We’re going to begin in two places tonight – John 3 and Genesis 3. I want you to think about a question: How will this Christmas be different for you than past Christmases? But probably the question that really needs to be asked is this: How will you be different this Christmas than in past Christmases?
In John 3 we’re going to read a verse that everyone knows but we want to read it again. John 3:16 says “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.”
The first thing we see in this verse is “God so loved.” First John 4:8 says “God is love.” That is who He is. So we could read the first part of John 3:16 as “For LOVE so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”
Sometimes I think there is a part of this verse that we miss. We see God, we see LOVE, giving His son, right? What we don’t see sometimes is the Son agreeing to be given. The Son agreed to be given.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son who, obviously, so loved the world that He was willing to be given. Sometimes I think we miss that when we read this verse.
And the reason that God gave Jesus was for whosoever would believe on him would not perish. What do we mean “not perish”? The person who believes on Jesus will not die an eternal death because he will no longer have a sin nature. So Jesus came so that those of us who would believe in Him could have a new birth and go to heaven.
So the question remains is this: Why did God need to send Jesus? Notice I didn’t ask what “motivated” God to do this? We know what motivated Him. He’s LOVE. So, why did God need to send Jesus?
Go back to Genesis 3.
The serpent has come into the garden and he asks Eve “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat of every tree in the garden?” He wanted to find out if Eve agreed with what God had said. And obviously by her response we know that she didn’t. She eats. Adam looks at her and sees she did not die. So he eats and the Bible says in Second Timothy that Adam ate with his eyes wide open. He was not deceived.
So God comes and asks them why did they eat of the tree? And we know the bottom line is that the serpent had deceived Eve. So, that brings us to verse 15. God says “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman.” Do you hear what God is saying? He did not put enmity between the serpent and Adam. Do you see this? It’s very important that you do.
You see, God is telling us right here in Genesis 3:15 that Christmas is coming! Jesus is going to be born. Again, God says “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.”
Now what should catch our attention right off the bat? Do women have seed? This is not a trick question. Women do not have seed. Seed comes from the husband. So God is saying to serpent “I’m telling you right now. I’m putting you on notice. The woman’s seed is going to bruise your head.”
We see in Genesis 3:15 that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, spiritual separation from God resulted. So God, LOVE, had to make a “love” decision. The decision He made, now listen to me, the decision He made was John 3:16! “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” This is what we’re reading here in Genesis 3:15!
“Thy seed and her seed.” Who is the “her seed”? Jesus is her seed. He would make a relationship with the Father possible once again. The relationship that Adam and Eve had torn apart, Jesus would bring it back.
Jesus is the gift we now celebrate during the Christmas season. He was a physical gift, ladies and gentlemen, that was a spiritual game-changer!
What are we doing with the gift God gave us?
I want to frame this message this way. When Ephraim, Candace and Stephen – it’s really funny to me now – that when they were one, two and three years old we would buy them gifts. The gifts would be in a box. They would take the gift out of the box and put it aside so that they could play with the box. It never occurred to them that what was “in the box” was the gift that we were giving.
They would focus on the box. So it got to the point that Doris and I would give gifts to the children in large boxes. They liked getting into the box and play in the box. And it amazes me how that it’s just a box. And they’re in the box, enjoying the box and you would have thought we had given them the best gift in the world.
As I thought about this, I thought about Sponge Bob Square pants and his friend Patrick. There was an episode where they were in a box and you could hear the sound of machine guns and aircrafts carriers – sound of war. So another friend, Squidward, walks up to the box and sees them sitting in the box. So he asks where all of this noise is coming from. And Sponge Bob says “Imagination.”
When you give a child a box, you don’t know what’s going through the child’s mind, all you see are smiles and them enjoying the box. I see that I’m not the only one who has seen this happen.
Here’s the problem.
The child is playing with the box. And there is nothing wrong with playing with the box. But the true gift is here on the side. The child is not playing with the true gift. Oftentimes Doris and I would have to get the gift and put it in front of them before they would play with it. They would play with it for a little while, put it aside, and go back to the box.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him would not perish but have ever lasting life.
Oftentimes, ladies and gentlemen, we pay more attention to Jesus the physical person, Jesus the man, the one we read about rather than the true gift that was inside the human being. When you do that, you devalue what Christmas really means. Just like you see me. You can spend time with me. We can watch TV together or listen to music together. But unless we engage you don’t know anything about me. You don’t know what I like. You don’t know what I don’t like. You don’t know what is important to me. None of that.
