Cornerstone Church December 21, 2008
“UNTO US, GOD’S GIFT - JESUS”
Luke 2:8-14
WHAT IS THE WORST CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVEN AT CHRISTMAS?
According to an American Express survey about Christmas Gifts they found that Fruitcake was chosen most often from a list of “worst” holiday gifts. It received 31% and finished ahead of receiving “no gift at all.”
When asked how to dispose of a bad gift, 30% would hide it in the closet, 21% would return it, and 19% would give it away. This suggests that Christmas Fruitcake might get recycled as a gift for the host of a New Year’s Eve Party!
Resource, Mar/Apr, 1990
WHAT IS THE BEST GIFT EVER GIVEN?
The best Christmas present ever given, in all of the world, would have to be the LORD Jesus Christ, God’s Son for our Salvation! That is mankind’s greatest present ever!
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 Cor. 9:15 NIV
The LORD Jesus Christ is God’s indescribable Gift! Every facet of the LORD Jesus Christ is beyond all description!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Greatest Gift and the Greatest News that the world will every hear about and know about.
The Greatest News that the LORD Jesus Christ offers our dying world is the message of salvation! You may have the free gift of eternal life by placing your faith and trust in the Jesus Christ – our Savior!
…for, “Everyone who calls on
the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Rom. 10:13 NIV
Christmas is here once again!
I hope that you have not grown tired of hearing this message! This message of God’s most indescribable gift to mankind, the LORD Jesus Christ – Our Savior!
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:8-14 NIV
God’s indescribable gift was a baby, wrapped up, lying in a manger.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:12 NIV
The humanity and simplicity of our Savior’s incarnation cloaked the true glory of Who He really was! The most exalted Being in all of the universe appeared in human flesh!
John 1:14 NIV The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Isa. 9:6 NIV For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that
will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior
has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
“…a Savior has been born to you;”
His Name is Jesus! The Old Testament name – Joshua. (Joshua = Jehovah Saves) It is the name that the Angel told his earthly father Joseph to give him.
Matt. 1:21 NIV 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.”
Luke 19:10 NIV For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
“…he is Christ the Lord.”
Christ = “The Anointed One” in Greek. In Hebrew it would be the Messiah!
“I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.”
This message isn’t limited to: race, ethnicity, or social class.
It is a message to Americans as well as a message to all people of the earth no matter what country they live in – even to those living in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.
Actually the greatest hope for true and lasting peace and liberation for the Afghan and Iraqi people will not come from the USA or from a United Nations Council.
Neither will it come from the false god Allah!
It will come from the LORD Jesus Christ.
“I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.”
THIS MESSAGE IS FOR ALL PEOPLE NO MATTER WHAT THEIR CONDITION:
For homeless people and Nob-Hill people
For inner-city people and Suburban and rural people
For Handicapped people and healthy people
For people with addictions with marital problems and people who seem to be perfect
For downcast people and for pride-filled people!
So, if you are here this morning and you do not know the LORD Jesus Christ as your Savior and you are wondering if this message is for you – it is!
“I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.”
Why did God love lost sinners so much that He would send His Son to die for us?
Let’s find out! Please turn now in your Bible to John 3:16!
“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.
OUTLINE:
GOD’S LOVE IS A GREAT LOVE
GOD’S LOVE IS AN INFINITE LOVE
GOD’S LOVE IS A SACRIFICIAL LOVE
GOD’S LOVE IS AN UNCHANGING LOVE
GOD’S LOVE IS A GREAT LOVE
“For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son,
WHAT MOTIVATED GOD TO SEND HIS SON AS HIS INDESCRIBABLE GIFT TO MANKIND?
Eph. 2:4-7 NIV But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Rom. 5:8 NIV But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:9-10 NIV This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
It was the love of God for lost sinners that motivated God to send His Son to save us! This kind of love for us should cause our hearts to break forth with songs of praise!
“For He’s more wonderful than my mind can conceive;
He’s more wonderful than my heart can believe;
He goes beyond my highest hopes and fondest dreams
He’s everything that my soul ever longed for;
Everything He promised and so much more;
He’s more than amazing, More than marvelous,
More than miraculous could ever be;
He’s more than wonderful, That’s what Jesus is to me.”
“HE’S MORE THAN WONDERFUL” by: Sandi Patti
All of the world’s leaders did not get together at the United Nations to originate a plan to send a message out into space hoping that some intelligent being would hear and answer their call for help!
S. O. S.!
HELP!
RESCUE US!
Beaming signals into deep outer space by radio telescope or sending probes like Voyager with gold disks greeting extra terrestrials in the known languages of the world isn’t going to garner support or help!
