Can I say I am thankful this morning that all my children are grown? Christmas is here and I don’t have the worry of 10 Christmas gifts for each, trying to make sure that all three felt happy and fulfilled with their expectations. I don’t have the worry about credit card debts ran up because of Christmas. Or payments stretching into the New Year. Why did I do that for so many years? Because I loved them and wanted them to be happy.
But what if I went to all this trouble of trying to be sure that my kids were taken care of only to have them show no interest. What if they thanked me for their gifts and laid them aside, never to open them.
This time of year is about getting the best present you could ever get. In 2 Corinthians, 9:15 Paul writes “Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!” He says you can’t describe the wonderful gift that God has given us and the reason we celebrate this season. He uses the Greek word anekdiegetos (an-ek-dee-ay'-gay-tos). It meant indescribable. It is only used the one time in scripture. Nothing in all the word of God and all the promises of God comes close to being as wonderful as the gift God gave us. And what is this wonderful gift? It is the gift of his only Son. John 3:16 “For God gave his one and only Son---” And why did He give us this indescribable gift? Because He loves us. In fact, Paul says He loved us even though we were still his enemy.
It’s easy to buy gifts for those you love. In fact, we find pleasure in doing so. But how hard would it be to buy the most expensive gift you could afford and give it to your enemy? And do so out of compassion and love? I am not sure that is in us. So let’s climb into the manger where the gifts are laying and begin to open them.
The first gift we will open is the gift of righteousness.
Romans 5:16 “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.”
Being made right with God. That is what the word righteousness means. It means to be in right standing with God, to have God find us acceptable.
When Adam sinned by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, his act condemned all of mankind to eternal separation from God. There was nothing mankind could do to repair the damage done by Adam. Mankind would spend the next 1500 years trying to sacrifice and do good deeds to earn God’s acceptance.
I’ve never been much of a mechanic. I’ve never learned how to change oil or brake pads. For a man that can lead to an identity crisis. So many years ago I took on a simple task. I was going to change the anti-freeze in my car. I crawled underneath the car, found the plug, and loosened it. Just as I expected the old anti-freeze flowed out. I flushed with water, crawled back under the car, and tightened the plug. As I began to pour in the new anti-freeze, it immediately began to pour out. I watched as a whole gallon drained on the ground. I went and bought another gallon of anti-freeze, crawled back underneath the car, and with all my strength tightened the plug. As soon as I began to pour in the anti-freeze in began running out again. Now I was ready to get a hammer and beat that plug shut. Instead I called someone with some knowledge of automobiles. He informed me that it was a left-handed plug. In other words you turn it opposite of what would seem right. Imagine the damage I would have done if I tried to hammer it closed.
Mankind was trying to fix a problem with no knowledge on how to fix it. So even though mankind’s sins were many, God made them right by giving us the gift of his Son Jesus.
This first gift of righteousness leads to the second gift of grace.
Ephesians 2:8 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”
To understand this verse we must first understand what the meaning of grace is. Grace is God doing the good for us that we do not deserve. It goes hand in hand with mercy. Mercy is God withholding judgment that we do deserve. Grace is us getting what we don’t deserve. Mercy is us not getting what we do deserve.
I found this cute poem while doing my studies for this sermon. It speaks of grace.
“I dreamed death came the other night
And heaven’s gate swung wide.
With kindly grace an angel fair
Ushered me inside.
And there, to my astonishment
Stood folks I’d known on earth.
Some I’d judged and labeled as
“Unfit”, “Of little worth”.
Indignant words rose to my lips,
But never were set free.
For every face showed stunned surprise.
No one expected me!” (David Parks)
None of us can earn our way to heaven. We can’t be good enough. We can’t do enough good things to get to heaven. It’s a gift from God. At Christmas when someone decides to give you a gift, you can’t take credit for it. They give you a gift because they chose to give you a gift. How foolish would you be to demand a gift from anyone? We certainly can’t demand undeserved grace from God. He gives it freely from his love for us.
It is because of his gift of grace that we receive our third gift, the gift of forgiveness.
Romans 5:15 “But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.”
When Adam sinned, he brought spiritual death into the world. Subsequently we all are born spiritually dead. We are kind of like zombies, walking around, yet dead. But God’s gift of grace gives us life and, through Jesus, we get the gift of forgiveness.
Two married friends were talking one day about their marriage problems. One fellow told the other one “Every time my wife and I have an argument, she gets historical.” His friend asked, “Don’t you mean hysterical?” “ No”, was the reply. “I mean historical. Every argument we have she always brings up the past.”
Once God offers us the gift of forgiveness, our past is forgotten. Hebrews 8:12 states “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” God is telling us because of his gift of forgiveness He will not recall our sins. He will not bring them to his remembrance. He will not respond to or take action against us for our sins. The Bible says that the devil is the accuser. That’s what his name means. So if you are listening to a voice accusing you of past sins and beating yourself down because of it, then you are not listening to God. If He doesn’t recall or bring to remembrance our sins, then why should we?
So far, we have received three gifts from God, the gift of righteousness, the gift of grace, and the gift of forgiveness. Our fourth gift is the gift that keeps on giving. It is the gift that makes all the other gifts possible. It is the gift of Jesus.
James 1:17 “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”
Jesus came from heaven to earth in the form of a baby. He left behind all his riches, glory, and power afforded him there to become an infant depending on the care of his mother. He came to do something that we cannot do, live a perfect life with no sin. But He came also to die on behalf of us for our sins.
