This Christmas we’ve been contemplating the greatness of our Everlasting God and Father. First, we saw how God is Ever-Faithful. There is a verse in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that says, “For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him [Jesus]. Therefore, through him [Jesus] we also say “Amen” to the glory of God.”
At Christmas, God came, though not just for us, also for the thousands of generations before us! Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.” It’s interesting as you read Matthew’s gospel. What does he do? What does Luke do in his gospel? Matthew 1, Luke 3. They march right down through history from Adam, or from Abraham, all the way to the birth of Jesus. God is ever-faithful! He will not leave us disappointed—not in any way!
Second, we saw how God is Ever-Present. I hope you enjoyed listening to my father-in-law preach as much as I do! In Matthew 1:23 the angel announces to Joseph, “See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated ‘God is with us.’” In January we’re doing a series called First Love. We’re going to jump into the gospel of John.
And what does John tell us about Christmas? God is Ever-Present! John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” How much closer can God get to us than taking on human flesh and blood and dwelling among us? How can God get any closer than sending His own Holy Spirit to take up residence within us and dwell within us?
God doesn’t leave us disappointed; He is ever faithful! God doesn’t leave us alone, nor abandon us; He is ever-present! As Christmas comes I hope you will contemplate these grand truths of Scripture.
This morning I want you to see a third truth… how God is Ever-Giving. God is ever-so-merciful and ever-so-gracious! One of the first verses I ever memorized as a child was John 3:16 (NIV), “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.” This is a profound statement. For God so loved the world, he didn’t just “send” his One and Only Son. No, of an abundance of love, he “gave” his One and Only Son.”
Now I want you to think about every Christmas you’ve ever had. Think about every gift you ever received. There have been so many times I’ve received a gift and thought, “Gee, Thanks? Another pair of dress socks.” One year I got a digitized Kleenex box. It was designed to look like a bathroom. There was a button on the faucet that made the sound of running water. If you touched the razer it made a buzzing sound. There was a hairdryer. I hadn’t heard the sound of a hair dryer in years. The best part was you could hit toilet lever, and it would make a loud flushing sound! Quite the conversation piece!
There were many times my father would get me a gift, and I’d be utterly mystified. I’d ask, “What’s this? What’s this for?” My dad knew me better than anyone. He’d often know what I needed even before I needed it. He’d give me some tool or gadget. But it wasn’t until he explained its value, or showed me how to use it, that my eyes would light up, and I’d be flooded with gratitude. I think he enjoyed surprising me as much as anything.
I think this same is what happens when we tell people how our Father in Heaven loved us so much he gave his One and Only Son. There are some who, when they hear the name of Jesus, will say, “Ah Gee, Thanks, but I’d rather have a new pair of socks.” But there are others who will light up… if only we would explain the value of Jesus, and show them how to have a relationship with God through Jesus. Who is this Jesus? Why does he matter?
This brings us to another important point. It’s impossible to even begin to appreciate the gift of God’s One and Only Son, if we don’t understand our deepest, and most profound needs. So let me just ask. What is your deepest and most profound need? Is it another pair of socks to keep your feet warm? Is it a digital Kleenex box that emulate bathroom sounds? {Okay, for the record—the Kleenex box grew on me—it’s a gift that keeps on giving—I think it's still in my shed.}
But seriously, what is your deepest, most profound need? Whatever you answer, dig deeper still. “I need a big screen TV, an 8k screen (my 4K stuff is yesterday’s Atari)! I need a new phone, more Legos, more tools, more collectables, more books, 8K DVDs to replace my 4K Movies.”
So go deeper. What do you most need? There will come a point when you will say, “you.” You will say, “I’m just thankful for the gift of you. That you are in my life, that you could spend this Christmas with me. That mom is here. Dad is here. The kids are here. The grandkids are here. My brother. My sister. My aunt and uncle.” We don’t always reflect on value of someone until their truly gone.
