Christmas: It’s All about Giving
WHEN GOD GAVE HIS SON
John 3:16
WHEN GOD GAVE JESUS....
1) HE GAVE AS AN EXPRESSION OF HIS LOVE
"...so loved..."
Love is never content to simply exist. Love must act. Love is a word of action. Love proves its self by what it does. Love that does not serve is seduction. Love that does not listen is a lie. Love that does not provide is a phony. Love that does not fulfill is a fake. Love that does not give is a gimmick. God so loved the world that He gave. That is action! He did not give because the world was worthy. He did not even give because the world was needed. He gave because He so loved! That is grace! In this act of love we get an example of divine giving. The single motivation for His giving is His love for us. We ought give Him our time, talent, testimony, and tithe just because we so love Him! O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, because He first love me. (Greg Jones. God’s Love Gift.John3’16.Sermon Central)
a. Quality of His Love
- Unconditional (agape)
- Timeless (Everlasting love)
- Intense (so loved)
- Pure
b. He was not obligated to give
(Rom 13:8) Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
During the Christmas season and throughout the year so much of our giving is given out of a sense of obligation.
We spend money that we don’t have on people that we don’t like to impress people that don’t really care.
No so with God. He is completed self-sufficient and totally good and owes no man anything. His gift of His Son was totally out of the motive of love.
c. He did not expect anything in return
His gift was not self-serving
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
HE GAVE THE VERY BEST HE HAD
"His only begotten Son"
One of old radio preacher Lester Roloff’s favorite sayings was that AWhen God gave Jesus, He bankrupt heaven. This was simply his way of saying that God gave the very best heaven had to offer. Isn’t that amazing.
1) His gift was one of a kind
the uniqueness of the gift
2) His gift could not be replaced
the pricelessness of the gift
3) His gift was a part of Himself
Recently, as I meditated on God’s gift to us, I realized that when He gave His Son then He also gave part of Himself. This has came very clear to me recently. When we give our children to the Lord, a little of us goes with it. As my girls grow up this intensifies. Recently, I was struggling over the fact that Kara feels led to go to Honduras. I rejoice in my spirit that she will be used of the Lord, but the daddy in me longs to have her with me. Every time she walks out the door a little of me goes with her. When God gave His only begotten Son, I promise you that He gave a large part of Himself.
HE GAVE WITHOUT PARTIALITY
"...the world..."
1) His gift was offered to all
HE GAVE WITH A PURPOSE
"...should not perish..."
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
(Source Unknown. SermonIllustrations.com)
HE GAVE HIM TOTALLY AND WITHOUT CONDITION
(Romans 5:8)
Conclusion
Give yourself to Christ
(Illustration)
It was during that period of my life that I went to a chapel service one day at the seminary. I wasn’t expecting much. A graduate student was to preach, and I had never heard of him. His name was Roy Fish. I entered that chapel discouraged, tired, and exhausted. Roy Fish preached that morning and challenged us to be about the business of winning people to Jesus Christ. He concluded with an illustration I have never forgotten. He told about the illness of their infant son and his brush with death. He described how he felt as his son lay near death in the hospital. He described how he began to ask in his heart, "What would I regret most if my son died?" As he pondered this question, the answer came clear. I would regret that he died never knowing how much I loved him.
With this illustration, Roy Fish revealed an insight into the character of God, whose great heart grieves over every lost soul. "Surely", Roy said, "God grieves because the lost who die without Christ never know how much he loves them."
(Timothy Bedugher & Alvin Reid, Evangelism for a Changing World, (Shaw, 1995), pp. IX).
Give Yourself to others
