“The Christmas Party”
My first Christmas party this year, that I was suppose to go to, was Thursday with the South County Deputies. I didn’t make it. Nate, my grandson, who is staying with us, had strep throat and we were worried he might be contagious. The second party was the next night, Friday. It was the Wilden family Christmas party and gift exchange. A great time was had by all. Saturday Julie and I got to go on the Mc Cloud dinner train. What a wonderful experience. Tonight we are guest of the Yreka Church of the Nazarene. Then I have a couple more parties this next week. We sure are partying up a storm this year. And isn’t that the way it should be? We should laugh and sing and celebrate Christmas. It’s a joyous event. Did you notice in our Scripture that they were doing quite a bit of partying that first Christmas? The angels threw the first party. A single angel appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks and scared them half to death. He had to say, “Don’t be afraid.” But then the angels couldn’t help it. Suddenly a host of angels appeared. One version says “an army of angels” appeared. And what did they do? They broke into song and celebration. I’m sure the shepherds didn’t know what was going on – but the angels did. And they couldn’t contain their praise. The angel said that he brought them most joyful news ever spoken. The Savior had come to earth – born as a baby in a manger.
I think the angels were just blown away at this news. They knew this Creator. They had been there when He had created the sun and moon and stars. There were there when the earth was void and without form and watched in amazement when He spoke the mountains into being. They were astonished when He created the oceans and watched in awe as the different kinds of creatures were created by fiat. I took Nate to see John’s little kittens and baby chicks yesterday. I don’t think the angels were any less enamored when Jesus created them. Can you imagine what they thought when God scooped up some dirt and clay and formed man?
The angels watched this powerful God create the universe. Volcanoes and mountains and oceans were nothing to Him. They watched Jesus throw rebellious archangel Lucifer from his heavenly home. And now, because of His love for the people He had created by His own hand, He had come to earth as a weak helpless little baby so He could save mankind. WOW! They must have been so amazed that God would go to such great lengths. And when they came to earth to give His birth announcement they spontaneously broke into the “Hallelujah Chorus” or “Joy to the World” or something like it.
I think if we understood a little bit of what Christ coming to earth that first Christmas meant – we would celebrate and party, too. I don’t think we can fully comprehend it all – but there’s a few things I can grasp and understand that makes my heart leap for joy.
First of all, He came to pay the penalty for my sins. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the beautiful Garden of Eden, don’t you think that He and the angels were thrilled? How it must have warmed God’s heart as He walked and fellowshipped with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. I can imagine them strolling along smelling the perfume of exotic flowers and trilling at awesome creatures God had made. Like a loving Father with a loving son, God enjoyed His greatest creation. But then that day came when Eve listened to the snake instead of her heart. Her natural created instinct was to obey – but, using her new found free will, she went against what she knew was right and choose wrong. And as is the nature of sin – she got someone else to go along with her. And Adam and Eve fell. The fell from the perfect relationship they had with God; they fell from innocence; they fell from grace. And an amazing thing happened. Their very nature was twisted. Something inside was warped and twisted and what was once pure and holy became twisted and depraved. Their natural reaction was no longer to obey – but to disobey. Their natural inclination was no longer to do good – but evil. They no longer had a heart of love – but a heart of hate and wickedness. The really sad news is that this wicked heart was then pasted on to their children. We call it “inherited depravity”. And every mother’s son is born with a twisted heart. Every offspring of Adam’s is born with a bent to evil. And every one of us sins. The Bible says,
“When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned.” Romans 5:12 (Living)
“Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal” Romans 3:23 (Living)
“If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.”
1 John 1:8 (Living)
“The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who are wise, who want to please God. But no, all have strayed away; all are rotten with sin. Not one is good, not one!”
Psalms 14:2-3 (Living)
“there is not a single man in all the earth who is always good and never sins.”
Eccl 7:20 (Living)
The unfortunate news is that sin has consequence. The Bible says:
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23 (Living)
“When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned.” Romans 5:12 (Living)
“And to Adam, God said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit when I told you not to, I have placed a curse upon the soil. All your life you will struggle to extract a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat its grasses. All your life you will sweat to master it, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from the ground, and to the ground you will return." Gen 3:17-19 (Living)
But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore.” Isaiah 59:2 (Living)
I will send my angels, and they will separate out of the Kingdom every temptation and all who are evil, and throw them into the furnace and burn them. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt 13:41-42 (Living)
That’s pretty bad news, isn’t it? The bottom line is that we have all sinned and all condemned to death. Not one of us is perfect. Not one of us is without sin. And sin separates from God, from goodness, from heaven, from all we were meant to be.
I wonder how God felt when Eve listened to the enemy of her soul. I wonder how God felt when Eve led Adam to the tree and encouraged him to rebel against his Creator. I think He was heart broken. I think He wept with the angels. I think He mourned as the Prodigal son’s father mourned. I think he has wept over me a time or two. I think you have broken His heart a few times, too.