But we can still go deeper. There are such things as our health. What we wouldn’t give to have our health, to preserve our youth! We could also get down to brass tacks. There are the basic necessities. In places like Mayfield, KY people realize what a blessing just to have a home, a roof over your head, to feel safe. Basic necessities include cash. Lots of people with their hand out. What about food and water, breath in our lungs. There is a hierarchy of ever deepening needs.
So I started thinking how Jesus would tell people things like, “Yeah, but man doesn’t live on bread alone.” He told the woman at the well, “Yeah, anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. If you’d ask, I could give you living water.” But even more pointedly Jesus would say audacious things like, “I am the light of the world. I am the door, the gate, the way, the truth, the life. I am the true vine. I am the good shepherd. I am the bread of life. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. I am the resurrection and life—whoever believes in me though he dies yet shall he live.”
If you ask your son or daughter what they most desperately need, what would they say? Whatever they answer, they really believe that to be what they most desperately need. But you as a parent, as a person of understanding, you know good and well that isn’t what they “most desperately need.”
If you ask a person on the street what they most desperately need, it might be money, it might be work, justice, safety, security. A million things. But as a believer, as a person of understanding, is that their truest need? Now if you read their sign but say, “Let me tell you about Jesus instead” they might be offended. But that doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t who they most need.
When the angel appeared to Joseph, the angel had a lot to say. In Matthew 1:20-21 the angel appears to Joseph in a dream and says, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” A son named Jesus will “save” God’s people “from their sins!” Really? What is sin? Why is it a problem? Just what kind of problem is it? My feet are cold, maybe I’d rather have a new pair of socks?
The unified testimony of Scripture from cover to cover is that we need to be saved from our sins. What is sin? It’s moral rebellion against God, against his Holy character, against what he has commanded. Why does sin matter? Because the wages of sin is physical and spiritual death. We die because of sin. Sometimes sin brings a slow death, somethings it brings quick death, but we will all die in time.
Now some will say, why doesn’t God just shrug his shoulders and just forget about our sins? When God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, he warned them that violating the tree of morality would cost death. In the aftermath of their sin, as Adam and Eve hid alone, in nakedness and shame, unable to cover themselves, were told that God had to kill an animal, shed its blood, and use its skin, to cover Adam and Eve’s guilt. In a vivid display, God showed Adam and Eve that not only does sin cause death… but that unless the blood of a substitutionary sacrifice is provided, they themselves must die. For a time, God would allow the substitutionary sacrifice of animals to spare man of certain death. But in time it would take a most precious sacrifice, one without blemish, spot, stain…
Abraham and Isaac. Whatever we might say, commending Abraham and Isaac, the reality is that Isaac’s very life was being demanded of him. But as we know God spared Isaac death. He provided a substitutionary ram. On so many occasion we see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… even Adam and Eve’s offspring Cain and Abel… all building altars, making sacrifices. In the wilderness, what did God demand of Israel? Sacrifices. Every time there is sin, some innocent creature without spot or blemish has to die, its body broken, its blood shed.
There is no indication that sacrifice was the invention of man. From the beginning it was God who established, in vivid display, that the wages of sin is always death. The death of animals can defer God’s just wrath against sin for a time… but the death of one far greater would be required to forever satisfy the just wrath of God for all eternity. And so God as a Father so loved the world he decided to “give” (not just send, but give… indeed sacrifice) what is most needed.
“Joseph, the Father is giving up Jesus, His One and Only Son, to save man from sin.” Whatever it is we think we most profoundly need… Whatever our loved ones think they most profoundly need… God is in his infinite wisdom and understanding tells us, it's my Son Jesus you most profoundly need. “Satan, you will strike his heel but he will crush your head.” “Adam and Eve, this animal will defer your death… but a solution, a true substitutionary death, an atoning sacrifice, real flesh, real blood, poured out for sinful man, the sending one through whom all will be blessed is imminent.”
I leave you with John 3:14-18, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.”