I. The Wonder of It All
A. Wonder = to marvel at, or be in awe of.
B. Serving the Lord and experiencing the joy and blessings of being in His presence is a great wonder! There are very few words to describe, if any, the joys of serving the Lord! (I’m not really sure how I lived before serving Him!?)
C. God has blessed you and I in so many ways, we could never tell the whole story!
II. The Five Great Wonders of Serving Him
A. The Wonder of His Gift!
1. Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
2. Notice, first of all, it tells us that the Child is born unto us. But, the Son is given to us. Why the distinction? Because, the Son did not need to be born…He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is, He always has been, and He always will be the Everlasting Son of God. So, God so loved the world that He had to give His only begotten Son. A Child was born unto us, but a Son was given to us!
3. Imagine, the greatest gift ever given, from the beginning of time and since, and, yet, some people today (maybe even some reading this right now) still have not yet received it!
4. This gift gives! He gives eternal life, the everlasting love of God, He gives peace that surpasses all understanding. This gift gives hope and joy eternal. It gives an answer to all of life’s toughest questions. This gift gives happiness and fulfillment in the midst of life’s toughest struggles. It gives life everlasting ---and, yet, some people have not received it! Why? Once you receive this gift, your life will never be the same. Folks, it’s a wonderful life, serving the Lord!
5. Jesus didn’t just come to us in the form of a baby, by way of a virgin – but, He came for one purpose, to die for our transgressions! Listen to the Prophet Isaiah’s explanation of what Jesus was to do for you and me:
“He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5)
B. The Wonder of His Grace
1. If it weren’t for His mighty grace, He would have never sent the gift of His Son. And, yet, even beyond that gift, God’s grace is never ending!
2. The grace that He shed on us, by way of His Son at the cross, was His “gubernatorial pardon” for our sins!
3. Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9)
4. Grace was delivered to mankind, from God, through the Son. John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
5. You see, when Jesus came, His blood was not tainted with the Adamic curse from the Garden. That’s why He was born of a virgin. And, that’s why Paul told the Romans, in 5:17 that “…if by the one man’s offense (Adam) death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
6. That grace has brought to us eternal salvation in Jesus Christ. Again, Paul speaks, this time to the Ephesians, in 2:8 and reminds us that we have been saved by grace, through faith, and that salvation is a gift from God! He tells us in Ephesians 1:7 that “In Him we have redemption through His blood (that sinless, untainted blood), the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” He then goes on to say, in Ephesians 4:7, that “…to each of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” What a wonderful gift, the grace of God!
C. The Wonder of His Greatness!
1.Think about this for a moment. Could a weak God send His only Son to save the world from their lost and dying state? NO! God is a powerful and awesome God!
2. Think about His greatness! Think about His power! Think about His authority! This is the God that desires and intimate relationship with you! WOW!!!
3. No wonder the Psalmist said, “We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.” (Psalm 75:1) No wonder He said, in Psalm 48:1, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised…”
4. He is the great and mighty God. And serving a great and mighty God is wonderful.
5. Think about it. He is omnipotent. He obtains all power. He is the all-sufficient One! He is omniscient. He knows all things. What a great God!
D. The Wonder of His Goodness.
1. Then, when you think of His gift, and how much grace He bestowed upon us in His greatness… you will also begin to think of His goodness! God is a good God! And it is wondrous to serve a good God!
2. God is good, all the time! All throughout the Palms the author gives speaks of God’s goodness.
Psalm 34:8 “O, taste and see that the Lord is good..”
Psalm 86:5 “For You, Lord are good and ready to forgive…”
Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations.”
Psalm 106:1 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!”
Psalm 145:9 “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
3. Even Nahum speaks of God’s goodness (1:7), “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust Him.”
D. The Wonder of His Glory!
1. Even the gift of His Son speaks of His mighty power, majesty and glory!
2. Isaiah 29:14 tells us of God’s great glory: “Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder…”
3. Now, after having sent the gift, after having been good and great in our lives, even after bestowing grace to us, God now gives the gift of His glorious presence! The glory of God is truly a wonderful experience!
4. Turn to Hebrews 4:14-16 {read}
5. Let’s read, once again, the prophecy of Joel 2:23-27
6. All this starts with the gift!