The cradle and the cross are tied together. Jesus just being born would not be enough to save us from our sins. He would have to live a spotless life and die a cruel death on our behalf. He was the good and perfect gift sent from God the Father.
Now I know Santa brings some neat gifts. I know they come from above, the rooftop. I know his gifts are enjoyable and fun. But I also know that gifts wear out, break, are eaten, and the batteries go dead.
The gift of Jesus never changes. Back on our wall you see a plaque that reads “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” His love for us never wears out. No matter what we do, He will never break his relationship with us. We cannot consume all of his promises to us. He will never forsake us or leave us. That is a good and perfect gift.
Jesus came to earth from heaven. This sacrificial act called for him to become a new person. So our fifth gift is a new life.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
In addition, all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”
I think most of us have heard of Vince Lombardi the legendary coach for the Green Bay Packers. In 1958, Lombardi blasted one of his guards. “Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. You’re done today. Go hit the showers”
Forty-five minutes later Lombardi found the guard, head hung in shame, still in his uniform, sitting in front of his locker. He walked up to the player and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Son,” he said, “I told you the truth. You’re a lousy football player. But inside of you, there is a great football player. And I’m going to stick by your side until that great player comes out and asserts himself.”
That player was Jerry Kramer. He made the Pro-Bowl three times. He was on five NFL championship teams. He was in the Super Bowl twice. Lombardi saw something inside of him and brought it out. It was a new life.
I tell this story as an example of the gift of a new life that God gives us. There have plenty of times when God could have looked at me and said, “You’re a lousy Christian. You have no discipline. You’re constantly giving into sin. You’re totally ineffective in your witness. Hit the showers.”
Instead, He sees into my heart. He sees my possibilities. He knows what I am capable of even though I don’t. And He creates in me a new life. He looks into your heart also and sees the possibilities.
It has been said, “Though no one can go back and make a new beginning - anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.” (Carl Brand)
And because we are made new through Jesus we get our last gift- eternal life.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Let’s sit here for a moment and think about some sin or sins you have committed this week. No need squirming. We are all guilty. How much effort did it take to cover up your sin? Did you have to lie adding another sin on top of the sin you committed? Did you waste time to find time to commit your sin? Did you sweat bullets afraid that your sin would be discovered? Did you have to work really hard at it?
What are wages? Quite simply, it is our compensation for the work we do. So the compensation of all our efforts to sin is eternal separation from God.
What is a gift? It is a compensation of gracious favor granted. We can’t earn a gift. A gift is given solely based on the desire of the giver. It is God’s desire to give us eternal life with him through the death of Jesus. We don’t have to earn it. We can’t earn it. We can’t do enough, be good enough, to earn the gift. We just accept it.
So in closing there are two things you need to know about these gifts. One is, they are eternal.
Romans 11:29 “For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.”
When we shopping on Black Friday so many items were tagged “On sale while supply lasts.” Once that supply was gone, no more sale price. Well, God will never recall gifts. They are as long lasting as all of eternity. When you are given these gifts, no one can take them from you. They are yours. But they are useless if left unwrapped. They are useless if left in the cradle.
The other thing is they are available.
One more story and I am done. A professor was trying to explain the gospel to students who had been required to take his class. He could tell they were bored. He talked to a student named Steve who was an athlete and a believer to see if he would participate in a demonstration that would show the gospel in action. Steve agreed.
The next morning the professor brought in three dozen doughnuts. The class was excited about them. The professor asked the first student “Would you like a doughnut?” “Yes please,” she responded. The professor turned to Steve and asked “Steve, would you do ten push ups so she can have this doughnut.” Steve immediately did ten push-ups with no problem and the student got her doughnut. Around the room it went with Steve doing ten push ups so each student could get a doughnut.
Finally, one student when asked said he would do his own pushups for the doughnut. “No.” the professor said. “Steve has to do the pushups.” “Then I don’t want one.” The professor turned to Steve and said, “Do ten pushups for the doughnut this student doesn’t want.” As Steve began to do the pushups, the student yelled, “I said I didn’t want one.” The professor replied, “This is my classroom, my class, and my doughnuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.”
The next student gave a stern “No!” when asked if she wanted a doughnut. Again, Steve was asked to do ten pushups so she could gets a doughnut she did not want.
A sense of uneasiness filled the air. All the students were saying “No” but Steve was still doing ten pushups for each student to have a doughnut. There were uneaten doughnuts lying on the desks. Steve was now putting forth a lot of effort to do ten pushups. A small pool of sweat was now on the floor. Sweat was soaking through his shirt.
A student came in late, not knowing what was going on. The classroom yelled at him “Go away. Don’t come in.” The professor asked him if he wanted a doughnut. “Sure” he said and Steve did ten more pushups.
Row after row the doughnuts were offered. Some of the girls had begun weeping as they watched Steve struggle with each pushup now. His arms had begun shaking uncontrollably with each pushup. The last student, with tears flowing down her face begged the professor to let her help him. But Steve cranked out the last set of ten and collapsed after doing 360 pushups.
The students looked at the professor with bitterness and anger. Steve, unable to get up off the floor on his own, was assisted to his chair by two other students. He was physically exhausted but wearing a smile.
The professor walked to the front of the class and spoke.
“When I decided to have a party I looked at the grade book and found that Steve was the only person with a perfect grade. All of you had failed a test, skipped class, or turned in inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. I gave him this task and put him in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. He and I made a deal for your sakes."
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says,
‘At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.’
Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.”
Please don’t leave your gifts unwrapped. Don’t ignore his marvelous gifts. Let this year a Christmas to remember for all eternity.
