“A Savior Has Been Born to You.”
Various Scriptures
December 13, 2009
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Introduction
My plan isn’t to speak very long today, because you didn’t come to hear me, you came to see what an awesome job our young people could do in presenting the Christmas story.
I want to just look at one little sentence in what you heard today – in fact, it’s just part of a sentence.
It’s what the angel said to the shepherds after Jesus had been born.
“A Savior has been born to you.”
It’s a short little phrase, but it is huge in what it means for you and me.
God: Why did the angel say, “a savior?” Why didn’t the angel just say, “a baby?”
“A savior” implies something, doesn’t it? It implies someone needs to be saved from something, right?
So what would that be? And who is it for?
Well, for us to really answer that question I need to give you just a little background.
That background includes the fact that the angel also says that “He is Christ the Lord.”
The word “Christ” isn’t Jesus’ last name, it’s His title. It’s the Greek form of the word, “Messiah.”
And the Messiah was the One who was going to come and save His people. But save them from what?
Well, let me just read two other short verses of Scripture to help us with that.
The first one is Romans 3:23, and it says:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The fact of the matter is that everyone has sinned. You, me, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, and even your favorite grandma.
By “sin” I mean that you’ve either done something God says not to do in the Bible or you didn’t do something God says to do in the Bible.
You may not have sinned as “badly” as the next person, but the problem is that the standard isn’t the next person. The standard is God – and He’s perfect.
And because He’s perfect and we’re sinners, we fall short of His glory, and that has another implication, and that’s found a few chapters later in chapter 6 of Romans, in the last verse:
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The death this is talking about isn’t just physical death – it’s spiritual death, and it’s eternity paying for your sins.
Folks, that’s what each of us faces because of our sin. It’s what we deserve.
All of us who have had a job know what wages are. It’s what we deserve for the work we do, right?
And God help the boss if he doesn’t give us the wages we deserve.
Well, when we sin, this is what we deserve. An eternity paying the price for our sins in hell.
Now I know that none of you came here today to hear about hell. And to be frank with you, I’d rather not talk about it.
In fact, I’d rather talk about how to get to heaven.
And you know what? That’s what God would rather do, too.
He’d rather talk to you about how to get to heaven.
Unfortunately, in order to understand what heaven’s about, you have to understand the other option.
Now the first part of that verse is that the wages of sin is death. And then comes one of my favorite words in the entire Bible: but.
“But” is an incredibly important word, because it lets you know that a contrast is coming up.
The wages of sin is death, BUT –
The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here’s the scoop, folks. On our own we deserve hell for our sins, but Jesus came so that we can escape that penalty.
The reason Jesus came was to make it possible for anyone who wants it to be able to go to heaven.
Jesus came as a Savior - to save us from the penalty of our sins.
He didn’t just come as a good man, or a spiritual teacher, or a nice guru, or anything like that.
He came as the Savior.
And He said that if you want heaven, you have to go through Him. He said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father, except through Him.
He is the Savior.
So what do you do with that?
Accept the gift.
This verse I read says that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus.
I talked about a wage a moment ago. It’s what we earn.
But eternal life and heaven is a gift. You can’t earn a gift. If you have to earn a gift, it’s not a gift, it’s what? A wage.
When you give someone a gift, do you make them pay for it? Do you make them do extra chores around the house for it? Do you make them give you something in return? No!
You give it to them because you love them or want to bless them.
I mean, you know, for your family thing at Christmas. Not necessarily the office Christmas party where you buy the boss a gift because you’re supposed to.
I mean when you give a gift your kid or niece or nephew or grandkid or whatever. You give them because you love them
And God is telling you today that He has a gift for you. He loves you and wants you to have the greatest gift of all: Jesus.
You can’t earn Jesus. You can’t get Him and heaven by being a nice person or going to church or getting baptized or taking communion or even reading your Bible and praying.
You only get it by saying, “I need it and want it.”
And when you take Jesus, you get a few other benefits:
You get forgiveness for all those sins. When I mentioned that everyone was a sinner, most, if not all, of you thought of something immediately.
When you take Jesus, that is forgiven. Instantly. And not just that thing, everything you’ve ever done, whether you remember it or not.
You get heaven, as I mentioned. You have the promise that when it’s your turn to pass from this earth, you’ll spend eternity in heaven with God Himself, where the Bible says there is no more suffering, no more pain, no more disease, no more death, no more tears.
And lastly you get Jesus living in you through the Holy Spirit, to help you live for Jesus instead of yourself, and to help you understand the Bible so you can better love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
There are other benefits, and some challenges as well. Following Jesus isn’t always a picnic, because some of your family and friends may not understand or like your choice.
But let me tell you as someone who used to live a life that was stupid, selfish, and at times, illegal, it’s worth it.
Take the gift. Reach out in faith this morning and ask the Father to give you the gift of Jesus.
I’m going to lead you in a prayer that you can say along with me in your heart to take Jesus for your very own, and you can leave here today knowing that your past is taken care of, that your eternity is squared away, and that you have the presence of God Himself living in you to help you and guide you until you get to heaven.
Let’s pray.
