OPEN: A Sunday School teacher asked her class “What is Christmas - a time for?”
She got the usual answers—Jesus’ birthday, a time of joy, a time to worship God… but then one child raised their hand and answered: "a time for sportsmanship, because you don’t always get everything you want."
APPLY: "What do you want for Christmas?" That is a question a lot of people are asked this time of year. Some people are easier to buy for than others.
ILLUS: In the December issue of Biography magazine last year several people answered that question: "What do you want for Christmas?"
Jennifer Aniston said (for Christmas) she wanted to learn to play the guitar, so she’d like a guitar.
That wouldn’t be so hard a gift to get…
Jennie Garth said she wanted "diamonds - what else?"
Even that wouldn’t be a difficult gift to purchase… depending on how big the diamond was.
Tony Danza wasn’t asking for much, just a "big, luxurious jet plane."
And Kirstie Alley – for her there would be nothing quite like a vacation to Italy.
… so some people are easier to buy for than others.
When we buy gifts for our loved ones we try very hard to get presents they either want or need.
The problem of course (with many of the presents people get for each other) is that those gifts often end up in closets or toy boxes and eventually get sold in garage sales or down at “Good Will Store.”
The ultimate gift (the Holy Grail of Christmas giving) is give a gift that will last… a gift that will meet such a deep felt need that it is not boxed up and put aside.
In Isaiah, God says: I’m going to give you a gift like that. I’m going to give you a gift that will last for a long, long time.
Let’s look at it again: Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)
I. This is a very unique kind of a gift
God is saying He’s going to give us a child, a son
And this boy will have a government placed upon His shoulders
And this boy will be so filled with wisdom and power and righteousness that when people speak of Him… they don’t just say His name. They speak of Him, describing Him in words filled with awe:
· Wonderful counselor
· Mighty God
· Everlasting Father
· Prince of Peace
And this boy will come to establish a Kingdom that will last forever
II. Now, why would God give us a child as a gift?
That does seem like an unusual kind of gift.
As I thought about today’s sermon, I came across some very good answers to that question:
1. God gave us Jesus as a child so that we would understand one of the principle teachings of the church… that is, that we all are called to be humble as a child in our walk as Christians.
2. Or, Jesus came as a child so that we would understand that through Jesus, God would now be accessible to us. In coming as a child, Jesus gave the image of being approachable and loving.
Now, those are both good answers… but I believe there may be an even deeper reason as to why God sent us a child: Because that was the present He had promised.
Back in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve had sinned by taking of the forbidden fruit, they lost their closeness with God, and all of the blessings that God had given them.
And as a result of their sin, from that day until this, mankind has lived in a constant fear of death, and has struggled with the hardships of life.
But God promised Adam and Eve that this curse would not last forever. Addressing the Serpent, God said: "I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15
In other words God promised that one day, Satan would be crushed. And he would be crushed by the offspring of a woman…. A child… a son.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” Isaiah 9:6
When Jesus died on the Cross, Satan believed he had struck Jesus down with a mortal blow. He had struck at Jesus’ heel and believed this so-called messiah was destroyed. But, instead, it was through that death on the cross and His ultimate resurrection, Jesus crushed Satan’s head and has defeated him for all time.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, he told her: "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
Luke 1:31-33
Does that terminology sounds familiar! (Throne of David, kingdom never end???)
Where do you think that angel might have seen those words before? Of course, these were the same terms used by God in His prophecy in Isaiah 9.
It was this gift of a child, this gift of a son that would bring us our salvation and our hope for eternity.
III. Now, Isaiah tells us that when this child would be born he would come for one specific purpose.
What was the purpose for this boy child to be born? (give them time to answer).
That’s right… He came to establish a government.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.” Isaiah 9:6
Then, Isaiah goes on to say: “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:7
In other words… the purpose for child being born, this son being given was to establish a Kingdom. A kingdom of peace, and justice and righteousness. And it won’t last a mere 40 or 50 yrs… not even a kingdom of 1000 or 2000 yrs. This Kingdom would last forever.
