Introduction
Whenever I think of Christmas, there are a lot of names I think of immediately:
Santa Claus
Kris Kringle
St. Nick
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
I think of all the names of the people on my list that I had to shop for this Christmas
I think of the names of gifts I would like to receive this Christmas.
But the one name that transcends all the others is the name:
JESUS
Christmas is a time to reflect upon the name of Jesus, particularly because Christmas is His Birthday.
And so we celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
Matthew 1:18-21 shares with us a picture of the very first Christmas.
It says:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed (engaged) to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought on these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
The angel told Joseph what to name his son.
The reason the angel told Joseph to name the boy, Jesus, is because of what that name means.
The name Jesus, means Savior.
• one who rescues another from distress
• one who risks his own life to save another
• one who saves another person from certain death.
Tonight, I want to share with you what I am reminded of whenever I hear someone speak the name of Jesus.
Whenever I hear the name Jesus, I am reminded of:
1. THE GREATEST PROBLEM EVERY PERSON FACES.
If I were to ask you tonight, what’s the worst problem you’re facing right now, what would you say?
I put together a list of potential problems you might be having.
If I said to you, what’s the greatest problem you’re facing right now…some of you might say…
1. The worst problem I’m facing right now is that I’m having a bad hair day.
2. The worst problem I’m having is that Christmas is 8 days away and I still haven’t finished my shopping.
3. The worst problem I’m having is that I’ve got to sit here and listen to you tell me what my worst problem is.
4. The worst problem I’m facing is that I’m underpaid, overworked and underappreciated.
5. The worst problem I’m facing is that I don’t have a job.
6. The worst problem I’m facing is that I don’t have any health insurance.
7. The worst problem I’m facing is that my health is going downhill.
8. The worst problem I’m facing is that I feel lonely, like no one really cares.
9. The worst problem I’m facing is that my kids are always getting into trouble, or that they never listen to me.
10. The worst problem I’m facing is that my marriage is dying a slow death and I don’t know what to do about it.
11. The worst problem I’m facing is that someone I love has died, and I don’t know how to go on with life.
I agree, those all qualify as problems. Some are more important than others.
But tonight, would you allow me to suggest to you that in reality none of those problems is your greatest problem.
Can I let you in on a little secret?
Verse 21 tells us what is the greatest problem every person faces:
“And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their (bad hair day, from their unemployment… from their sins.”
According to the Bible, the greatest problem every person faces is “his/her sin”.
There is a Christmas card that reads,
• “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator.
• If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist.
• If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist.
• If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
• But our greatest need was forgiveness, so He sent us a Savior.”
That’s why Matthew says:
“And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
What is sin?
John Bunyan said, “Sin is the dare of God’s justice. Sin is the rape of God’s mercy…It is the jeer of His patience, sleight of His power and contempt of his love.”
1 John 3:4 puts it clearly when it says:
“Sin is the transgression of the law.”
Another writer has said:
“Sin is loving someone or something more than you love God and encompasses the thoughts and actions that follow from that misplaced love.”
The first commandment of the Ten Commandments says:
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
To love someone or something more than you love God is to put that person or that thing up on a pedestal above God.
And that is sin.
I think the person we love more than any other is ourselves.
The Apostle Paul says:
“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it.” – Ephesians 5:29
Psychologists tell us that our problems stem from the fact that we just don’t love ourselves.
Or that we just don’t love ourselves enough.
I want to suggest to you tonight that our greatest problem is not that we love ourselves too little, it’s that we love ourselves too much.
Even a person who says, “But Pastor, I have really low self-esteem. I don’t like myself.”
I say, “The fact that you’re so preoccupied with your own self-esteem in the first place means you have a degree of love for yourself.”
ILLUSTRATION
Think about it.
Whenever someone shows you a photo that you are in, whose face do you look for first?
Usually, we look at ourselves first to see if we look good, or if we look fat, if we’re smiling right.
ILLUSTRATION
Also, think about it this way.
The last time you got into a verbal argument or fight.
Did you replay that fight in your mind?
If you’re like most people you did replay it and you probably thought of what you wish you’d said and how you would have said it.
Let me ask you this, when you replayed that fight over in your mind…did you win or did you lose the fight?
To my knowledge every time I’ve replayed an argument I’ve had, I’ve always replayed it so that I somehow “won”.
Folks, that’s how deep our self-centeredness runs.
Now, the reason this is our greatest problem is because of what Romans 6:23 teaches us.
It says:
“For the wages of sin is death.”
Sin brings death, it’s the reason we all have to face physical death and it also brings spiritual death.
Every time I lie I die.
Every time I sin I die a little more.
ILLUSTRATION
You’ve heard of Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous painter and inventor.
One of his most famous paintings is “The Last Supper” where he depicts Jesus eating with his disciples.
When Da Vinci was preparing to paint his masterpiece he began seeking for a man who could model the face of Jesus Christ.
At last he found a man who was a singer in a chorus in one of the churches of Rome.
This man was lovely in life and his features were perfect.
This young man’s name was Pietro Bandenelli
Many years passed and the painting remained unfinished.
Leonardo Da Vinci was able to finish everything but the final character—who was Judas Iscariot.
He could not find a face that represented to him the ugliness of Judas’ heart.
So Da Vinci began looking long and hard to find a man whose face reflected horror and ugliness.
A man with a face children would scream and run from.
