INTRODUCTION:
Today people around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus. For most people Christmas is all about baby Jesus. All go to church, worship, and are grateful to God for sending his son Jesus Christ into this world. Then they go back home and it is all about them. What does Jesus mean to you? Is your knowledge of Christmas limited to the baby?
This morning we are going to go beyond baby Jesus and see what Jesus is all about in our lives.
Christmas is a time of giving and people spend a lot of money on buying gifts. The gifts are then wrapped beautifully and given to our loved ones. Some gifts are expensive whereas some are less expensive. Sometimes it may not be a costly gift but may be precious; it all depends on who is giving you the gift. Whatever the gift is, it is always a great feeling to receive a gift.
Well, the baby boy born to Joseph and Mary was a gift of God for the entire mankind. The Bible mentions Jesus as the indescribable gift of God.
2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! Jesus is a gift.
Illustration:
A gift is basically significant for two reasons. One is what is your relationship with the person who gives you the gift? How well do you know that person? The second significance is the gift itself. What is inside the beautiful wrapper? How useful it is to you?
Well, we are going to see the gift of Jesus in these two aspects; the source of this gift, our relationship to him and the real gift itself.
In John chapter 3 we find a religious man called Nicodemus. He was a popular religious man who had a burning desire to know about Jesus. The Bible says Nicodemus came at night to see Jesus. We do not know why he chose to come at night; maybe he feared people seeing him with Jesus, or maybe he wanted to avoid much crowd or he had security issues to deal with. But as Nicodemus was talking to Jesus, Jesus explained what he has in offer for mankind.
John 3:15-16 15 That everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 16 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.
Jesus Christ is a gift. Now let’s look at the source of this Gift.
Who gave this gift? What is the source of this gift?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world ….. God is the source of this present. Do you know that God has given a precious gift for you? The God of the universe, the God who created everything has given you a personal gift, Jesus Christ.
Why did God give you a gift?
What was his motivation?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world …..The motivation for God to give Jesus is his love for you.
How much does God love you?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world …..It is not that God just loves you, God loves you so much. His love towards you is deep, unconditional, and sacrificial love.
If you are sitting here feeling rejected, broken, lonely, depressed understand God loves you. Maybe the ones who loved you or whom you loved have gone away from you. You may think there is no one who cares for me, I wish there was someone who loved me. God loves you.
God loved us to the point that there was an action to show his love. The action is that he gave his one and only son into this world and whoever believes Jesus has eternal life.
So far we had been talking about the gift of Christmas. The source is God the Father giving us Jesus Christ. But what is inside this gift box?
Illustration:
Last week we received a gift from one of our friends in Arunachal Pradesh. We had to go collect if from a common friend of ours. When we saw the gift we were surprised, it was 4 feet long and 2 feet wide, the biggest gift we have ever received. We brought it to the car and right from that time we were curious to know what was inside. Driving back home we were growing impatient and I started feeling the gift, Sam lifted to see its weight but still, we did not know what was inside. We finally reached home and the first thing we did was to open it. It took 5 minutes to cut open the ribbon and the lovely pack but all of us stood speechless to see what was really inside.
We know Jesus is the gift of God. But knowing him as the gift is just keeping the gift without unwrapping it. Many feel what is inside is eternal life. Yes, eternal life is a major part of the gift of God but that is not all.
Let’s open this gift. What God has really given us when he gave us Jesus Christ?
Do you remember what the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream? Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). God giving Jesus on Christmas is God coming to this world to be with us.
1. GOD WITH US.
Many people read the Christmas story and never bother to go beyond the wrapper. They see Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, cattle, shepherds, wise men, gifts, etc and miss out on the mission of the baby. The baby was God, coming to this world in human flesh. Perfect sinless God was born into this world without sin taking the form of man. The true meaning of Christmas lies beyond baby Jesus. It is not just in his incarnation, but also his life, death and resurrection.
Illustration:
A prince wanted to find a maiden/girl suitable to be his queen. One day while passing through his village, he passed through a poor section. As he glanced out of the windows of the carriage, his eyes fell upon a beautiful girl. During the ensuing days, he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love.
Being a prince he could order her to marry him. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her front door and marry her. But he wanted her to marry him freely and voluntarily and not by force.
