2Co 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
This is the time of year when we are concerned about choosing just the right Christmas gifts to give to the special people in our lives. But let me ask you, "Have you ever received an indescribable gift?" Have you ever received a gift that was beyond description?
I thought about that for a while this week. What kind of gift would it have to be to be called "indescribable?" Would it be a gift that you open & look at & say, "This is just beautiful, & it is something that I’ve wanted all my life - what is it?"
Or maybe it is a gift that carries a lot of emotional feelings with it. It was given to you by someone very special, & it was a complete surprise when it was given. You’ll treasure it always because of the memories. Would that make it an indescribable gift?
Or maybe it would be a gift that you cared so little about that you wouldn’t even bother to find words to try to describe it.
ILL. A while back, on "Good Morning, America," featured some gift ideas that might be called indescribable. They were extraordinary gifts that some of you might want to include on your Christmas gift list.
One of them was a Jaguar automobile, the Jaguar 220. If you care to order one of these, go to your Jaguar dealer & put down your $80,000 deposit. Then when the automobile is delivered, you are expected to pay the balance of $507,000. The Jaguar 220 is a $587,000 automobile, & they only make 250 of them a year.
Gma also mentioned that if you were to purchase such an automobile, you might also be interested in a new car wax that promises to give it the ultimate shine. It retails for $3,400 for an 8 ounce can. I guess if you can afford a $587,000 automobile, why not spend $3,400 for car wax?
A third item mentioned was a $300,000 gold & silver toilet seat inlaid with precious stones. Of course, there were cheaper gifts for those who have everything: an $18,000 frisbee, a $10,000 yoyo, a $12,000 mousetrap, & even a $27,000 pair of sunglasses.
And for the proud grandparent who is wondering what to buy the new grandbaby, how about a $28,000 pacifier?
Such gifts stagger our imagination, don’t they? But they are not indescribable. Even though we may not be able to find words to describe them, I assure you the manufacturers can, & they will spend lots of money describing them in TV & newspaper ads.
They will seek to describe them in such appealing ways as to entice you into believing that you simply can’t live the rest of your life without them. You see, every human gift is describable by someone.
APPL. In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul at first is writing about human gifts. The church in Corinth is taking up offerings to give to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. He commends them for their eagerness to help, & reminds them that those who sow sparingly will also reap sparingly, but that those who sow generously will reap generously.
B. Then he shifts his attention from human gifts to God’s gift of sending Jesus to earth for us. And he cannot find words to describe that. He simply says, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."
ILL. Now at this time of the year we do our best to depict the wonderfulness of God’s gift to us.
Musicians have composed some of their greatest music on this theme: Handel’s "Messiah," Bach’s "Christmas Oratorio," & the beautiful hymns, "Joy to the World," "Silent Night, Holy Night," and "O Little Town of Bethlehem,"
Some of the greatest music our ears will ever hear were written about God’s indescribable gift.
Poets & painters & sculptors have taken up the tools of their trade to pay tribute to Jesus, the gift of God’s love.
PROP. Now Paul said, "Thanks be unto God for His indescribable gift." Why does Paul call Jesus "indescribable?" I think that there are at least four reasons.
I. BECAUSE OF HIS NATURE
A. First of all, I believe that Paul calls Jesus "indescribable" because of His nature. How do you describe Jesus? What words would you choose? How do you describe a baby born of a virgin? How do you describe God in flesh, walking upon our earth & reaching out to the hurting masses of humanity?
Isaiah said He would be called Emanuel, "God with us." How do you describe that? What words would you choose?
How do you describe that which is spirit when all we have ever known is that which is either physical or material? How do you describe God who has all knowledge when all we have is limited knowledge?
How do you describe God who is all powerful? How do you describe the eternal? How do you describe the indescribable?
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.
He was only thirty-three when the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the central figure of the human race and the leader of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.
II. Secondly, I think Paul called Jesus indescribable because of His purpose in coming to earth. The angels announced to the shepherds, "Unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord."
What do we celebrate at Christmas? We celebrate the fact that Jesus came into our world to save us. God saw that mankind needed saving. He saw man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.
When God looked at our world He knew that our greatest need is not for more wealth, nor better schools, not even a better welfare system. Our greatest need is for a Savior.
B. But there will never be peace on earth until men have been lifted out of their sin, & their hearts changed, & their way of thinking changed, because the Savior has come into their lives. Our greatest need is to be saved from the very flames of hell, itself.
How do you describe that? How do you put into words what God accomplished when He sent His only begotten Son into the world?
SUM. I think that Jesus, God’s gift, is indescribable because of His nature, because of His purpose in coming to earth, & thirdly, because of the grace by which Jesus is given.
III. That is what makes God’s gift so special. He doesn’t owe us anything. Indeed, we are in constant rebellion against Him & His will for our lives.
With that in mind, Paul says something remarkable in the 5th chapter of Romans. He says, "While we were yet in our sin, while we were yet the enemies of God, Christ died on the cross for us."
God gives a gift, not because He feels obligated to give a gift but because His love is so overwhelming. It’s a gift of grace.
And when you stop at the manger at Bethlehem & look at the Christ child, you must realize that He is a gift of grace. And there are no words adequate enough to describe God’s grace towards us in Jesus.
Imagine being there on that first Christmas morning. Do you know who you hold, Mary? You are cradling the Author of Grace!
• He who is ageless is now moments old
- He who strides upon the stars now has legs too weak to walk
- The hands which held the oceans are now an infant’s fist
-To Him who has never asked a question you will teach
-The source of language will learn words from you
-He who has never stumbled you will carry
-He who has never hungered you will feed
-The King of Creation is in your arms!
B. I knew when I started this sermon that I would fail in my attempt to describe Jesus because someone else failed before me, & he was better at it than I. The apostle Paul looked at Jesus & said, "I can’t describe Him. All I can do is fall on my knees & thank God for His indescribable gift."
And I guess that’s what we need to do at Christmas time, too, to fall on our knees & thank God for His indescribable gift.
C. When God looked at our confused world nearly 2,000 years ago; when He saw Roman soldiers marching in the streets; when He saw people looking for peace & meaning & depth in life, He wanted so urgently to communicate His love.
But how? "How shall I communicate my love? If I appear in person," He must have thought, "If I stand before the people in all my glory, they’ll be frightened, they’ll be scared away. They will never feel that they can come to me & talk with me. They’ll be much like Moses who stood on the mountain & took off His shoes because he was on holy ground."
"If I speak, if they hear the thunder of my voice, they may never grasp the words of my love. If I send down legions of angels perhaps they will not know how to respond. Maybe they will never be able to experience my love."
CONCL. Folks, how in the world do you describe that which is indescribable? God said, "I know. I will send a baby. Babies don’t frighten people. Babies are so tender & soft & helpless. Maybe they will hold the baby in their arms. Maybe they will touch the soft skin of a baby. Maybe they will hear the gentle sighs of a baby. Maybe they will experience my love if I send a baby."
So in the fullness of time God sent His only begotten Son, as a baby. Indescribable! But the good news is that you don’t have to be able to describe Him to accept Him. You just have to be warmed & changed by Him. So make your journey to the manger with the shepherds. Take Him into your heart & accept God’s indescribable gift for you.
2Co 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