At last he found a man on the streets of Rome, a beggar with a face so horrible and villainous that he shuddered when he looked at it.
Da Vinci hired the man to sit as his model for Judas Iscariot and painted his face on the canvass.
When Da Vinci had finished and as he was about to dismiss the man—he said—“By the way, I have not asked you your name?”
The man replied—my name is “Pietro Bandenelli”… “I also sat for you—as your model of Christ.”
Wow! Wow!
Sin will take 10 years off your life and put 20 on your face.
Romans 6:23 says:
“For the wages of sin is death…”
ILLUSTRATION
• Sin is to life what rust is to metal.
• Sin is to life what a virus is to a computer.
• Sin is to life what a stain is to white clothes.
• Sin is to life what cancer is to a healthy-functioning organ in the body.
Sin is a big problem that each of us faces.
Fortunately however, sin is not the only thing I think of when I think of the name Jesus.
The second thought I have when I hear the name of Jesus is…
2. THE GREATEST NEWS ANY PERSON COULD EVER HEAR.
Boy, after all this talk about sin, how many of you are ready to hear some good news?
What’s the greatest news you could ever hear?
Have you ever thought about that?
What’s the greatest news you could ever hear?
How about…
• Congratulations…it’s a boy! Or it’s a girl!
Some of you are thinking, no, I don’t need to hear that right now.
What’s the greatest news you could ever hear?
• Congratulations…you’re our grand prize winner! You’ve just won $10,000,000.
• Congratulations…you’re hired!
• Congratulations…you’ve been saved from your sins.
Matthew said:
“He shall save His people from their sins.”
Folks, that’s the greatest news you and I could ever hear.
The bad news is that we face a big problem.
The Good news is that God has provided the solution.
He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to save you and me from our sins.
John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
It was love that moved God to send Jesus to earth.
It was love that moved Jesus to hang on that cross for you and me.
ILLUSTRATION
I heard about a man who visited the pet store to buy his first live mouse.
You see, this man owned a snake and in order to feed the snake he needed a mouse.
The man went home with his first live mouse and placed the frightened little mouse inside the glass aquarium where the snake was sleeping.
The mouse was shaking at the sight of the snake and knowing it had to do something quickly or it would die, it came up with a brilliant idea.
The mouse decided to cover up the snakes’ head with sawdust thinking that then the snake would not be able to see it.
After the mouse covered the snake’s head, it was finally able to relax and enjoy itself.
It began to roam around the aquarium and play.
It wasn’t long after however that the snake awoke and slithering toward the mouse.
The frightened little mouse jumped over to the corner of the aquarium, looked up at the man who was watching and
The man, the owner, was watching this and began to be filled with pity and compassion for this little mouse.
Quickly, the man reached his hand down into the aquarium and the mouse jumped into his hand.
The man lifted the little mouse out of the aquarium and the little mouse was saved!
It’s been said that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
You and me, we’re a lot like that little mouse.
We think that if we can cover up sin’s ugly head and then pretend as if it isn’t there then it won’t come back to bite us.
But that’s not true. Eventually, SIN wakes up and will eat you alive.
But there is one who watches the whole ordeal.
And he loves you. He has compassion on you.
The Bible says in Psalm 103:13:
“As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.”
God loves you and he will give you mercy and grace.
The greatest news you could ever hear is that God loves you and sent Jesus to rescue and save you.
And this leads me to the third thought that comes to mind when I hear the name Jesus.
3. THE GREATEST DECISION EVERY PERSON FACES.
As you know, life is a series of choices.
We make choices then we live with the consequences.
More than who you should marry, more than what career you should choose, more than where you should live… I believe that whether or not you believe Jesus Christ for your forgiveness is the most important decision.
The reason is because all the other decisions have only temporary consequences.
If you marry the wrong person, they can become the right person by managing your marriage correctly.
If you choose the wrong career, you can switch.
If you don’t like the climate where you live, you can move.
But if you don’t make the right choice when it comes to whether or not you will believe on Jesus to forgive you of your sins, then you will face eternal consequences.
The Bible speaks of a literal place called Hell.
In fact, Jesus said more about Hell than He did about Heaven.
There is wrath to come and you have an opportunity to make a decision that will insure that you end up where you want to in eternity.
Jesus made a decision to leave heaven and come down to earth and be born into Human flesh and bones.
A decision, which had great consequences for Him.
Jesus payed a high price for coming to earth and allowing Himself to be crucified on that cross for your sins.
Listen to Philippians 2:5-11.
“Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He Humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The end of this verse tells us that one day, you and I will bow down before Jesus Christ and you will hear these words coming out of your very own mouth, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Conclusion
One day a little boy was out flying his kite. It was a perfect day for kite flying. The wind was brisk and large billowy clouds were blowing across the sky. As the little boy flew the kite it sailed up and up until it vanished out of site among the clouds.
“What are you doing?” a man asked the little boy. “I’m flying a kite,” he replied. “Flying a kite, are you?” the man asked. “How can you be sure? You can’t see the kite.” “No,” said the little boy, “I can’t see it, but every once in a while I feel a tug, so I know for sure that it’s there.”
Friend, do you feel God giving you a little tug right now?
If you feel a little tug in your heart, that’s God.
He’s trying to tell you that you have a decision to make.
He’s trying to tell you that right now is your chance to be saved, to be rescued from your sins.