And for so many of us that’s how we are with Jesus. Oh, we have pictures of Jesus hanging in our homes. That lets people know we’re Christians. We’ve got Jesus bumper stickers. “Have you gone to church today?” It lets people know we’re Christian. Or “I love Jesus” on my bumper sticker and I’m cursing the guy who cut me off in the grocery parking lot. But I love Jesus. Or I got a tattoo that says “Jesus Christ” and lets everyone know I love Jesus.
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the box. What I have just described to you is the box. It’s not Jesus. It’s the box. You will not understand the gift until you start getting into what the box had in it before it became just a box. The Bible tells us that God gave Jesus a body just like ours. Jesus looked just like a man. There was nothing special about how he looked. You could pass him in the street and not know that he was the savior of the world.
You would never know him until you had a chance to sit down with him, talk with him and get inside. So my question to you ladies and gentlemen is:
“Are you celebrating the box this Christmas season or are you celebrating the precious gift that was in the box?”
Turn with me to Luke 7. For me, this question is one of those questions that I have to ask myself because, be honest, we can sometimes take Christmas for granted. We say all the right things. We do the things that we “normally do” during Christmas. When something becomes normal do you realize that abnormal can creep in? The birth of Christ is more than what we typically do.
When God gave his son and when his son agreed to be given, they made a conscious decision that they were going to do something different. They were going to do something that must be done in order to save the world.
In Luke 7 we’re going to read the story of the woman with the alabaster box. We’re going to begin in verse 36.
(36) And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
(37) And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
I want you to see this. It says “a woman in the city, which was a sinner.” What does John 3:16 say? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” Not perish, again, means “cease to be a sinner.”
So what is she doing ladies and gentlemen? She is going to find the gift. She heard about Jesus the person and now she’s going to find the gift.
(38) And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
(39) Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
(40) And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
(41) There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
(42) And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
(43) Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
(44) And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
(45) Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
(46) My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
(47) Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven;
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” Do you see this? We are seeing the Christmas story unfold here ladies and gentlemen.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
(48) And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
(49) And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
(50) And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
In one of the other records you could hear the disciples complaining about how pouring the oil on Jesus was a waste, how it could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. Let me share some things with you about the alabaster box.
It was not an ordinary box. It was not made of paper, wood or cardboard. It was not a heavy duty shipping box. It was considered precious or costly. It was made of a special light weight marble with a beautiful white, almost transparent, color which was primarily found in Egypt. The box was precious and valuable in and of itself, but what it contained was more valuable.
Why would the woman take the box and take the ointment in the box and pour it all on Jesus? Before she could get the ointment out of the bottle, now follow me, she had to break the seal. She broke the seal so that the gift she wanted to give could come forth. Where do we read about Jesus’ body being broken for us? See this?
So she had this expensive box that held something very precious. She bypassed the outer box and gave up its content – the thing that was truly valuable. What she saw in Jesus meant more than the box or what it contained. And yet the disciples complained.
I’m going to make a very big generalization. Most of the body of Christ deal with the outer Jesus, they deal with the box. They never take the time to develop a relationship with him to understand what the true gift is all about. The complaining disciples, in their minds, were dealing with the “box” Jesus. They had not come to the point of interacting with the gift.
This record is exemplifies why we celebrate Christmas!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” And Jesus tells the woman her sins had been forgiven. That is exactly why he came.
Are you celebrating the box this Christmas season or are you celebrating the precious gift in the box?
Turn to John 14. Remember we’ve been talking about how you have to get passed seeing Jesus the man and get to the place of understanding why he came? Part of that comes from knowing the precious, hearing what the precious gift says and then doing what the precious gift says.
John 14:15 says “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
There are Christians all over the world who say they love Jesus. They love the outside box that contains the gift. They have not really taken the time to “love” Jesus the way He says they are to love him. Jesus says if you love me you will do what I say. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s not happening for the most part in the body of Christ.
When we start keeping his commandments that’s when we start interacting with the precious gift. That’s when we go from Jesus the man to understanding Jesus the gift and the savior of the world.
Remember the record in John 6 when Jesus was pushing the disciples to another level of relationship with him? He used terms like “eat my flesh and drink my blood” and remember how hard that was for them to hear? The Bible says many left him that day and walked no more with him. They said this is too hard Jesus. We don’t want to do that.
