Matt Woodly, a father of four, talks about buying his children a swing set, about 15 years ago, as an early Christmas present. It was an extra long metal set with two swings, a two-seater swinging bench, a slide, monkey bars, and a series of hanging rings. He thought the time invested in putting it together would be a great way to show them his love. Besides, it was cheap, and it was made in Germany. He reasoned, “You can't beat German engineering!”
Well, after purchasing, hauling, dragging, and opening the 200-pound box, Matt was suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer number of parts and the complexity of the instructions. Based on his eye-popping assessment, he would have to assemble about 10,000 tiny screws, washers, nuts and bolts, wing-nuts, more washers, plastic pieces, metal bars, and metal chains. They provided an English translation of the instructions, but unfortunately there were no pictures or diagrams – just convoluted, technical instructions apparently written by scientists for experts in mechanical engineering.
Matt said, “It was too complicated for an ordinary, non-engineer like me.” So with help from some mechanically-inclined friends, Matt finally managed to assemble the whole thing, but he had a few dozen leftover parts. It is little wonder, then, that his 34 pound son made the entire swing set shake and wobble. (Matt Woodley, managing editor, www.Preaching Today.com)
Often, that’s the way it is with man-made gifts. Like man-made systems and religions,
they are complicated, shaky and unreliable. Is that a description of your life these days - complicated, shaky and unreliable? Well, that’s not what our Heavenly Father intended for us.
Matt Woodly says, “God is infinitely more intricate and mysterious than anything in the universe (let alone a swing-set), and yet, God's glory and grace aren't reserved for an elite group of geniuses. At Christmas God became simple; the mysterious one became visible, small, and even vulnerable. Through Jesus' birth, God revealed himself to ordinary people. [And] God didn't send thousands of pieces; he sent one piece – a person, God-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ.” (Matt Woodley, managing editor, www.PreachingToday.com)
Would you like to simplify your life this Christmas and put it on a more solid foundation. Then I invite you to turn with me to Romans 5, Romans 5, where we learn more about this simple gift from our Heavenly Father.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (NIV)
Adam's gift was sin and death. By his one act of rebellion in the Garden of Eden, he brought ruin and devestation upon the entire human race. As a result, we all die because of Adam's sin. Adam's sin is the cause of all our deaths.
Romans 5:13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (NIV)
God can't charge anyone with wrongdoing until He tells them what deeds are wrong. God can't punish people for sin until he defines what sin is.
Romans 5:14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (NIV)
Even though God couldn't charge anyone with wrongdoing, people still died. Before God gave the Law to Moses, there was still death. Why? Because it was Adam's sin that brought death to everyone! Adam's sin in some way poisoned his sperm, and all of us were affected.
You're not a sinner because you sin. You sin because you're a sinner. You inherited a sin nature from Adam. And as a result, YOU WILL DIE. In fact, you're in the process of dying right now!
Three monkeys once dining in a coconut tree were discussing some things they had heard to be true, “What do you think? Now listen you two, here, monkeys, is something that cannot be true, that humans descended from our pure race. Why, it's simply shocking – a terrible disgrace.
“Who ever heard of a monkey deserting his wife? Leave a baby starve and ruin its life? And have you ever known of a mother monk to leave her darling, with a stranger to bunk? Their babies are handed from one to another and scarce ever know the love of a mother.
“And I've never known a monkey so selfish to be as to build a big fence around the coconut tree so other monkeys can't get a wee taste, but would let all the coconuts here go to waste. Why, if I'd put a fence around this coconut tree, starvation would force you to steal from me.
“And here is another thing a monkey won't do, seek a bootlegger's shanty and get in a stew, carouse and go on a whoopee, disgracing his life, then reel madly home and beat up his wife. They call this all a pleasure and make a big fuss, they've descended from something, but not from us.” (Bible Illustrator #3340, 12/1986.2)
My dear friends, We did not descend from monkeys. We descended from Adam, and that is nothing to be proud of.
