Galatians 4:4-7
A Right Christmas
“The coming of Jesus was for the purpose of salvation.”
Sunday Morning Sermon
12.9.07
Intro: (start with video)
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4642543
“12 crazy days of Christmas”
(Title and text)
That video is funny – but it’s honest. The second day was 2 missing parts – but did you notice every time it came back to the second day of Christmas – it was a different missing part.
This time of the year can bring a plethora of different feelings and emotions – excitement and joy – depression and frustration. I know, because I’ve been to both extremes, during this time of the year.
We could make this season be about different things, Santa and reindeer – we could make it about shopping and finding that right present for the special people in our lives, like your preacher. We could make it about family, house guests and people we haven’t seen since mother’s day. We could make it about church – be a part of the CEO group – (Christmas and Easter ONLY) – we could hear the same theme we heard last year, expected message and nothing really changes.
Could we do something this morning and this season – and make it be simply about Jesus? Surprisingly, enough if we allow this morning, this season to be about the savior we can still enjoy our family, we can still give good gifts and we can still be in church (although I encourage you to do it more than just twice a year, and set an honest and good example for your children.) If we focus our attention on the savior this season – this season will mean something more, than just gifts and Santa and mistletoe.
Discussion:
When I was a kid I wanted and prayed for a white Christmas – I loved seeing the snow flakes and having the snow ball fights. My desire now that I’m an adult isn’t so much a white Christmas as it is a RIGHT Christmas. A time of the year focused and set on the right things and the right person, not just a baby in a manger filling a story that seems casual, but a time focused on what God did for us by sending Jesus. This morning I hope you are encouraged and challenged to deepen your faith through the word preached – I hope you are moved to seek the salvation freely given by God. If the coming of Jesus was for salvation – I hope this morning that you will embrace the salvation you have been given freely.
Our text takes us not to Matthew or Luke –
If you have your bible with you turn with me to Galatians 4:4-7(Advance) (Read)
I see three things this morning that will help make this season a right Christmas – all three involve what God did through sending Jesus. It was:
(Advance)
I. The Right time (4)
Someone said – verses 4-7 contain a note of joy, but only as Christmas leads to Good Friday and Easter, only as a baby born of woman redeems those under the law.
a. It was a planned time (Advance)
Ecclesiastes 3:1 – There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: Verse 11 says --
Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
God didn’t just look down on creation and decide at that moment that everything was such a mess and he needed to send his son – Listen church, Jesus was the plan from the very beginning. The word “fullness” indicates that God has been working his purpose throughout history, and it was only when the right time came that he sent his son. At a major point in human history God took action. Paul sees the coming of Jesus into the world as the high point in human history.
b. It was a good time – in human history
i. Romans
The Romans had made uniquely ready by building a network of roads and establishing a stable government. Never before had travel been so easy and safe; not again for another 1500 years would it be so. The Greeks made their contribution through their common language and the failure of their religion. It was an age of opportunity in communication, but an age when the traditional faiths had little to communicate. The Jews had made this moment in time ripe for the birth of the church by establishing synagogues throughout the known world, and by translating the Old Testament into Greek.
ii. Contrast to now
We would put Jesus on a reality show, make him sing the lyrics to music, drive a car instead of an SUV and vote him off the island, when we were done with him. Oprah couldn’t agree with Jesus and agree with everyone else on the show that she claims agreement with, that’s probably true anyway.
The world was ready because it was–
c. the fullness of time
The completion of a period of time when God knew the world was ready and he sent redemption through his son Jesus. But even then God protected Jesus first as a baby.
If you remember Herod was king and he was distressed over the birth of the Christ. (Advance)
Matthew 2:13-15 (NIV) When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, (Advance) 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
I want to suggest something this morning – when Paul mentions the “fullness of time” he’s actually talking about three different sections of time. The birth of Christ, which we will celebrate in a few weeks. The life of Christ –the growing and maturing, the teaching and preaching, was another section of time. If you look at the Gospel of John we can see that Jesus knew when the next event of time would be. Specifically John 7 Jesus avoided being made a king, but also going to the cross – because his TIME had not yet come.
(Advance)
John 7:6 – Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.
(Advance)
John 7:8 (NIV) You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."
(Advance)
John 7:30 (NIV) At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
Jesus was given to us at the right time – what Paul calls the fullness of time. We know from history that God works everything on his time scale and not ours, and the God who controls both the beginning of time and the end of time – the God who controls the “fullness of time” is the same God who has set for us and counted the days of time we will have. Church, I encourage you this morning to make time for your relationship with God. Make time for your family. Remove some of the busyness in your life and make time for the things that are important.
