The Wonderful Gifts of Christmas
It had been a hard winter in the Appalachian area. The snow had piled up deeper and deeper, the mercury dropped, rivers froze, people suffered. The Red Cross used helicopters to fly in supplies. One crew had been working day after day--long hours. They were on their way home late in the afternoon when they saw a little cabin submerged in the snow. There was a thin whisper of smoke coming from the chimney. The rescue team figured they were probably about out of food, fuel, perhaps medicine. Because of the trees they had to put the helicopter down a mile away. They put on heavy packs with emergency supplies, trudged through heavy snow, waist deep, reached the cabin exhausted, panting, perspiring. They pounded on the door. A thin, gaunt mountain woman opened the door and the lead man gasped, "We're from the Red Cross." She was silent for a moment and then she said, "It's been a hard winter, Sonny, I just don't think we can give anything this year."
As we come upon another Christmas here in 2004, we are again faced with the usual talk:
Where is the real worship of the Christ child?
Where is the love of our Lord and Saviour?
Where is the real meaning of Christmas?
So often we talk about the gifts that we give and receive, and talk more and more about the materialism that surrounds Christmas. We talk some about the gifts that the Magi, also known as the wise men, gave. Let's talk first about these Magi.
I) The Meaning of the Gifts Of The Magi
Matt 2:11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (NKJ)
These men, the Magi or wise men, dug into their treasures and pulled out gifts to give. Some people speak about the gifts that the Magi, (a.k.a., astrologers, scientists, etc) gave regarding the value of the gifts. The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were gifts of great cost, but how did this tie in with the coming of God the Son in the flesh?
Each of the three gifts has a special meaning relating to the ministry of Christ.
Gold: This was the most precious of metals at the time, and represented Jesus' royalty. Jesus is, as shown in 1 Timothy 6:13-16 and other verses, the King of Kings!
1 Tim 6:13-16
13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 which He will bring about at the proper time-- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him {be} honor and eternal dominion! Amen. (NAU)
Frankencense: An incense made from the sap of trees, which was highly valuable, and it represented the incense which was burned in worship to God in the Temple. In fact, it also represents the prayers which we offer up to God:
Rev 8:3-4
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. (KJV)
Myrrh: Myrrh is a perfume extracted from trees in Middle East. It was used to embalm the dead, which speaks of Jesus' death to come at the cross. The word myrrh, the word from which the city of Smyrna in Revelation 2 comes from the word pronounced the same and means "bitterness". The suffering of the Lord on the cross would indeed be bitter, as God the Father and God the Son were separated by the sin that Jesus bore.
We don't really talk about the real, true, best gifts given at Christmas--the ones that God gave to us that night, millinia ago in a stable in the Middle East. And they were perhaps gifts that you may not have considered.
II) Did Jesus Really Bring Peace and Joy To The World?
Have we seen world peace since Jesus came? No. We've seen two world wars and countless other wars and military engagements. Folks, I'm here to tell you that there will always be wars on earth until Jesus comes again because of the depravity of the human heart--the total bent of the human will toward sin.
But, Jesus' coming did bring joy to all people:
Luke 2:10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. (NKJ)
Does this mean all of the world? Many people look at this verse, and also verse 14 and say that joy and peace came to the world:
Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (NKJ)
As I mentioned two weeks ago when I preached, some translations don't quite get the flavor of the original Greek, and here the KJV and NKJV fall short. Here's how:
Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; (NAU)
2992 laos (lah-os');
apparently a primary word; a people (in general; thus differing from 1218, which denotes one's own populace):
KJV-- people.
2992 laos-
1) a people, people group, tribe, nation, all those who are of the same stock and language
2) used of a great part of the population gathered together anywhere
Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." (NAU)
It was the Jews that were to experience joy at his coming, and it was those with whom he is well pleased that will experience peace.
Was there a general joy and peace that came to the world? Yes, in a sense. Because of the influence of Christians throughout the world, we are the "salt and light" to the world, as salt we act as a preserving agent to keep the world from being any more degenerate than it is. And we are a light to all as Christians, who show the light of God, Jesus Christ, to unbelievers and share Jesus Christ by our works which they see and by the gospel which we share to bring some into a saving relationship with Christ! I firmly believe that if it weren't for the faithful Christians in our country and that the USA provides such great support to the mission field God would have destroyed our nation 20 or 30 years ago.