So the prince came up with another solution. The prince moved into the village, entering not as a prince but dressed as a new migrant farmer. He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked about their language. The prince understood their sufferings and related to this girl and expressed his love for her. Soon she began to love him because he related to her and he loved her first.
This is exactly what the Bible says – God came and lived among us. He had to reveal Himself to us in an understandable way, and this is precisely what Jesus did – became flesh just like you and me. The gift of Christmas is God who lives with us.
Today Jesus is with us. He is not more baby Jesus. Jesus died and rose again and is present with us. He is with us when we struggle. Jesus knows our pain; he knows each tear that falls. He knows every feeling of ours because He is God who came down to live with us.
2. JESUS IS OUR SAVIOUR.
Jesus not only sympathizes with us but he has the power to save us. He is the saviour.
See what angels said to the shepherd after baby Jesus was born. Luke 2:8-12 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Saviour is born.
Jesus Christ is a saviour who can save us.
What can God save us from?
God saves us from our sins.
Romans 3:23-24 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Right from the beginning man has been going away from God. Man has fallen short of what is needed in him to relate to God. Many think going to a sacred place can save them; good works can save them and bring them close to God. No, we have sin in our nature and no deeds can save us. Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
We are sinful in nature and our sin takes us away from God.
Ezekiel 18:20 The one who sins is the one who will die.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
We need a saviour. Our sins deserve death and we need to be saved from our sins. The gift of Christmas is a saviour who can save us from our sins.
3. JESUS FORGIVES US.
The gift of Christmas is God who has the power to forgive us.
How does Jesus forgive us our sins?
It is like a guilty person in front of a judge. If the judge determines to pardon a person he is not guilty anymore. All his wrongdoings will be written off. This is exactly how Jesus saves. He writes off our sins and our guilt and gives us a clean heart. The moment we place our trust in the Lord Jesus he pardons us.
Illustration:
Once as Billy Graham was driving he was stopped by a policeman and charged with over-speeding. Graham admitted his guilt but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, “Guilty, or not guilty?” When Billy Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, “That’ll be ten dollars – a dollar for every mile you went over the limit.”
Suddenly the judge recognized Billy Graham. “You have violated the law,” he said. “The fine must be paid – but I am going to pay it for you.” He took a ten-dollar note from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him dinner! Later Billy Graham said, “This is how God treats repentant sinners!” God pardons and God paid the penalty.
Illustration:
Do you remember the Jewish woman who was caught in adultery? The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought her to Jesus. People caught in adultery according to the OT laws are to be stoned to death. People wanted to judge her, condemn her, and kill her. Jesus looked straight at her. She did not deny her sin; she was just looking at Jesus accepting her sin. Jesus saw her heart and forgave her immediately telling her not to sin anymore.
One of the things on this package is forgiveness and forgiveness continually. Now Listen, Jesus not only pardons us once but he also pardons us on a daily basis. Today if you are sitting here with sin, or if you are feeling guilty for something that you have done; understand he can forgive you today again.
Jesus Christ forgives us.
4. JESUS GIVES US ETERNAL LIFE.
One of the important gifts of Christmas is eternal life in those who believe in him. Eternal life is the highest quality of life we can ever think of. It is life with God, provided by God, and only for those who believe in him. All those who accept Jesus can have the highest quality of life. Some of us think that eternal life only starts after death. No, eternal life starts right at the moment you believe in God.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
So eternity is not only when we die and spend time with God, the moment we accept this gift of God, he places eternity in our hearts. Therefore even if you die you have eternity in you, so you continue to live in Him. If you reject the gift of Jesus Christ you have rejected eternal life. You are rejecting the presence of God with you, you are rejecting forgiveness for your sins, and you are rejecting salvation.
John 10:27-29 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
Faith in Jesus Christ will place you in the hand of God. No one will be able to touch you or take you out of God’s hands and the provision is open through Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION:
Many times our Christmas celebration is all about baby Jesus in the crib. Christ and His message is much beyond baby Jesus. Christmas is all about God gifting you his Son. This gift is still unclaimed. If you can put your faith in Christ, this package will come to you. Do not stop with just knowing Christ of the Christmas; know the complete package God has for you; God with us, God the saviour, God who forgives, and God who gives eternal life. Do share this sermon, ‘beyond baby Jesus’ with your friends.
I do not want to stop without inviting you to receive this gift. Altar Call
God Bless You.
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