There was a Christian who gave a Bible to somebody who was going through a rough time. Their life had been one disaster after the other, but in all that time there was never really made an effort to follow Jesus. So, as this Christian gave a Bible to the man… he encouraged him to read it, and he suggested that (since it December) that the man might start by reading the Christmas story. The man looked at him with real surprise and said: “You mean the Christmas story is… in the Bible?” (Rodney Buchanan)
Today is Christmas … December 25th. There are a lot of people who struggle with that date, not only because most scholars agree that Jesus was NOT born on December 25th, but also because of a lot of the stuff that surrounds the holiday. As a result, a lot of folks have trouble with the whole Christmas thing. I understand that… but I disagree.
Why? Because there are 2 (count them – TWO) Gospels that deal with Jesus’ birth - that's 196 verses. And that's not counting Galatians 4:4-5 which says: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
In addition, there are number of prophecies in the Old Testament like Genesis 3:15 where God tells Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he (the male child of the woman) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
That phrase “OFFSPRING of the WOMAN” points TO Jesus, because ordinarily, AN offspring would describe a child as the offspring of a MAN, or of both a MAN and a WOMAN (Pause). But this boy-child was only described as being of a woman. I mean, it’s kind of like the child was – I don’t know - born of A VIRGIN or something! Which of course, is what Isaiah 7:14 declared: “Behold, the VIRGIN shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Now, my point is this: IF you take the 196 verses in the Gospels, and combine that with the prophetic promises about that Messiah (things like) He would be born of a virgin… you’ve got a lot of verses. And that means that the story of Jesus’ birth is important to God and is important to our faith.
Now, I don’t know who decided Christmas should be on December 25th, or who was responsible for all the stuff associated with the Christmas season. AND I DON’T CARE. All I know is that the celebration of Christmas during season is a powerful tool of evangelism.
According a survey conducted by “Pew Research” (back in 2015) 81% of non-Christians celebrate Christmas (including Buddhists and Hindus) and 75 to 80% of ALL Americans believe that 1) Jesus was born of a virgin, 2) An angel appeared to the shepherds to announce His birth, and 3) That there were wisemen who brought Jesus gifts in Bethlehem.
Say what you will about Christmas, that opens the door to talk to people about Jesus. It opens the door to introduce the reason WHY Jesus was born. And it opens the door to explain the reason why THEY need… a Savior. Because, that’s why Jesus was born. He was born to be our Savior.
That’s what the Angels told the Shepherds abiding in the field - Luke 2:11 says “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Jesus was born to be a savior. But what does that mean? What did Jesus come to save us from?
Well, that’s where our text this morning comes in. Hebrews 7:25-27 says “Consequently, (Jesus) is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
Jesus came to offer HIMSELF as a sacrifice for sins. For OUR sins. He came to offer Himself to save us from our sins.
In preparation for this sermon, I did a little research on this word: SAVIOR. And I found the definitions to be … interesting. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a savior was a person who saves someone from danger or harm. Collins Dictionary told an individual who saved others from ruin, or defeat. And the Britannica.com Dictionary explained it was 1: Someone who saves something or someone from danger, harm, failure, etc.; 2: used by Christians to refer to Jesus Christ.
DANGER… RUIN… FAILURE… DEFEAT. Those were all descriptions of what Sin does to people. And those were all things that Jesus came to save us from.
DANGER… RUIN… FAILURE… DEFEAT.
Sin damages us. It harms us. It can defeat us. But how does sin damage us?
ILLUS: One of the main things sin does to us is creates shame. Guilt is when people say “I did something bad”, but shame is the feeling that results from that guilt. Shame pounds on us by saying our bad thoughts, actions, and language make us unworthy. Shame says ''I am bad. And - because of the bad things I've done, I am unworthy of being loved.” (Craig Smith)
Brené Brown is apparently well regarded because of the TED talks she gives, like the one entitled “Listening to Shame.” In that talk she said “I think shame is lethal, I think shame is destructive. And I think we are swimming in it deep.” In her TED talk she warned how shame… was the gremlin that laughs and plays two tape recordings in our mind: One recording says “You’re never good enough”, and the other says “Who do you think you are?”
The reason shame happens to us is because we all would like to think we are “nice people”. But when we do/say/think things we shouldn’t it denies that image we have of ourselves. It creates a disappointment, a feeling of failure, a feeling of worthlessness and emptiness. We weren’t who we thought we were… and that can be devastating.