Pastor Daniel Meyer talks about traveling to Ecuador several years ago and spending a couple of weeks traveling in the mountains. There he met a group of Quechua Indians living amidst the most mind-numbing squalor. Their diseased and disfigured bodies were heartbreaking. The bugs and stench were everywhere. People were living in a hole in the ground and calling it a house. They were feeding on rotten food and prizing garbage as possessions. Even so, they didn’t know how bad off they were, because everyone lived that way. They were never shown a different way to live. (Daniel D. Meyer, in his sermon Why Remember the Passion? www.ccobtv.org, 4-9-04; www.PreachingToday.com)
Well, that’s exactly the human condition. People’s lives are a mess, but most of us don’t know how bad off we are, because most of us don’t know anything any better.
That’s our gift from Adam, but we don’t have to accept it any more! We don’t have to keep opening it day after day, month after month, year after year, living in the stench any longer.
Instead, I urge us all to accept God's gift to us this Christmas. By faith, welcome the gift of His only Son into your life. Receive Christ and put your trust in Him. Then watch as He begins to change you from the inside out. Look at the contrast between God’s gift and Adam’s gift.
Romans 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (NIV)
Adam’s gift was death, but God’s gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son. Romans 6:23 says, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And when we accept that gift, we…
ACCEPT LIFE INSTEAD OF DEATH.
We receive a lasting vitality instead of a lingering decay. We open the gift of an eternity in heaven instead of agony in hell.
Jimmy, and his son, Davey, were playing in the ocean down in Mexico, while his family – his wife, daughters, parents, and a cousin – were on the beach. Suddenly, a rogue riptide swept Davey out to the sea. Immediately Jimmy started to do whatever he could to help Davey get back to the shore, but he, too, was soon swept away in the tide. He knew that in a few minutes, both he and Davey would drown. He tried to scream, but his family couldn't hear him.
Jimmy's a strong guy—an Olympic Decathlete—but he was powerless in this situation. As he was carried along by the water, he had a single, chilling thought: My wife and my daughters are going to have to have a double funeral.
Meanwhile, his cousin, who understood something about the ocean, saw what was happening. He walked out into the water where he knew there was a sandbar. He had learned that if you try to fight a riptide, you will die. So, he walked to the sandbar, stood as close as he could get to Jimmy and Davey, and then he just lifted his hand up and said, “You come to me. You come to me.” (John Ortberg, in the sermon, The Way of Wisdom, www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s Christ’s invitation to us: “Come to me and you will live!” If we go the way our gut tells us, we will die, but if we trust the one who died for us and rose again, we will live forever with Him in Heaven. Accept God’s gift to you this Christmas, and accept life instead of death. More than that…
ACCEPT JUSTIFICATION INSTEAD OF JUDGMENT.
Receive vindication instead of condemnation. Open the gift of acquittal rather than a death sentence.
Romans 5:16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. (NIV)
Adam’s sin brought condemnation to all, but God’s gift brings justification. Skip down to vs.18
Romans 5:18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. (NIV)
Christ's one act of righteousness, Christ's death on the cross made it possible for everyone
to be justified, i.e., to be declared righteous, and to be exonerated forever.
In her book, Because He Loves: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life, author Elyse Fitzpatrick writes:
“Just in case you're unaware, identity theft occurs when someone steals your name and other personal information for fraudulent use. Most of us are dismayed by this new cyber-age crime, and we wouldn't assume that the theft of another person's identity is acceptable behavior. The surprising reality, however, is that Christian's are, by definition, people who have someone else's identity. They're called “Christians” because they've taken the identity of someone else: the Christ. Not only have you been given an identity that you weren't born with or that you didn't earn the right to use, but you're invited to empty the checking account and use all the benefits this identity brings! This is so much better than identity theft – it's an identity gift!” (Elyse Fitzpatrick, Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life, Crossway, 2008, p. 51; www.PreachingToday.com)
And it’s God’s gift to anyone who will receive His Son. Until then, our identity, our name is “SINNER.” But when we accept God’s gift of His Son, our identity changes. We get a new name: “CHRISTian.” We take on the name of Christ Himself; and in that name, we can enjoy all the benefits of heaven.
That’s what it means “to be justified.” It means that we are no longer declared sinners. Instead, we are declared righteous, because God Himself gives us the identity of His own Son, Jesus Christ. We are considered as righteous as He, and God offers all that to us as a free gift.
All we need to do is accept His Son. Welcome Christ into your life, and accept life instead of death; accept justification instead of judgment. More than that, welcome Christ into your life and…
ACCEPT POWER INSTEAD OF WEAKNESS.