Oh, but the story doesn’t end there. God’s great love for us compelled Him to come to earth and pay the penalty for our sin. The Bible says,
“And as Moses in the wilderness lifted up the bronze image of a serpent on a pole, even so I must be lifted up upon a pole, so that anyone who believes in me will have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”
John 3:14-17 (Living)
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty? Now he will save us from all of God’s wrath to come. And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of his Son, what blessings he must have for us now that we are his friends and he is living within us! Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God--all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins--making us friends of God.” Romans 5:8-11 (Living)
“For God has not chosen to pour out his anger upon us but to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ; he died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return.” 1 Thess 5:9-10 (Living)
“Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; yet now God declares us "not guilty" of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins. For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath.”
Romans 3:23-25 (Living)
“For the free gift of eternal salvation is now being offered to everyone; and along with this gift comes the realization that God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures and to live good, God-fearing lives day after day…” Titus 2:11-12 (Living)
We ought to throw a party every day of our lives for the free gift of salvation that is ours. We should celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to earth to provide a way of salvation for us. And when we do repent of our sins and invite Jesus into our lives – do you what happens? A party! Listen:
“… there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner repents."
Luke 15:10 (Living)
When you turn from your rebellion against God and begin to walk in His ways, the angels in heaven rejoice. They party! They celebrate. Maybe they high five and shout “Yahoo”! The Bible lets us know that heaven celebrates when we make the right choices.
Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem so He could die on a cross on Calvary and pay for our sins – thereby restoring our relationship with God. That’s the first reason we ought to celebrate at Christmas time.
The second reason we ought to celebrate at Christmas time is because Jesus was born in a manger He could die on a cross – and by dying on the cross he could come back to life. Because He came back to life – He provided us with eternal life. Listen to what the Bible says about it:
"And I solemnly declare that the time is coming, in fact, it is here, when the dead shall hear my voice--the voice of the Son of God--and those who listen shall live. The Father has life in himself, and has granted his Son to have life in himself, and to judge the sins of all mankind because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed the time is coming when all the dead in their graves shall hear the voice of God’s Son, and shall rise again--those who have done good, to eternal life; and those who have continued in evil, to judgment.” John 5:25-29 (Living)
“My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.” John 10:27-28 (Living)
“He will give eternal life to those who patiently do the will of God, seeking for the unseen glory and honor and eternal life that he offers.” Romans 2:7 (Living)
“But now you are free from the power of sin and are slaves of God, and his benefits to you include holiness and everlasting life.” Romans 6:22 (Living)
You were meant for more than just this life. This is not what it’s all about. We were created to fly – not walk. We were created like the butterfly. The butterfly starts out as an egg – seemingly lifeless – but with the promise of life to come. Then from that egg comes a worm – a hairy, ugly caterpillar. The caterpillar crawls around feeding and growing and preparing for the next stage. At the right time it weaves a cocoon around itself. Inside a transformation is taking place. And one bright warm day, the cocoon is torn apart and a beautiful, colorful, butterfly emerges.
The Creators purpose was to create that awesome butterfly. But first the insect had to endure those others stages. I think the egg represents us when we are dead in our sins. When we are born again we are born into a new life. We can crawl around and explore and experience a little of the life God has for us. But we are still pretty ugly. It is only when we cross over into eternity that we will really become what we were created for. We will be so far superior to what we are now – like from a caterpillar to a butterfly. I don’t know what eternity will be like – but I know a little about it. The Bible says we will shine like stars. We will reign with Christ. We will leave behind all that hurts us and separates us. We will receive glory and honor. And then the real party will begin. And it will last for all eternity.
I think God likes parties, don’t you? I think He is into laughing and celebrating and enjoying. And I think we have a lot to celebrate this Christmas. Jesus came to give us the gift of salvation and He came to give us the gift of eternal life. Let’s rejoice in His love.
As I shared about what we have to celebrate, maybe you realized that you aren’t in on the party. You may have realized that you are still living in sin and selfishness and rebellion. We have all been there. And all of us struggle with it every day. But Jesus provided salvation for you. He longs for you to come to Him. How do you do that? The Bible says,
“if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” 1 John 1:9 (Living)
All we have to do is confess to Him we have sinned and ask Him to forgive us. God never lies. He says He will forgive us and will clean up our life. But it starts with confessing and asking. If you would like to turn from your old life and receive new and eternal life – come and kneel here at this alter and pray with me.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for coming to earth to provide me with salvation and eternal life. I admit I have sinned. I confess I have not been living as I know I should. Please forgive me. I give you my life right now. With your help I will live for you from now on. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for giving me eternal life.
In Jesus Name.
