Celebrate The Gift Of God’s Son Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• How many gifts do you receive during the course of your lifetime? Do you remember all the gifts you have ever received or over time do the memories fade?

• Now let me ask you this, how many gifts have you received that changed your life?

• How many gifts have you received that changed the purpose and direction of your life and your eternal destiny. How many gifts have you received that changed who you are?

• Of all the things we can be thankful and can celebrate, today we are going to focus on a gift that has and can do those things; the Gift of God’s Son!

• This is one gift that we should all be celebrating and praising God for EVERYDAY!

• If God did not give us the gift of His Son, we would all be in serious trouble, not only in the realm of eternity but in the here and now.

• SLIDE #2

• Romans 3:23 reminds us…

• Romans 3:23 (ESV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

• Romans 5-6 speak of a couple of patterns of life that we can follow, one leading to death, and one leading to life.

• SLIDE #3

• Romans 6:16 (ESV) 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

• If it were not for Jesus we would have no choice to make concerning the path of our life, we would be all heading down the same road no matter what.

• Our life would be void of meaning and purpose. Think about this, if there is no God or heaven no hell, what purpose would life have, you live and you die.

• Even worse, what if there is a heaven and hell and you have no POSSIBLE CHANCE TO GO TO HEAVEN.

• Praise be to God that because of Jesus we do not have to face that possibility!

• God gives us free will, and with that free will if we exercise it in choosing to accept the gift of God’s Son, we can see some things in our life change, and change for the better.

• Let’s begin by looking at some things that the gift of God’s Son can change for us!

• SLIDE #4

• Romans 6:20,22 (ESV) 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

• SLIDE #5

SERMON

We can be thankful for the gift of God’s Son because through Him we can…

I. Experience a change of lords. V20,22

• Many people think they are independent, they are their own person, and no one owns them or controls them.

• That is so far from the truth.

• Before we accept the Gift of God’s Son, we are ALL slaves to sin!

• Verse 20 tells us that WHEN YOU WERE SLAVES to sin. Remember Romans 3:23 tells us that we ALL have sinned and fallen short.

• A person may THINK they are under no master, or lord, but the fact is, we ALL have a lord, it is either Lord Jesus or lord sin.

• Either Jesus owns you or sin does.

• Think about this, I do not like the concept of property taxes, here is why. Let us say you bought your home, paid the bank for 30 years, you have the title. Who owns the home? YOU? WRONG!

• What happens if you do not pay your property taxes? Who takes your home and sells it on the court house steps? Now, who really owns your home?

• In your life, you live it outside of God, you think you own yourself, but when life is over, who gets you?

• Remember what Romans 6:16 reminds us.

• SLIDE #6

• 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

• Slaves cannot serve two masters, and Paul points this out in verse 20 where is reminds us, 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness

• In other words if you are following lord sin, you have no obligation to lord Jesus.

• The freedom that people experience when they are slaves to sin is the antithesis of genuine freedom. It is such a distortion of the meaning of liberty that it causes people to be glad that they are not constrained by the very things that would be very healthy and positive limits. (Life Application Commentary)