Shame is the feeling that makes people remember what they’ve done in the past and when they remember those things… and then declare to ourselves “I am so stupid! I hate myself” “I can’t stand who I’ve become.”
HAVE YOU EVER FELT THAT WAY? I HAVE!
C.S. Lewis said it this way “Satan’s strategy is for us to become preoccupied with our failures. From then on, the battle is won.”
ILLUS: Sin becomes a cage for people. A Boston preacher named S.D. Gordon, told of a 10 year old boy that he met on the road who was carrying a beat-up rusty bird cage that contained several miserable small birds. Curious, Gordon asked the lad what he was going to do with the birds. “I’m going to play with them and have some fun with them.” the boy responded. “But after that?” the preacher persisted. “Oh, I have some cats at home, and they like birds.” said the boy.
The preacher was shaken by the boy’s callousness and he asked the boy what he would take for the birds. Surprised, the boy blurted: “Mister, you don’t want to buy these birds. They’re ugly... just field birds. They don’t sing, or anything.” Nevertheless, the preacher persisted, and soon struck a bargain with the boy for the birds. At the first opportunity the preacher released the birds.
On Sunday morning, Gordon took the cage to the pulpit & explained what had happened, but then he told another story… a story about how Satan caught the world in his cage. Jesus asked Satan “What are you going to do with those people?” And Satan replied “I’m going to play with them, tease them; make them marry and divorce, and fight and kill one another. I’ll watch them as they hurt and maim each other.” Then Jesus asked “When you get tired of playing with them. what will you do with them!” “Condemn them.” Satan answered. ‘They’re no good anyway.” Jesus then asked Satan what he would take for them. “You can’t be serious,” the devil responded. ‘They would just spit on You. They’d hit you. They’d hammer nails into You. They’re no good.” “How much?” the Lord asked again. And Satan gleefully responded: “All your tears and all your blood; that’s the price.” Jesus paid the price, took the cage, and opened the door. (Paul Harvey, The Rest Of The Story)
You see, that’s what Jesus came to do for us. Jesus came to open the cage - set us free. Jesus died on the cross to HEAL us of the damages of our sins. As 1 Peter 2:24 says “(Jesus) bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” His sacrifice gave us the opportunity to start all over again. He forgave us so we don’t have to be ashamed of our past any longer.
But there’s one more thing that’s even more important to us. You see, the shame we experience when we sin is kind of like an alarm bell. It’s a warning signal that says that something is seriously wrong in our lives.
ILLUS: It’s like the pain our bodies experience sometimes. Pain is often a signal that something ELSE is wrong in our bodies. Pain sometimes warns us of serious illnesses… or broken bones. Shame (brought on by our sins) is like that. It’s a signal and a reminder that our sins had cut us off from God.
The Bible tells us that when Jesus came to earth we enemies of God - children of wrath. We deserved to die and there was nothing WE could do to appease the anger of God. Romans 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death…” WE DESERVED TO DIE!!!
Our shame and guilt were only symptoms of the true problem, and Jesus came to bring forgiveness to a people who did not deserve forgiveness. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
CLOSE: I want to close by singing you a song I wrote for a Gospel quartet years ago called “Looking For A Christmas Tree” (you can hear it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNWJaJ7p9mA)
(CHORUS) Looking for a Christmas tree with a meaning, that says love to me. I want more than tinsel and garland bright. Yes, I’m looking for a tree.
1) One foggy winter morning I went out into the field looking for a tree for my home. I looked the field all over just to find the perfect tree to decorate for Christmas morn. I found what I was looking for, a tree both strong and tall. I decorated, strung the lights and placed 'er down the hall. But somehow there was something wrong, my pretty Christmas tree – couldn’t show me what I longed for to see.
2) There was a baby boy born on Christmas Day, in Bethlehem so many years ago. He was a gift to all mankind, wrapped up in swaddling clothes - given so that God we might know. There were no decorations, no reindeer in the yard. No Currier and Ives portrait on a Christmas Card. The manger smelled of sheep and goat and cattle in their stall. There was no Christmas tree down the hall.
3) The story of the baby Jesus still can make me smile, but the little baby soon became a man. And crowds that once had cheered Him on, became a howling mob. “Crucify Him” was their demand. They nailed Him to a rugged cross -stained with dirt and mud, the only decoration on that tree was - His blood. And there upon that Christ-filled tree we saw God’s Gift of love - the true gift from the Father up above.
TAG: The message of that Christmas morn it pointed to the cross… Now I’m looking to the tree.
INVITATION
