We should have a pretty good idea of what happened on that first Christmas morning. We know that Mary conceived of the Holy Spirit. We know that Jesus was born of a virgin, in a stable in Bethlehem. We’ve heard and read Matthew 1 and Luke 2 enough to know what happened that night. We know what happened, but do we know why it happened? It happened because God is a God of grace. That’s what verse 11 says, doesn’t it? So what exactly is grace? If you’ve been in church for a while, you can give the typical Sunday School answer. You can say that grace is “unmerited favor.” You can even say that grace is not getting what you deserve and getting what you don’t deserve. Those are great definitions, but do they mean anything to you? If that’s what grace is, then how does it play out in your life? All too often, we think of grace like the man who went to Vegas for the weekend. He got there on a Friday afternoon and was flying back out on Sunday afternoon. Well, after he got checked into his hotel, he picked up the phonebook and found a listing for a local church. He picked up the phone and called the number. When the pastor answered the phone, he told him that he was in town for the weekend and wanted to know what time the service started on Sunday morning. The preacher was stunned. He said, “I’m impressed—most people don’t come to Vegas to go to church.” The man said, “Preacher, I didn’t come to town for the church. I came for the gambling and parties and wild women. And I figure that if my weekend is half of what I’m hoping for, I’m going to need a church on Sunday.” Is that what grace is? I think Paul answered that question pretty well in Romans 6:1-2. He wrote, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” Compromising tonight with the intention of confessing tomorrow isn’t grace—it’s presumption. It’s abuse. It’s blasphemy. No, that’s not what grace is. Grace is what happened on that first Christmas night. Grace came upon Mary as the power of the Most High overshadowed her and she conceived as a virgin. Grace came upon Joseph as he took Mary as his wife and kept her as a virgin until Jesus was born. Grace came upon the shepherds in the field as they received the birth announcement directly from heaven. Grace came upon the magi as they saw the Baby with His mother and fell down and worshipped Him. You see, grace isn’t a feeling. Grace isn’t an emotion. Grace isn’t a mood. Grace isn’t even an act. Grace is a Person. And on that first Christmas night, that Person appeared. He appeared as a tender plant. He appeared as a root out of dry ground. He appeared without any extraordinary physical distinctions that would make Him appear to be exceptional. The grace of God appeared as a baby on that first Christmas night. Why is the birth of Jesus grace? Because Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus came to redeem His people. Jesus came to set the captives free. By the grace of God, He sent His Son. Grace became personified in the flesh of Jesus. And by that grace, through the person and work of Jesus, God has given us freedom from sin. Think of it this way, by God’s grace Christmas came to set you free from sin. Christmas came to set you free from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin, and from the presence of sin. First, Christmas came to set you free from the penalty of sin. Look back to verse 11
TITUS 2:11
Christmas came to set you free from the penalty of sin. The grace of God has appeared to bring the opportunity of salvation for all. First off, who is all? I had a professor one time who made a big deal about saying that “all means all, all the time—and that’s all all means.” Well, that’s not always the case. The Christmas story in Luke 2 that CJ read this morning says that, “there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that ALL the world should be taxed.” I doubt very much that Han Dynasty Chinese people or the ancient Mayans of Central America much cared about Caesar Augustus’ tax. “All” in that case simply means “everybody that it applied to.” Which was everybody who was part of the huge Roman Empire. It seemed to be universal, but it wasn’t. But that is the exception that proves the rule. All of Caesar’s world was to be taxed. Just like the grace of God has brought the offer of salvation to all of His people. Some people try to twist that statement to make it say that God only brought salvation to certain people and didn’t make it available to others. That’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says in Romans 3:22-23, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto ALL and upon ALL them that believe: for there is no difference: For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Here’s the bottom line. Jesus was born apart from sin. He lived free from sin. That qualified Him as a perfect atoning sacrifice. The fact that He is eternal God in the flesh makes His atoning sacrifice sufficient for all sin everywhere at all times. From the first sin of Adam and Eve in the garden, to the final millennial rebellion… Jesus’ eternally worthy blood is sufficient to cover them all. “Jesus keep me near the cross… there a precious fountain… free to ALL a healing stream… flows from Calvary’s mountain.” Salvation has appeared to ALL men. “Jesus paid it all… all to Him I owe… sin had left a crimson stain… He washed it white as snow.” Sin is a universal problem. When Satan pridefully boasted that he would be like the Most High God, he stained creation. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit in order to be like God, they brought Satan’s sin into the world. And when they did, everything became tainted and marred with that sin. By sin, God’s creation was turned in opposition to Him. But creation’s opposition to God didn’t turn off His love for what He’d created. God cannot tolerate sin and rebellion. Once those things have marred creation, they are only worthy of His vengeance and wrath and eternal destruction. But His love chose to take the penalty upon Himself. So He did. He sent His Son as a perfect, sinless baby. He watched Him obediently grow as the only One who ever fully and completely pleased God with His perfect obedience. And then He placed the full weight of all the sin of the world on His shoulders… and He crushed Him. He poured out the full wrath of God on Him. All the punishment for each and every sin ever committed or ever will be committed was poured out on Him. The price was paid. The price was sufficient for all. And it is efficient for all who will accept it. No works. No labor. No pride. “Not the labor of my hands… Can fulfill Thy law’s demands… Could my zeal no respite know… Could my tears forever flow… all for sin could not atone… Thou must save and Thou alone.” Christmas came to free you from the penalty of sin. Christmas also came to free you from the power of sin. Look at verse 12:
TITUS 2:12