This might make some people rich, and some scientists famous, but it is futile!
Why?
There is nobody out there to receive the message!
Nobody is out there but God!
God has already sent His message to earth – the LORD Jesus Christ and The Word of God!
Why would mankind even send a message looking for help? Most of those living on planet earth are not even aware their greatest need is to find peace with God!
They go through great lengths to fill the emptiness and void that exists with all sorts of alternatives! This keeps them busy, somewhat happy, and blind to their needs!
Blind to:
• Their need of salvation!
• Their need to understand why they are here, where they are going and whether there is life after death!
• Their need of peace with God and forgiveness for sin!
Humans have an amazing capacity to see death all around them every day and ignore the message that death is sending them!
• The message that all who live on planet earth die.
• Death is no respecter of persons!
• Do you know where you are going after death?
God’s plan of eternal salvation originated with God in eternity past! At a time before the world was created!
It wasn’t man’s plan or a religious leader’s plan. It was God’s plan!
Review Point: What motivated God to save lost sinners?
His love! The love of God drew salvation’s plan! God’s love sent the LORD Jesus Christ on a rescue mission to redeem lost sinners. This is God’s indescribable gift!
The famous Swiss Theologian Karl Barth was once asked: “What is the greatest thought that has ever passed through you mind?”
“Jesus Love me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.”
GOD’S LOVE IS AN INFINITE LOVE
…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Eph. 3:17-19 NIV
THE APOSTLE PAUL CANNOT DESCRIBE GOD’S LOVE!
• It is beyond comprehension!
• His love for the unsaved world and for us who believe is unfathomable!
• There is no earthly instrument that is capable of measuring it!
All the books that were ever written about Him cannot describe Him! Handel’s Messiah while a grand work of art cannot describe Him! That great Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World” cannot describe Him.
The LORD Jesus Christ – God’s unique Son by coming to earth adequately describes the indescribable love of God for mankind.
John 14:9 NIV Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Review Point: How infinite is God’s love for lost sinners?
God’s love is infinite and indescribable! The LORD Jesus Christ is God’s gift sent to a dying world to say, “I love You!”
“The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell,
It goes beyond the highest star And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win:
His erring child He reconciled And Pardoned from his sin.
Refrain:
O love of God; how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure – The saints’ and angels’ song.
THE LOVE OF GOD – Frederick M. Lehman
GOD’S LOVE IS A SACRIFICIAL LOVE
“For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son,”
Who on planet earth would have ever been worthy enough to redeem lost sinners?
• No religious leader has ever discovered a pathway to heaven!
• No false religion has ever developed a surefire doorway to heaven!
• No works you will ever perform, now or in the future will merit salvation!
Salvation was never about finding a “Stairway to Heaven.” Salvation isn’t man reaching up to God!
Salvation has always been God – by His love – reaching down to man!
Isn’t that Amazing! It is even more amazing and wonderful when you see how God views man!
Ps. 14:1-3 NIV The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Rom. 3:23 NIV for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Sin is like an arrow simply falling short of the target! Sin is missing the mark!
Review Point: Did God’s love cost Him anything?
Yes, it did! It cost Him His unique and only Son! Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. After observing Abraham’s obedience God provided a sacrifice for Abraham and his son was spared!
God the Father had no substitute available! His righteous, wrath and justice needed to be upheld and yet His mercy, love and grace wanted to find a way! The Cross of Christ is where the Holiness of God intersects with the Love of God.
The innocent One who was just and perfect in every way, took on the sins of the unjust so that they might be redeemed!
…he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time,
so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Rom. 3:26 NIV
GOD’S LOVE IS AN UNCHANGING LOVE
Why is it that we sometimes fail to comprehend that God’s love for us is the same yesterday, today and forever?
We can clearly see and perhaps comprehend that Jesus came to earth to die for lost sinners! He loves sinners and wants to save them and give to them eternal life!
Salvation and forgiveness is great for the unsaved but not for us! The truth is we need forgiveness before salvation, after salvation, and every day until we are with the LORD Jesus Christ!
After a while we seem to forget that He still loves us simply because He loves us! We forget God’s grace and flee to works! We think as believers that God’s love is based on performance or how we measure up! We begin to view our acceptance by God like a child trying to comprehend whether some girl or boy loves them. They find a daisy and pick off its pedals:
HE LOVES ME!
HE LOVES ME NOT!
HE LOVES ME!
HE LOVES ME NOT!
I’m saved! I’m saved not! I’m saved! I’m saved not! I’m saved (oh I’d like to do better and I hope I can make it)!
What kind of Good News is that?
Please, are you listening to me? Don’t flatter yourself!