Jesus came at the right time in our world history – here’s something else Jesus had:
(Advance)
II. The right purpose
Jesus came for the purpose of bringing us salvation. That’s the good news – if you were ever going to AMEN something – Jesus bringing us salvation should be at the very top of your list.
a. Without Jesus
i. We would be lost – dead in our sins
The idea is that there would be no way out. Morality and goodness would be left to a system of works, and would leave us feeling empty and guilty. God knew that without sending Jesus we would be condemned – that sin would find its way into our lives that we would never know the love of God demonstrated in our lives.
b. God loves you – and because he does he sent Jesus
i. Born in a manger -- as a baby (Advance)
John 3:16-17 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
ii. Not for our condemnation and judgment – but for our salvation
God sent his one and only son that we would know eternal life and share it with him forever in heaven. Salvation comes through the person of Jesus. Not because he’s the best of many options that would be rude – but because he’s the only option.
Listen church, if Jesus came with a purpose – he came to bring us purpose
c. We have a purpose in this life
i. What you do matters to God – the details in your life matter (Advance)
James 5:10-11 (The Message) Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
ii. Wide purpose is to praise and honor him with Life
That has a lot of meanings – You will be given a chance to praise and honor God with your life at different – it could be as simple as being honest with the change you get back from a cashier. It could be as simple as allowing someone else to have a parking spot that you qualify for. But it also has a narrow meaning very specific
d. Your family –
i. The way you treat your children
ii. The way you treat your spouse
Ask yourself – does the way I live my home life honor God? The way I spend my time – does it honor God? I know people who would never run out of soda and cigarettes but they will run out of food for the kids. Somehow I don’t think that honors the gift God has given them.
iii. The way you treat your parents
You will only have them for a short time – they are a gift from God. Honor your father and your mother – regardless. Sometimes they aren’t worth honoring – church, do it anyway because it honors GOD. Honor the people you have in your life. It doesn’t mean that you agree with their parenting skills or that they did everything right – you can’t change the past, and the future can only be changed with your children, as you set the right example. If we are going to live the purpose that Jesus has given us – it should start in the home with the family.
Listen, If you know and have acknowledged what God did for you through Christ Jesus – it has to affect the way you treat people around you.
Jesus came at the right time – he came for the purpose of giving to us salvation, here’s the third thing he was: (Advance)
III. The right gift
Gifts can be a little tricky. Good gifts are those you would like to have yourself. Some people are good at giving gifts. Amanda is like that – she’s good at giving gifts. She’s good at blessing those she loves with a thoughtful present. When you get something from her, you know she’s put some time into it. I’m so bad at giving gifts; she tells me what to buy her. 12 years of marriage and she tells me what to get her – I’d be a fool if I didn’t jump on it.
a. Gifts
i. Some aren’t worth getting – what do you do when that happens?
You throw them away – you give them to someone else. Wouldn’t it be neat to finally tell your sister-in-law to keep the T-shirt she got for free, that’s two sizes too small anyway? I don’t mean to be rude – I love getting gifts – but I love it even more when the person giving it is not burdened by it.
The perfect gift is not the riding lawnmower from Sears or the 8Gb mp3 player, or the brand-new car. Those are neat things – but they aren’t eternal.
We have received a gift. God didn’t wake up at 3am on black Friday to bring it to us.
(Advance)
James 1:17 (NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
We have the gift of Jesus. The perfect gift. When he gave this gift it was at the perfect time – while we were in need. Romans says that while we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly. He didn’t wait for you to clean up and get straight. It was a demonstration of his perfect love. We don’t need anything else. What you do with the gift is up to you.
Conclusion:
If you leave here this morning with any doubt that God sent Jesus for your salvation you weren’t listening – I’ve repeated it over and over and over. The problem is sometimes that knowledge is just knowledge – Jesus died for me – and it’s tempting to look at the sacrifice of Jesus as if it were clean and harmless. I’m afraid we approach the cross of Christ much like we do the manger of Christ – without much thought to what it means in our lives. But it’s easy to look at both and store up the knowledge for a later time. Another approach is to refuse to acknowledge that the coming of Jesus means anything at all – that’s not a good approach. Another response is to understand Jesus coming as the means for salvation, and be passionate about it, but never go any deeper.
Here’s the best response – do something about it. Don’t just store this knowledge up for break room conversations and water fountain chatter. Honestly and passionately do something about it. Take the understanding of Jesus with you and let it cover your work ethic, your energy, your spending habits, your attitudes. God didn’t send his fouth cousin, he sent his one and only son – It cost him something. It is a valuable gift – do something about it.
Let’s pray.