What kind of kingdom would that be?
Jesus was asked about that. When He was in Pilate’s courtroom, the Roman governor was questioning him… and Jesus said:
"’My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’
‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate.
Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’" John 18:36-37
Here it is again… the reason Jesus was born was to become a King.
But His kingdom was not of this world
Once, when questioned about the Kingdom of God, Jesus said: "the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21
Paul wrote that - right now - you and I are part of that Kingdom: the Father… has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14
What kind of kingdom is this…
· A kingdom that Jesus would be born to create
· A kingdom that would last forever
· A kingdom that would be within us
· A kingdom where all those inside of it would have complete forgiveness of sin???
Well, that sounds a lot like the church doesn’t it?
And that’s precisely what it is!
Jesus died to create the church. That’s the Kingdom.
Once, when Jesus asked His disciples who people thought He was… Peter’s reply was
“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:16)
And you can almost see Jesus smile as He replies:
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock (of Peter’s confession) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:17-18
The Church was built by Jesus for us.
Christianity was NEVER meant to be a "lone ranger" religion. Jesus never intended for us practice our faith off in a corner.
· Jesus created the church so we have others around to encourage us
· So that we would have others near by to listen to our needs and pray for us
Jesus created the church to be a kind of "Sinner’s Anonymous" where each of us - in spite of our weaknesses - could be there to help one another deal with the troubles of life
So… in other words… When God gave us His Son… His Son gave us this present/ this church
This gift was for us to be saved so that we could be there for one another in the midst of our deepest needs and hurts.
NOW, not everyone "in a church building" will be like that.
BUT everyone who is "in THE CHURCH" will reflect that love and care, because they know that is why Jesus died for them.
IV. I want to close with this thought:
When God promised that "to us child would be born/ a son given… this was not some frivolous gift. It wasn’t a some spur of the moment decision.
ILLUS: A lot of times, our gift giving is the result of strolling down the aisles of a gift store, and looking for that "right gift." We don’t quite know what the gift should be… but we’re sure we’ll recognize it when we see it. Have you ever done that? Of course you have.
But, God’s gift wasn’t like that… His gift was planned out from the beginning of Creation
This gift had been planned from the beginning of time.
This gift had been announced again and again throughout the Old Testament prophecies
This gift was lovingly prepared and willingly given
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. John 3:16
There are people who reject this powerful gift from God… but not because it wasn’t the kind of gift they needed… or would really want if they took time to understand it.
The problem is not with God’s gift… the problem is that many people are distracted by things of this world that appear bigger, more attractive, more appealing to them.
ILLUS: We opened our Christmas gifts yesterday and my 7 year old daughter pulled one gift out from under the Christmas tree. It was the biggest gift there. She had no idea whether any of the other gifts would be better than that one… but this was the biggest and no amount of persuading would convince her to open any other gift first.
People are like that, they often reject the best gifts because something else looks bigger and more impressive.
CLOSE: A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. One day the son died and the father was so grieved that in just a few months times… he also passed on.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings and a great many influential people gathered, hoping for an opportunity to purchase one of the great masters for their collections.
The auction opened with a painting of the rich man’s son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the man’s son. Who will bid for this picture?" There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."
But the auctioneer persisted. "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200? The son! The son! Who’ll take the "SON?"
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I’ll give $10 for the painting."
"We have $10, who will bid $20?"
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10."
A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let’s get on with the collection!"
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I’m sorry, the auction is over. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!"
So it is with salvation. Many will pass over the gift of the Christ child because something else looks more appealing… but they do so without realizing that in the end, it will only be those who took the Son that will get everything.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES: CELEBRATING GOD’S GIFTS
The Gift of Life = Psalms 139:1-139:24
Christmas Card From God = Psalms 104:1-104:35
What Did You Get For Christmas? = Isaiah 9:6-9:7
The Gift Of New Life = Romans 5:6-6:14
