Christmas – Rescued From The Wrath To Come

We are in the midst of a study of the Bk of Genesis & for the last few weeks have been in Genesis 3 studying the temptation of Eve. Eve, even though deceived by the serpent, makes a horrible decision & then she influences her husband, Adam, to follow her. And so in Genesis 3:6 we read 1 of the most tragic verses in all the Bible & in human history – “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

With those 2 decisions, sin entered the human race & it was devastating in every sense & imagination of the word. We see some of the immediate results with Adam & Eve’s responses when confronted by God. We see more through the different curses God pronounced. It’s obvious self-love & “passing the buck” mentality has already kicked in. The next chapter, chapter 4, is even more shocking for the 1st 2 people born on earth – 2 brothers has as the story unfolds 1 brother murdering the other & not b/c that brother had done anything against him. You would think it would have taken longer for sin to cause things to denigrate to that level but it was like as soon as sin entered the human heart the accelerator was slammed to the floor & sin took off.

But something else happened that fateful day when Adam/Eve disobeyed that is even more unpleasant to think about. Yes, they became sinners; yes, death became part of their lives – physical & spiritual – but something else horrifying happened. And how much they understood about this I do not know b/c we are not told.

But now being sinners meant they would face the wrath of this God they had previously only known as a God of love & enjoyment & creativity & awe. So they went from a relationship of love & welcoming & delight to the certain future of facing wrath & judgment. Again, I don’t know how much they understood about all that or the promise in Genesis 3:15 of the seed of woman who would bruise the head of the serpent & what that meant in terms of escaping God’s wrath - but nevertheless, their relationship was radically changed & altered on that fateful day from what it once was b/c of sin. Also we don’t know if they ever encountered God again after He expelled them from the garden. What a lost that was.

But the same terrifying, horrifying fate now awaits every person born for in those verses in Romans you know so well we read:

• Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

• Romans 5:18a – So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men…

We’re sinners just like Adam & Eve & therefore face the same fate.

Now let me stop & reset things - I know this is Christmas Sunday & here I am talking about wrath. And you may be thinking: “Boy, sure glad I came today. Thanks Pastor for such a joyful message. Merry Christmas to you too.” I get it! But you can’t truly & fully appreciate the joyous part unless you under-stand why we are & should be joyous. I don’t want you to be joyous b/c I or anyone else have manipulated your emotions which can easily be done at Christmas time. I want your joy to have substance to it, to be a joy based on & out of truth.

So the truth I want to put before you this morning that provides the basis for our joy & celebrating is found in 1 Thessalonians 1. I know this is not the passage that comes to mind when thinking of Christmas, & if I had ask you to name the different “Christmas” passages in the Bible, I’m pretty confident 1 Thessalonians would not have been named, but to borrow from the words of announcement the angel heralded to the shepherds, this passage really does bring us “good news of great joy.”

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10: We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.