Christmas: Jesus Came To Save You Series

It’s Christmas. Police officers direct traffic at malls to accommodate the overflow crowds of last-minute shoppers. Children are crazy interested in what will be under the tree with their name on it. Husbands are starting to consider maybe I should go shopping for my wife!

Yet, to appreciate Christmas, we must first know what it was intended to do. C. S. Lewis that “the first qualification for judging any piece of workmanship from a corkscrew to a cathedral is to know what it is – what it was intended to do and hot it is intended to be used.” To place the correct evaluation on the worth of Christmas, you need to know what Christmas was designed for. Christmas is designed for grace. Christmas is designed for your transformation. Christmas is to save sinners, even big sinners.

Today’s Big Idea: God Designed Christmas to Save Sinners.

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:12-17).

This is a powerful passage. Intertwined in the reason for Jesus’ birth at Christmas is Paul’s story of his conversion. To think of Christmas without thinking of Paul is customary in our day. Our minds drift toward Jerusalem and the wise men. We think of the magi coming from the East plus we contemplate Mary and Joseph. But, to think of Bethlehem without thinking of his conversion on the Damascus Road is short-sighted. For Christmas dramatically affected one of the greatest men of history: the Apostle Paul.

A description of the first thirty years of the early church is largely a description of the course of Paul’s life. He is considered the greatest missionary (outside of Jesus Himself) in Christian history. He wrote more letters in the New Testament than anyone else.

1. Christmas is Designed for Contrasts

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:12-14).

Before his encounter with Christianity Paul was a murdering, wicked scoundrel named Saul. And it was the Damascus Road experience that poignantly evoked the full meaning of the events at Bethlehem on that first Christmas. Here in verse twelve, Paul begins by saying “I thank him who has given me strength.” Paul is thankful for his experience with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road many years before. Had it not been for encountering Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul would not have been “appoint[ed] … to his service” (verse 12).

Paul’s point in talking about himself is not just to talk about himself. Paul introduces himself as a formerly/now picture. He uses the word “I” eight times in 1 Timothy 1:12-17, showing the personal nature the Gospel has on Paul. Much like the diet commercials we see splashing across the TV in our day, Paul intends for you to see a “before/after” picture of who he was/is. Paul is thankful for “the strength” he has received. This gift of strength has completely transformed him. And Paul is exhibit one in the evidence room of the Gospel’s power.

Had you named one person who, more than any other, had worked to exterminate Christianity in the first three years of its existence, Paul’s name would have been on the top of the list. The Bible actually gives us a brief snippet of Saul’s activities prior to his conversion: “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:58).

And Saul holds the outer garments of the men who are pelting Stephen with rocks: “And Saul approved of his execution” (Acts 8:1). He liked this murder. He approved of this murder. This murder breeds confidence in Saul so that this event inspires him to attempt to eradicate all Christians in the early church: “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2).