Christmas came to set you free from the power of sin. When Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice on the cross, the penalty of sin was paid. The penalty was paid, but sin still exists in the world today. We still live in a fallen world. The curse is still in place. Every day we see the effects of that curse around us. We see fires and floods and ice and hail and snowstorms. We see pain and sickness and death. We see abuse and confusion and violence and meanness. We are one day promised a place where none of those things exist… but we aren’t there yet. We live in the time that God has provided for people to willingly choose His offer of grace. And when you do accept that gift of grace… when you do submit to Christ as your Lord and Savior… He gives you power to live your life today. He gives you grace to live today. You will never be completely free from sin in this life. As long as you wear this flesh, you will struggle with sin. But your struggle won’t be alone. You’re struggle won’t be powerless. You will experience victory when you live according to the grace you’ve been given. What does that mean? It means that, by God’s grace and with His power, you will exercise self-control. That’s what verse 12 means by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. Lusts aren’t just limited to illicit sexual desire. Lusts are any physical craving you might have that is not subject to self-control. If I don’t control my eating, that is a kind of worldly lust. If we go nuts at the shopping mall, that is a kind of worldly lust. Anything that we crave and don’t control can be an example of worldly lust. Power, food, popularity, sex, habits, money… anything. But the good news is that Jesus came to free you from those things. The things will still be there, but submission to Him gives you self-control. Submission to Him gives you freedom from worldly lusts. He enables you to live your life in such a way that it will glorify Him. You will live soberly. That doesn’t mean sober as in not being drunk—although you’ll live that way too. That goes back to self-control. But it means soberly as in living like you’ve got something to live for. Not living like everything is frivolous and for nothing. As Solomon might say it—not living in vanity. It doesn’t mean you’re a serious sourpuss about everything. It means that you know you will be held accountable for every idle word you’ve spoken. You will be held accountable for every opportunity you’ve missed. That’s what living in God’s grace teaches you. Why do we get so frustrated when we miss an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus? Because that’s a teachable moment. It’s a moment that shows you still have sin in your life and there’s only One who can deal with it. It’s a teachable moment that shows you your continual, ongoing need for God’s grace in your life. And when you submit to His grace… when you quit trying to live life on your own… when you throw up your hands and say, “God I can’t do it.” That’s when the grace comes. That’s when Jesus can show Himself strong in your life. That’s when you can really see how you have been set free from the power of sin in your life. Your sin debt has been paid. And if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, then He wants you to live with Him as your Lord. That means you submit to Him for the grace to navigate your way through this fallen world we live in. And when you daily continue to submit to the lordship of Christ in your life, He will give you self-control. He will give you righteousness in your life. He will give you godliness. He will give you victory over your flesh. And He’ll do that—not so people will see how good and how strong you are. He’ll do that so people will see how good and how righteous and how strong He is. Christmas didn’t just come to set you free from the penalty of sin. Christmas also came to set you free from the power of sin. But there’s one more thing that Christmas came to set you free from. Christmas came to set you free from the presence of sin. Look at verses 13-14.
TITUS 2:13-14
Christmas came to set you free from the presence of sin. All of that struggle isn’t very much fun, is it? It can get frustrating when we begin to see how far we fall short of what God wants us to be. It is frustrating when we realize that we’ve stepped into the same sin we’ve asked forgiveness for over and over and over again. “Lord, I’ve been worrying again.” “Lord, I’ve been talking about people again.” “Lord, I missed another opportunity to witness again.” “Lord I lost my temper again.” “Lord, I took things into my own hands and made a mess of them again.” But thank God that He’s gracious. Thank God that when we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thank God that He doesn’t get tired of it. But don’t you? I do. I’ve been reading through the prophetic books lately and I’ve noticed that one question keeps popping up. Over and over and over again, they ask God, “How long?” Sometimes I feel like that, don’t you? How long, Lord? How long will I have to deal with sin in my life? How long will I have to battle my pride? How long will I have to fight and claw and strive for self-control in my life? How long will I have to struggle with the sin nature I’ve got? How long will I have to put up with other people who aren’t as good at covering up their sin nature as I might be? How long will I have to deal with people and things that hurt and tear down and destroy? How long Lord? Do you know what His answer is? Just a little while. Just a little while longer, and you will see that blessedness you are hoping for. Just a little while longer and you will see the glorious appearing of Christ. Just a little while longer and you will be in His presence. Whether He calls you home in death or in the Rapture, you will be in His presence. And in His presence is no more sin. The curse is gone. The struggle is over. The righteousness you strive for now will become reality. The holiness you now fall short of will be yours. Why? Because of a baby that was born in Bethlehem on that first Christmas. Jesus came to free you from the penalty of sin. He paid the price for salvation. He gave Himself that you might be redeemed. Jesus came to free you from the power of sin. He died to make you holy and He lives to make you free. He gives you the strength to live for Him. He gives you the power to live victoriously over sin. Jesus came to free you from the presence of sin. If Jesus has saved you, He will one day raise you and glorify you. His glorious appearing is your blessed hope.
Are you free tonight? Or are you living as a slave to your lusts? Are you living your life for yourself? Living for the moment? Living for whatever feeds your fancy today? If you are, you are in bondage. You are in bondage and will suffer the penalty of your sin. You are in bondage and have no hope of ever being free from it—much less being free from it today. If that’s where you find yourself here tonight, you are in a helpless state. But that’s exactly where God wants you. He wants you there because the only place you can turn is to His grace. And He’s given it to you—all you have to do is accept it. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to everyone. Will you cast yourself on that grace tonight?
