, different occasion. And, they said the most searched word or theme this year, in scripture, was hope. People are looking for hope. And in that the most searched scripture, what do you think that would be?
Of all the scriptures in the Bible, what do you think the most searched scripture was in 2023? What do you think? Don’t think? Okay, great. «So just tell us,» alright, great, I’ll tell you. The most searched scripture… Not John 3:16, not Psalm 23. This word from the Prophet in Isaiah 41:10, the most searched scripture in the Bible this year says, «So do not fear, for I am with you». Remember people are looking for hope. They came up with that word by triangulating the most searched scriptures and all of the most searched scriptures had to do with people who were afraid or in troubled times looking for comfort, looking for assurance, looking for hope, and they found it in this verse. «So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand».
What a promise is that. You see, what we mostly want from God is the plan, but what God is offering to us is even better than the plan, He’s offering us His hand. You know what that says, it says that God isn’t interested in us just having a transactional relationship with Him that He actually wants a personal relationship with you and me and we see that in the manger. If God wanted a transactional relationship, then He could’ve used crypto currency to pay for our ransom and just made an exchange. But He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ from Heaven into humanity to show us that His priority was a relationship with you and me. And God, He has not promised, I’m not sure if you figured this out or not, and maybe it’s what’s frustrating you about God the most right now, but He has not promised to tell you the whole plan.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a plan, you were born on purpose and you were born for a purpose. God has a reason for you to be alive, and He has things that He wants you to do in this life for Him. He sees the steps that He has ordered for your life, He knows right now every detail of every story in this room and trust me He’s got a plan. Put He’s not gonna give you and me the whole plan. Someone said to me when we were talking about this at church a few weeks ago they said, «I would have a lot more peace if God would just give me the plan». And I was like, «No, you would have a lot less peace if God gave you the plan».
Think about what you have been through in 2023. And, if you knew everything you were gonna go through this year at the end of 2022, you would not have had peace at the end of 2022 if God told you everything you were gonna go through in 2023. God know start peace doesn’t come from giving us the plan, peace comes from giving us His hand. And to put a different spin on that word behold, that’s what He’s inviting us to do today, He’s inviting us, A: To behold light. The behold which is, «Wow, I get it». That’s behold. «Wow, I see it». That is what behold is all about. «Wow, it’s finally making sense to me». That’s behold. But He’s also saying, «I’m extending a hand to you, encouragement to you».
This is hope, this is what you’re looking for. This is what everyone’s looking for. «It is my righteous,» We’re gonna talk about that at the end today, «Right hand». He’s extending to you and to me and He’s saying, «Take hold, take hold of my hand». Not only that, we could take hold of Him. I love Luke’s account of the Christmas story and I wanted us to get around behold and to get around behold we had to go to the King James Version of scripture. And, I always, you know, kinda make fun of that because every now and then somebody will tell me that, «I like your preaching, but your preaching isn’t really accurate because you’re not preaching out of the King James Version of the Bible». And I’m like, «That’s because nobody says thee, and wherefore, and thou all alt, and, you know, where art thouest, you know, and these kinds of phrases».
We don’t use that language anymore. But, the King James is an incredibly amazing translation nonetheless even though some of the language isn’t what we use today. And, in this particular translation we get the word «Behold,» and we need it today because we’re gonna take some time with that word, behold, today. It says, «Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold,» There’s our word. You probably won’t find that in your NIV, your ESV, your New Living Translation, you’re not gonna get behold. «An angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, '»
Isn’t that interesting? The most searched thing in the Bible this year was God saying, «Do not be afraid». This message is God’s message to you today. It was the message to the shepherds on that day and it is still the message to you and me on this day. «'Do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.'» Everybody is getting in on this good news and this great joy. «'For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you, you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, '» Thank you KJV for giving us the swaddling cloths, «Lying in a manger».
Who is in a manger? A baby is in the manger, yes, but there’s more than that to the story today. The baby in the manger is a savior who is Christ and who is Lord. «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, goodwill toward men! '» «Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy for all the people». We get a little different version of this in John’s gospel. And, in John he’s telling us that Jesus, the creator of the cosmos, is come to us in human form. And, he refers to Him as the Word. Capital «W"-o-r-d. Jesus is God, Jesus was with God, Jesus encompassed all of God, all the wisdom of God, all the knowledge of God, all of the vocabulary of God. Everything God wanted to say to you about everything that God is and was this is the word, Jesus.
«And the Word who was with God now was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld),» The angel said, «Behold,» but now we, «Beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth». Eugene Peterson gave us this verse in language that you would use or that I would use and he says, John 1:14 this way, «The Word,» Jesus, «Became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes,» That’s behold. «We saw it, we beheld it, we got it. We said, 'I see it». We saw the glory with our own eyes. «The one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish». We beheld.
Let’s just dive a little deeper, why is behold and beheld get such a prominent place in this Christmas Eve message? Because this, God tells us, is who He is. All the way back to the burning bush with Moses. You’re like, «Man, we’re covering ground for Christmas Eve». Yeah, we are, and it’s beautiful. We’re tying all of the chords together. And, in Exodus 3 Moses said to God, «Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you, ' and then they ask me, 'What is his name? ' Then what shall I say to them»? And God answers Moses and He’s about to tell him His name. This is so powerful, He says, «I Am Who I Am».
Wow, that’s a mighty name. «This is what you’re to say to the Israelites, say, 'I AM has sent me to you.' God also said to Moses, 'Say to the Israelites, „The LORD, the God of your fathers. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. My name is I Am".'» And what’s powerful about it is scripture was given originally in Hebrew and so we have five English words, «I Am who I Am,» but only one Hebrew word. And, the Hebrew word, interestingly is a verb and it’s the verb «To Be». The present tense active form of the word To be. So, God is saying, «I Be». You don’t really even need the to be, you just need «Be».