III) The Gifts That Jesus Gave To Us
What gifts did Jesus bring to us? The greatest gifts of all:
Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." (NAU)
He brought you and me, his elect, the saved people of the world, peace. But what peace did He bring?
A) The Peace of our Salvation
1) I Have Been Saved
Luke 2:11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (NKJ)
When Jesus Christ saves you, a glorious peace comes over you knowing that God has spared you from the fires of Hell forever. First we see our sin, that we need a Saviour. Then we see that Hell is our destination. Then we see the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, and that by believing, trusting and asking for salvation we would be set free.
People without a relationship with Jesus Christ have no real peace. Look at the famous people in Hollywood. All the money, all the fame and they have no peace. They are continually searching for peace. The spend great sums of money for things, yet no peace. Money can't buy you peace.
They try to find happiness in the bottom of a bottle of wine or whiskey, but instead they find that the troubles that they tried to drown can swim and bring more troubles with them.
They try to find happiness with heroin, speed and other drugs, only to make themselves even more miserable.
They have sex partner after sex partner and they have broken hearts because they can't find true love.
Folks, true love is not found in money, possessions, alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex. True love is found at the cross of Jesus Christ. Look, money and possessions you will leave behind and alcohol, drugs, gambling and sex can literally kill you. But only Jesus Christ brings life to the soul:
Eph 2:1-3
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (NKJ)
When Jesus saves a soul, he brings that soul from the death of sin, the separation from God and eliminates the penalty of sin: eternal condemnation in Hell. You have a peace in your heart knowing that you will be eternally saved; you are secure with Jesus Christ, even when you sin at times.
But some people miss a valuable point: Is that all there is? Does salvation end there? The Christmas story tells us a vibrant no!
2) I Am Being Saved
Matt 1:18-21
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
20 But while he thought about 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.
21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (NKJ)
See, when you and I are saved, we are not merely saved and set free from the Judge's sentence of eternal death in Hell. No, here's what is remarkable: we have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." (NKJ)
When we are saved, God adopts us as children, and we can run like the little Jewish kids do their fathers saying Abba! We used run to our earthly fathers and say the same word in English: Daddy. God doesn't just leave us out there in the ocean of sin on some island after He saves us, He brings us into a relationship with Him.
While we have been set free from the penalty of sin when God saved us, when He set us apart from the mass of humanity, He didn't stop there. He becomes our Daddy, and as a Good Father would do with a child He teaches us. He saves us from our sins; we are being saved from our sins. When we are saved, God lives within us, he becomes a part of our very lives and slowly makes us different from the world. He saves us from sins, and what a patient father He is. He helps us up when we fall. He teaches us with a combination of the leading of the Holy Spirit, our Teacher and Comforter and from "on the job" experiences--life's lessons. Like any Good Father, He also disciplines us when we sin through guilt and consequences. Jesus doesn't save you just so that you may sin more, and don't make a mockery of Jesus's great salvation by sinning with the knowledge that Jesus forgives you. You tread on dangerous ground when you do that. You see, again, He is saving us from our sins.
3) We Will Be Saved
Not only has Jesus Christ saved us as far as the penalty of sin, given us a permanent position with God forever, not only has He worked works in us and continues to do so in saving us from our sins by adopting us to Himself and remodeling our hearts as life goes by, but Jesus also saves us from our sins when we go to be with Him in heaven one day:
I Jn 3:1-2
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (NKJ)
A few minutes ago we read that God is "light approachable" and that God is He "who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see." No man has seen God and lived, with the exception of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.
Yet, there will be a day when we will be like Jesus--our sinful tendencies will be gone. We will sin no more, because sin will, once and for all, destroyed in our hearts. Our bodies will be made perfect, and the curse of sin will no longer constantly nag us.
Along with the sin that will be done away with will be all of the baggage that it carries:
Rev 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (NKJ)
Heb 4:9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. (NKJ)
You see, God doesn't just save us then let us wallow in the mud of sin. No, he loves us because we are His children, and he teaches us, he guides us, and yes, He disciplines us to bring us into a right relationship with Him. Each day I should become more like Jesus Christ and less like Jeff Hughes.
One great, glorious day Jesus will take us to heaven, and on that great day we will have the curse of sin removed. We will become perfect, as Christ Himself is perfect. We will love as we have never loved before. We will have rest and peace.