As long as Jesus was not asking anything of them, they were willing to follow him. They were attracted to the “outer box Jesus”. Remember. They had walked with Him. They had sat under his teachings. They were in His “healing meetings”. They saw him feed the 5000, the 4000. They saw all of that. They enjoyed being with Jesus but as soon as he says “If you’re going to be my disciple you have to give up the life you are living for the life I want you to live.” “Nope. Sorry. Not interested.”
And that’s what we see in John 6. They were willing to follow Him until they were faced with having to live for Him.
Ladies and gentlemen, are you celebrating the box this Christmas season or are you celebrating the precious gift in the box? Because the precious gift in the box says your life is going to have to change if you’re really going to have a relationship with me and see what the gift is all about.
John 21. We’re going to begin with verse 21.
(15) So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
Jesus says “Simon, I want to ask you something. I know what you’ve done and it’s all in the past. How much do you really love me?”
(16) He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Notice what Jesus is asking Simon to do. He’s asking Simon to go beyond himself to impact the lives of others.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
(17) He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Now listen to me ladies and gentlemen. Jesus is saying that if you love me you have to be in a place spiritually where you can take the things that I’ve taught you, you can take the things that you’ve seen me do and you can give it to others. This is all part of us celebrating Christmas ladies and gentlemen.
Getting ourselves to the place where we can take this Bible, we can take what Jesus has taught, we can take what Jesus has said, and we are mature enough to assimilate it, we are mature enough to understand and then we take it and go teach others also. This is what Jesus is telling Simon to do. Do you see this?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son – and I know I’m being redundant – that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
Peter had a relationship with the “outer box” Jesus. But Jesus invited him into a deeper understanding of their relationship. Jesus invited Peter to move beyond the knowledge into a full and uncompromising relationship.
So many of us we celebrate Christmas with family. Great! Praise God! Hallelujah! But it’s not just about your families only ladies and gentlemen. Christmas is the time of year when there is a spiritual something that happens. That spiritual something that happens opens a door during a set period of time that’s not open any other time. It’s opens a door where you can talk about Jesus, where you can talk about the Christ you serve. It’s a period of time when everyone expects you to do it. So you need to do it.
It’s an opportunity when you can say “God, I love this time of year! You gave you son for us!” Isn’t that wonderful? I remember last year I was at Krogers checking out. The cashier had her name tag that also said “Happy Holidays”. So I said “God loves you. He gave his son for you. Merry Christmas.” She looked at me and said “I’m so glad you said that. I’ve been wanting to say this all day. Merry Christmas!”
So are you celebrating the box this Christmas season or are you celebrating the precious gift in the box?
Let’s look at one more passage. Matthew 25 and we’re going to begin with verse 31.
(31) When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
(32) And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
(33) And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
(34) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Remember in Genesis 3? Her seed shall kick the crap out of your seed (laughter).
(35) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
(36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
(37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
(38) When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
(39) Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
(40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
If we love Jesus we will keep His commandments. If we love Him, we will serve others. If we love Him we will move beyond the outer box and enjoy the fullness of the gift on the inside.
In these verses we just read, Jesus is not saying I want you to go out and find the hunger. He’s not saying I want you to go out and find the thirsty. He’s not saying I want you to out and find strangers and take them in. He’s not saying I want you to go out and find people who need clothes. He’s simply saying “Whenever we do that.”
How many of you have been driving and you come to an intersection and you see a person holding a sign “I need money for food”? There have been several times in my life where I have felt the Lord’s compassion and I’d give the person a couple of dollars. Do you not think that Jesus appreciated that? If your lifestyle is one that will allow Jesus’ compassion to flow through you, you will have opportunities like that ladies and gentlemen.
In closing, as you celebrate Christmas with your family think about the gifts you’re spiritually unwrapping in Christ. We are celebrating His birthday but in reality the primary gift that we have received did not come from a store. It came from God. He gave us His Son.
And because God his Son, we now have that gift living in us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son – and I know I’m being redundant – that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
We now have that life living in us which means we are not going to perish! Do you see how great Christmas truly is? Christmas is a game changer ladies and gentlemen! Because Jesus came, because he was born and because he completed the process, we now have an opportunity to receive that same life because of THAT BIRTH! Without the birth there is no “not perishing”.
I pray that each of you will have a blessed Christmas day with your family and friends. And as you celebrate, remember this question: Are you celebrating the box or are you celebrating the precious gift inside the box?
Everyone please stand.