Receive the right to reign instead of enslavement. Open the gift of authority instead of bondage.
Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. (NIV)
Adam caused DEATH to reign. Christ lets US reign in life! When we trust Christ, He gives us grace and righteousness; and by His grace, He declares us righteous, and then He seats us with Him in the place of all authority.
Ephesians 2 says, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms” (vs.6).
That means we're above all other authority except that of Christ. Therefore, we don't have to submit to Satan. We don't have to take his stuff and give into sin anymore. Instead, we have the authority to say "NO!" to sin, and to say "YES!" to Jesus Christ. You can choose to pursue your own human potential, but that only puts you in bondage and slavery. The legacy of Adam is the tyranny of death and sin.
Ravi Zacharias put it well when he said, "In an attempt to be reasonable, man has become irrational. In an attempt to deify himself, he has defaced himself. In an attempt to be free, he has made himself a slave. And like Alexander the Great, he has conquered the world around him but has not yet conquered himself." (Bible Illustrator #2139, 12/1997.1255)
An Arab chief tells a story that I shared with you a couple of years ago, but it bears repeating right here. It’s the story of a spy who was captured and then sentenced to death by a general in the Persian army. This general had the strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad and the big, black door. As the moment for execution drew near, the spy was brought to the Persian general, who asked the question, "What will it be: the firing squad or the big, black door?"
The spy hesitated for a long time. It was a difficult decision. He chose the firing squad. Moments later shots rang out confirming his execution. The general turned to his aide and said, “They always prefer the known way to the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. Yet, we gave him a choice.”
The aide said, “What lies beyond the big door?”
“Freedom,” replied the general. “I've known only a few brave enough to take it.” (Don McCullough, "Reasons to Fear Easter," Preaching Today, Tape No. 116; www.PreachingToday.com)
What will you take this morning? I urge you, accept God’s gift to you this Christmas, and
accept life instead of death; accept justification instead of judgment; accept power instead of bondage. And finally…
ACCEPT RIGHTEOUSNESS INSTEAD OF SIN.
Receive the good instead of the bad. Open the gift of godliness instead of godlessness.
Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (NIV)
Adam made us all sinners. Christ is making us righteous. Do you see it? Don't miss it!! When we depend on ourselves to get better, we only get worse. But when we depend on Christ, He makes us better; He makes us righteous.
Romans 5:20-21 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NIV)
The law didn't make things better; it made things worse! It increased sin! It's only the grace of Christ that makes us better people. It's only when grace reigns that godliness increases.
Many years ago, Pastor Clifford S. Stewart of Louisville, Kentucky, sent his parents a microwave oven one Christmas. They were the new fad that year, and his parents were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the instant generation.
When Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frowns! Even after reading the directions, they couldn't make it work.
Two days later, Clifford’s mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get the microwave oven even to boil water. “To get this darn thing to work,” she exclaimed, “I really don't need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!” (Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 4; Bible Illustrator #1445; 4/1998.1383)
Well, that’s exactly what God gave us that first Christmas. He didn't send a booklet of complicated instructions. He sent his Son.
The law cannot make you a better person; only Jesus can. Why don't you trust Him? Why don't you depend on His grace today?
I urge you, accept God’s gift to you this Christmas. Welcome Christ into your life and accept life instead of death; accept justification instead of judgment; accept power instead of bondage; and accept righteousness instead of sin.
When Gabriel Hurles turned six a couple of years ago (January 2009), he was so focused on eating his birthday cake, that he hardly noticed the giant package in the corner of the room. When another child pointed out the large gift, Gabriel ran over and began to tear off the wrapping. It wasn't a bicycle or any of the other items a six-year-old would want. It was his dad, Army Specialist Casey Hurles, home on leave from the war in Iraq. Gabriel and his father had been apart for seven months, so when Casey learned his leave would coincide with his son's birthday, he hatched a plan to offer one whale of a surprise. (Boys wrapped birthday gift is dad back from Iraq, Associated Press and YahooNews.com, 1-30-09)
In essence, that’s what God did for us that first Christmas. He offered us one whale of a surprise. He wrapped Himself up in the form of a tiny baby and gave us Himself.
Go ahead, dear friends, and open that gift for yourself this Christmas. By faith, receive Christ and receive a new life.