Salvation isn’t gained or kept by how righteous you think you are or might have become! Do not allow your sinful mind and heart to inflate your ego and think that you somehow, in your wildest dreams merit God’s grace!
Sorry, the only One worthy enough to ever receive any honor and any glory for your salvation is the LORD Jesus Christ! God will not share His Son’s glory with you!
“Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain – He washed it white as snow.”
Somehow after we are saved we don a holier-than-thou persona and think we are flawless!
I want to use the following illustration not to put someone down but in order to reveal the humanness we all have as sinners, saved by grace. I will not give the name until the end!
“In the story we see a distant, silent father, who in public is fighting for culturally relevant biblical orthodoxy but in private is prone to huge mood swings and a violent temper, a wife who fights with him over which one is more spiritual, and children who are forced to be “biblical” before they know what any of it means.”
This is paraphrased for the novel, Portofino, by Franky Schaeffer which contains snippets of his life at home with Dr. Francis and Edith Schaeffer!
JOHN FISCHER GOES ON TO SAY:
“Sometimes I wonder if we want our spiritual leaders to be perfect so we don’t have to be. As long as we believe somebody’s perfect, we can go on perpetuating the myth that perfection is possible and keep on shrouding our own sin safely behind the lie of the “almost.” We are almost there. We have almost arrived. We are almost holy.”
FINALLY JOHN FISCHER STATES:
“If the whole point of the gospel is forgiveness of sin, then why do we insist on continually parading these almost perfect lives in front of each other? How has it happened that the people who proclaim forgiveness of sin don’t have any sins to be forgiven of themselves? How has a church that once was the happy possession of common fisherman and prostitutes and tax collectors become the home of the spiritually elite?”
John Fischer, pgs, 94-95, 12 STEPS FOR THE RECOVERING PHARISEE
We have only to look at Hosea and Gomer to see God’s unchanging love for His people. God writes the script for a screenplay that He wants Hosea to fulfill!
Hosea – You pay the Part of God!
Gomer – You will play the part of unfaithful Israel!
Lights, camera, action! Hosea marries this adulterous woman Gomer. After she is married to him she continues to fornicate as an adulterer. Finally she becomes a slave sold in the market naked before those bidding on her.
Hosea 3:1 NIV The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
Hosea 3:2-3 NIV So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you.”
Review Point: What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus! This is a present tense song! Not what previously washed away my sin, but what washes it away daily!
Salvation is based on the love of God and the sacrifice of the LORD Jesus Christ who paid the purchase price to redeem us from the slave-market of sin!
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS AND REMARKS
At Christmas we like to wrap up gifts and keep them a secret.
• God’s gift to the world was His precious Son, the LORD Jesus Christ.
• He was never intended to be a secret.
The LORD Jesus Christ came to earth, was born (even though He was God the Son from Eternity Past), He died, was buried, and rose again!
After His resurrection from the dead, which was verified by hundreds of witnesses, He wanted believers everywhere and from every age to proclaim the Good News that Christ died to set sinners free!
At His birth it was announced that the Savior has come!
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of
great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David
a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11 NIV
The LORD Jesus Christ is coming again one day! That day will arrive sooner than most realize!
Christ the Savior offers the free gift of eternal life and pardon from sin to all who are willing to put their faith and trust in Him as their Savior!
“A certain Medieval Monk announced he would be preaching next Sunday evening on “The Love of God.” As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lighted a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illuminated the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing else to say!”
Source Unknown
WHAT MORE CAN BE SAID ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD?
• Look at the manger – the Incarnation of Jesus Christ the God/Man
• Look at the Cross – the agonizing death, burial and resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ for your sin and my sin!
WHAT MORE CAN GOD SAY TO A DYING WORLD?
• He has already said in so many ways, “I love You!”
• Look to my Son and live!
• I love you, my Son the LORD Jesus Christ and the gift of Salvation he accomplished is the greatest present I have to offer the world!
GOD’S PRESENT, HOWEVER, NEEDS TO BE RECEIVED:
Eph. 2:8–10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
John 1:12-13 NIV Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
God has nothing more to say!
Will you receive Him today as your LORD and Savior?
If you know Him as your Savior and you still are living your life burdened down with your performance ritual why not decide today that “It is Finished!”
The LORD Jesus Christ paid the price to accomplish your eternal salvation. Start living with the joy of a life set free and serve God willingly - from a heart of love!
God loves you just as much today as a Christian as He did when He sent Jesus to earth to save you!
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 Cor. 9:15 NIV
“I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.”
JESUS IS THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS!
HE is Savior!
HE is LORD!
HE is God the Son!
