John 3:16-18
“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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Last week we saw the video called The Cross by Billy Graham
We heard testimonies of two people whose lives were dramatically changed by the risen Christ who died on the cross of Calvary.
In American sign language there are several signs for the Bible.
The most prevalent one is a combination of the sign for Jesus and the sign for book, Jesus Book.
In the New Testament there are just under 8,000 verses and Jesus, Christ, Messiah, Son of God, Son of David are mentioned almost 1,900 times. That means, on the average, somewhere between every four or five verses Jesus is in there!
Jesus, God incarnate. Jesus, the sinless One, Jesus the crucified. Jesus, the risen Lord. Jesus, coming again.
Jesus, the central focus of history. The salvation story of Jesus is the central crossroad of my eternal life and yours.
This is the first Sunday of the Advent season as we look toward the celebration and remembrance of Christ coming to earth as a Baby.
Born to live a sinless life, to die on the cross as a perfect sacrifice and rise again from the dead. To give us who were spiritually dead in our sins the one and only path to salvation and deliverance from the bondage to sin.
This is the truth that we proclaim every week and in which we live.
It is a glorious truth. The only eternal truth.
The evil one does not want us to know this Truth, so he tries to distract us.
There is glorious truth in what we celebrate at Christmas time.
God has come in the flesh - fully God and fully man.
As it says in Matthew 1:23
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Now, one thing we need to remember is that Christmas is to the plan of salvation like “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” is to the Indy 500.
It’s only the beginning. In the Indy 500, I dare say, that for the cars to be at the level they are on race day there have been millions of hours of time and effort invested. Not just by the team who built and tuned the cars to perfection but the development of all of the materials just from the time of the industrial age. Designing and building the manufacturing plants for the thousands of parts that go into each car. The tires, the chassis, the engine, the safety restraints, the aerodynamics of the car, the rear view mirror …
All of that and much more. And even with all of that, “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” is still only the start of the adventure. It’s what happens at the end of the race that counts.
And so it is with Christmas. We love to celebrate Christmas. God took on flesh and became a Man! That was the equivalent of God the Father saying to His Son, “Start Your Engine of Salvation!”
Even from the third chapter of the Bible, 4,000 years before Christ came to earth, His arrival was predicted.
Genesis 3:15 says,
“And I (the LORD) will put enmity between you (satan) and the woman (humanity), and between your offspring and hers; He (the Messiah) will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”
Enmity - a feeling or condition of hostility or hatred
And from that point forward God, the Father was planning and preparing to send His one and only Son in order to provide a way of salvation for all of humanity.
This was done through the giving of the law and countless prophets over the millennia. Always moving toward the Advent, the incarnation as the “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” as the plan of salvation.
As important as the birth of Christ is the pivotal point of salvation is His death on the cross and resurrection.
So, here’s what we want to get at …
It is possible for Christmas to become a distraction. How so?
Santa Claus - St. Nicholas - even Baby Jesus (he’s non-threatening and non-conviction version of our Holy Savior) - anything to keep unsaved folks from remembering that they are lost in their sin.
Gifts - we spend huge amounts of time in the Christmas season agonizing over what gifts to buy for the parents or spouse or kids and trying to scrape together the money or borrow it.
Even the unsaved have become disgusted with the commercialization of Christmas.
Do we agonize about the lost souls of those standing in the check out line with us?
Another distraction or deception is Christmas decorations. In 2011 Americans spent a whopping $6 billion on Christmas decorations, including LED lights, 16-foot-tall inflatable Santas and pre-decorated Christmas trees.
Another deception or diversion is Anti-Political Correctness - some of us get hyper over someone greeting us with Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I guess if we really wanted to be more accurate we would say, “Have a Holy Christmas.”
If you have ever snapped at a stranger for saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas have you ever wondered if you ruined a good chance to share the Gospel with them? Have you built a wall of hostility between you and them or between them and other Christians who might be able to reach them one day? Have you instilled in them a negative bias toward Jesus followers?
Deception / distraction:
The grandkids love to be chased and thankfully I can still catch them but when I get tired I resort to deception or distraction by pointing my finger in some arbitrary direction and shouting WHAT IS THAT. And, when they look I can easily scoop them up without the chase.
That same sort of deception is used by the devil. The big difference is we were just playing a game and the evil one wants to steal your soul, to kill you eternally and destroy your chances of coming to Christ for salvation. He wants you to get your eyes onto Christmas and forget entirely about the death and resurrection of the One Christmas celebrates.
But one big important step has already been accomplished. Christmas, in the eyes of the world, is a side-show and if we are not intentional about it we will be caught up in that side show and take our eyes off the prize.
Imagine this, you have the greatest thing in the universe. Something that every needs and wants whether they know it or not.
The gift that will keep on giving all through eternity!
Matthew 27:50-51 says,
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split …”
This Curtain in the temple was over 30 feet high and three to four inches thick. It took 300 priests to carry it. It separated the holy place from the holy of holies. A place where you or I could never go without being struck dead by God Himself.
Now, through the cross of Christ we can enter freely into the presence of the Lord by the Holy Spirit because we are the children of God.
This is the greatest news ever! Don’t ever let someone or something else distract you from sharing this good news. Not even Christmas. Of course the birth of Christ is important but never once did the disciples go out into the whole world proclaiming the birth of Jesus, instead the faithfully proclaimed Christ; crucified, risen and coming again.
Can you imagine a driver in the Indy 500 starting his engine and just sitting in his car on pit row thinking how great it is?
At this time when we celebrate Christ entry into the world let’s not leave our family, friends and co-workers at the start line of Christmas. Let’s show them through God’s word and by the power of the Holy Spirit how to finish the race and receive the prize of salvation through Jesus!
Let’s not be distracted right now. Let’s take the time to remember the blood of Christ shed for you and for me on the cross of Calvary and His body which was beaten for our spiritual healing. Let’s worship the Risen Savior with the Lord’s supper.
