Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Matthew 1:21

By

Dn. Chris Nerreau

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She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

ORIENTATION:

• Do you know what the word Jesus means? (The Lord Saves)

• Have you ever considered what it means that Jesus Christ is our savior? So often we hear Christians say “Christ is my personal savior” or “Christ is the savior of the world”, have you ever stopped and asked yourself what that means.

ILLUSTRATION:

• About (2) years ago in the state of Indiana, there was a poor man. He had a car, but it was all rusty, had a house; but it was about to fall down; had a job but it was as a janitor at the local factory; he had clothes; but not many of them were without holes. Had a family but they left.

• On Christmas Eve this man lost all hope despairing of life itself. On his way to the building he intended to leap off of, he stopped for off to buy a drink at the local market. While looking for money in his wallet to pay, he noticed a lottery ticket he had purchased some 10 months prior. After having it scanned, he realized that for the last 10 months he had been carrying 15.2 million dollars around with him.

INTRODUCTION:

• I tell this story not because I think that life is found in material wealth. Rather because this story is a great illustration of the many Christians who, in trying to get things right and earn the Fathers love carry a heavy burden of guilt and shame over their sins.

• And just like the man, as these Christians live from day to day they carry a valuable yet unperceived gift, worth far more than the 15.2 million, it’s the gift of a savior.

PROPOSITION:

The toughest battle you will ever fight is with yourself, wrestling with the reality of what it means to have Christ as your savior.

PREVIEW:

Tonight I want to show you what it means to have Christ as your savior:

1. God no longer Remembers our sins Is. 43:25 / Jer. 31:34

2. God no longer Counts our sins 2 Cor. 5:19

3. God no longer Condemns us for our sins – Ro 8:1

TRANSITION:

So lets begin firstly by taking a look what it means that

I. God No Longer Remembers Your Sin (Is. 43:25, Jer. 31:34)

EXPLAINATION:

• Is. 43:25 - In this passage Isaiah is giving a prophetic word. The word was, “even though the people of God have messed things up really badly (vs. 24), it was Gods desire to restore them and remember their sins no longer (vs. 25).

• This passage in Isaiah was fulfilled through the sacrificial system, it was received by the covering of sin through sacrifice. But in Jeremiah a word is given about a new covenant and in this covenant God will no longer remember our sins because of the ultimate sacrifice. (Jer. 31:31-35)

• Note: The Jewish people did not understand themselves to be individuals, but rather corporately the nation of God. So if one fell (in a sense) they all fell, and they knew all to well what happened when God’s people fell, They ended up being exiled, temples torn down ect.

• Thus there was extreme legalism and the burden of that legalism must have been great. It’s into this atmosphere that Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of a merciful God and a new covenant. Could you imagine what it must have felt like to hear those words? Today we stand in that new covenant! When Jesus said “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

ILLUSTRATION:

• About (6) years ago I owed a local farmer some money for loam. Unfortunately at the time my wife was home sick (pregnant) and I had to take time away from work to care for her and the other children. I avoided this man like the plague. I can remember the night I bumped into the man, He stretched out his hand and said “Hi”. I just stood there bewildered, he had forgotten about my debt, I on the other hand was so guilt ridden I was losing sleep. I finally did pay him and felt much better.

• Now, this is just like our relationship to God. I am not trying to say God has a bad memory but when He looks at us, just like my friend, He does not see our debt.

APPLICATION:

• To have Christ as your savior means that God no longer remembers your sin! How about you, Do you remember your sin? (Discuss)