The Greatest Gift at Christmas
Luke 2:1-20
Intro
This is one of the more wonderful times of the year. Christmas is only two days away and many are waiting with anticipation to see what gifts we will get. Many are wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper, and then decorated with bows, and tensile, and pretty ribbons. And the sad part is, there almost seems like a let down after you have unwrapped all of your gifts. Not because you didn’t get what you wanted, but there is something magical about unwrapping those gifts in anticipation and excitement as to what lies beneath the wrapping paper. And probably most of us, if I were to ask, couldn’t remember what they got for Christmas last year…what gifts they unwrapped. But I want all of us to know that there is a gift that we can unwrap everyday of our lives. It is the GIFT THAT TAKES A LIFETIME TO UNWRAP and I want us to look at that gift this morning as we are on the doorstep of the celebration of Christmas.
READ Luke 2:1-20
First, I want us all to see that on that day, when baby Jesus came, he gave us all…
I. An Instant Gift (vv. 6-7)
a. Because of the birth of this baby, because of the life that now existed in Him, we all instantly received the gift of life…to never have to die again.
b. Matthew 1:21-23 says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name of Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
i. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
ii. Isaiah 7:14 says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, “God with us.”
c. It is an instant gift that God promises to all who would ask for it…
d. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Not only was this gift an instant gift…but it was a wrapped gift that…
II. Takes a Lifetime to Unwrap
a. When Jesus was born that day in Bethlehem, it was just the beginning of the gift unwrapping.
b. See, he came wrapped in swaddling clothes…a gift for us all to unwrap
c. And not just once, but everyday of our lives on this earth.
d. Everyday I wake up, I get to unwrap another part of the gift of eternal life that God has prepared for me.
e. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
f. Just when I think I have unwrapped all I can…like the last present on Christmas…God blows me away…and allows me to unwrap a little more of His wonderful salvation.
g. The gifts like peace, joy, love, faith, kindness, gentleness, meekness, understanding, application, revelation, tribulation, and on and on.
h. Paul knew this fit would take a lifetime to unwrap that’s why he said in Philippians 2: 12, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
i. He is not saying that salvation requires work…He is saying that there is so much of God’s salvation to unwrap…you will have to work at it…taking a lifetime to unwrap.
It was not a cheap gift, but it was a gift that was of…
III. An Enormous Value
a. 1 Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.
b. Who can begin to put a price on the gift that God has given us through His son Jesus?
i. The Shepherds realized what an enormous gift they had been given
ii. V. 20, The Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told.
iii. The wise men understood as they tried to bring gifts to present to a King, but they knew that His life was worth much more than gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but this is all they could come up with.
c. What gift can compare to never dying, never suffering, crying, feeling pain, but to live eternally in a place called paradise? It is indescribable at best.
d. And it is of enormous value…It was the greatest gift ever given…and cost more than anything ever could and yet, it was given to each and everyone of us FREELY…it cost us nothing.
Many times when we get things that are precious to us…that are of enormous value, we want to keep it for ourselves. But that’s not what Jesus wants us to do…He doesn’t want us to keep it, but He wants us to…
IV. Give it Away
a. Acts 20:35 says, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
b. This gift hat we have been given that takes a lifetime to unwrap was meant for us to give to others.
c. It is not just our gift, but a gift for all to receive.
d. The Shepherds in the field realized that.
i. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
e. This time of Christmas is a time to give the most precious, indescribable gift ever given…to spread the Word.
It is a gift that takes a lifetime to unwrap…and indescribable gift, that truly…
V. Enriches the Life of Everyone who gets it.
a. I have not found one Christian in my 25+ years of walking with God that has said, “Since I got saved, my life is worse than it was before.”
i. Why? Because God’s gift of salvation is meant to enrich the life of everyone who will receive it.
ii. It enriched the lives of the Shepherds that day.
b. v. 20 says, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
i. They realized there life would never be the same again from that day forward.
ii. Such is the same response to all who embrace the gift of the Christ child.
iii. Before I received the gift… I walked this earth alone…forsaken…without hope.
iv. But after receiving this gift…Jesus walks with me everyday…I am not alone
c. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave your nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
i. Before this gift…I was doomed to live eternal life in hell…but because of this gift…I now have eternal life in paradise
This gift that takes a lifetime to unwrap, enriches every life that receives it.
Closing
I know many of us can’t wait to unwrap those gifts that await us under the tree. But I want to remind us all that the unwrapping of the most precious gift of all is not just to be unwrapped once on Christmas day. But it is a gift that is meant to be unwrapped everyday…for the rest of our lives. The child that was born in the manager that day…was a gift that was wrapped in swaddling clothes. But as we unwrap that gift we all can see that it is…
A gift that is instantly ours when we receive it
A gift that takes a lifetime of unwrapping
A gift that was of Enormous value
A gift that is to be given away
A gift that enriches every life that receives it
May we all cherish this gift as we take the time to unwrap it in our lives.
