Four Christmas Gifts Worth Unwrapping
“Unwrapping God’s Purpose”
12/26/04
Intro: Merry Christmas! I hope you had a great day of celebrating the arrival of Jesus. Hopefully your day was filled with friends, family and a beauty of soul.
We have been looking at gifts God has given us this Christmas. We started with love represented by the picture of a heart. We said God’s love is unconditional, limitless and available. Then we moved on to God’s intimacy represented by the hand. We discover intimacy with God through praise, prayer and study of his word. Last week we spoke of peace. God’s peace shows up in our everyday lives, is part of his plan for us, and is evident when we obey. We used a picture of an eye to represent our focus. Today
we are unwrapping God’s purpose.
**Unwrap picture of foot.
We are using a foot for a dual point today. First, it reminds me of the imprint of my children after they were born. Jesus was born as a baby, and although they didn’t give him a footprint in the manger, it is a good reminder for us.
Second, it reminds us of what God has designed us for. We’ll get to that later.
First, let’s look at the purpose God had for Jesus.
I. God’s Purpose for Jesus
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
Jesus came to rescue us from ourselves.
Our nature is to turn away from God. Sin is our choice to focus on our needs and desires rather that God’s plan for us. It is the condition of all humanity.
“All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s path to follow our own.” Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23(NIV)
Jesus came to save us from our own disobedience to God.
It was through Jesus that God gave us the opportunity to receive forgiveness and be cleansed from our sin.
“God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin.” Romans 3:25(The Message)
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NIV)
The bottom line of Jesus’ birth was to bring us into relationship with God through forgiveness of our sin.
** Give opportunity to acknowledge sin and to seek God’s forgiveness
II. God’s Purpose for Humanity
After we have received forgiveness of our sin, God desires us to live like it. We can’t earn forgiveness of our sin by changing our actions, but we can reflect forgiveness of sin by our changed actions.
“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
I John 1:6-7(NIV)
When Jesus changes our lives we no longer live as we did, but we seek to live as he did.
“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
I John 2:6 (NIV)
When we realize the forgiveness of sin that Jesus has for us it changes the actions of our lives.
We no longer have to walk in darkness, but we can walk in the light of God.
Jesus came to forgive our sin. Our purpose in life is to reflect his light in our actions.
Following Jesus is God’s purpose for our lives.