So, it’s fair to say that if you’re running into God at some point you’re gonna see Him with this on. «Hello, my name is Be. Yes, I’m Father. Yes, I’m Jesus. Yes, I’m Holy Spirit. Yes, I am Almighty. Yes, I am King of kings. Yes, I am Lord, but you could also call me Be, because I Be. Yesterday I Be, today I Be, tomorrow I Be. I always have Be and I always will Be. I Be». Terrible grammar, amazing theology. I Be God. I Am that I am. So, therefore, at Christmas, when the angel said, «Behold,» he could’ve been saying to Mary in the same breath after speaking to the shepherds the angel could’ve said, «And to you, young lady behold, I Am is now in the arms of a teenage girl in Bethlehem».
The miracle of the omnipotent one, the Almighty God, coming in human form with flesh and blood. He moved into the neighborhood. Why? Because God knows, A, That we need a savior, and B, He wants a relationship with you and with me. And so, when we say we beheld, which I am praying that every one of us will be able to say when we leave this gathering. When we say we beheld His glory, one-of-a-kind glory, no one like Him glory, never been one like Him before, never be another like Him, the only Son of God sent from Heaven for the sins of the world. The only God come in human flesh, we beheld Him. It’s true, we now beheld. That’s not how you spell beheld. Fortunately, we have one of those the miracle of Christmas.
When we say we beheld, we did beheld. We beheld, we held Be. But you can flip it around the other way. I got this from my dad, all these linguistic gymnastics is what my sister and I got from my father, who would say to us when we were going to be, «Don’t bite the bed bugs». Just have to think about it for a minute. So, we held Be, but the miracle and the hope is found now in knowing that yes God came in a form that we could behold, but the beauty now is that we beheld. So, we held the baby, but now the baby is holding you. And that is the miracle of Christmas, that we held God in our arms but now that same baby he holds everyone who takes hold of His righteous right hand.
And this Christmas, God is offering for you to be upheld. No matter what your situation, your season of life, your season of waiting, your struggle, your strife, your trying, He says, «I got you. You can be in a relationship with me where you know that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the Great I Am has got you, and He’s not gonna let you go». He’s not gonna let you fall, He’s gonna uphold you with His righteous right hand, and He’s offering that to you and me today. The miracle of this day is for Him to give us all the gift of sight. All through this day people have made a decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ as savior and Lord. They made a decision to do more at the end of the day than just come to church, they made a decision to come to Christ. They made a decision to say yes to Jesus, to accept what He had done for them.
In every gathering today at every location at Passion City Church people have said yes, why? Because their eyes were opened on Christmas Eve to behold. And when their eyes were opened they reached out for the hand of Jesus and they took hold of the hand that He was extending to them. Isaiah the prophet called it his righteous right hand. What does that mean? He’s extending that to you today, His righteous right hand. What does that mean? It means, A, that God is right. It means A, that God is righteous and it means that Jesus came to do more than just give us a sentimental story for a wintertime season. It means that Jesus came to be the savior of the world.
Do you know what that means today? It means the world needed saving. It means that humanity had turned away from the righteous one and turned their own way. But yet, God made a way by sending His only Son, righteous, true, full of grace, and full of truth. A baby born for a reason. And what was that reason? To exchange an innocent life for one marred by sin, and marred by shame, and marred by guilt. To exchange an innocent life for marred by the effects of our own willful way. And on a cross, Jesus Christ stretched out His righteous right hand and a nail was driven through His wrist and through his feet as He gave His innocent life for the sins of the world. And that’s how God today can offer a righteous right hand to people like me and people like you who’ve messed up 10,000 times but yet the Righteous One can still say, «I will be your God. You don’t have to be afraid, I will uphold you, and I’ll offer you my righteous right hand».
I wonder if there’s anyone in this gathering today who’s having sight come to you right now, and somehow it’s all adding up. And on this Christmas Eve you’re saying, «How did I not see this before? I get it, I see it, I want it! Behold, I get it, and I get Him, and I get Christmas, and I want a relationship with the God who extended His righteous hand toward me, and I want a relationship through Christ who stretched out that hand to bring me life». «Whoever puts their faith in the finished work of Jesus, in His death, and His burial, and His resurrection, their sins are forgiven». «Whoever puts their faith in the finished work of Jesus their guilt is taken away». The sin stain is gone, they have a brand new spiritual heart and a brand new relationship with Almighty God. They have the hand of God and they have God forever and ever and ever.
I wonder, is there anyone in this gathering, anyone at Cumberland today, anyone, anywhere on planet earth, in church with us online today who wants to say, «Behold, behold, behold, this is my day, this is my moment, this is my time? I see Jesus, and I wanna be saved today. Christmas Eve is my day»? I wanna invite you if you would to pray with me. And I wanna ask you if you will just to close your eyes and give the person next to you, the person in front you, the person behind you, just a sense of privacy in this moment. A precious moment and time for someone to say today, «I see Jesus. I’ve never seen Him like this before. I’ve never fully understood it all before, but I understand it right now and I wanna be saved today. I wanna take hold of the hand that was pierced for me». I’m gonna lead you, but it has to be your prayer, it has to be your words, but I’ll help you. Just say:
Dear Jesus, thank you for opening my eyes to see, and I see you today. I see what you have done for me and I wanna ask you to save my life right here and right now.
Just thank Him for giving His life for you. Tell Him:
Jesus is wanna ask you to forgive me for all my sins. I wanna ask you to take all of the guilt and all this shame away, and I’m asking you to give me a brand new heart, a brand new start, a brand new life with you.