Unwrapping the gift of God’s Love
God’s Love should be unwrapped by All People (Luke 2:10)
God’s Love is unwrapped by Accepting the Son (Luke 2:15-20; John 3:16)
God’s Love is unwrapped by Abiding in the Son (John 15:9-10)
Slide
Here we are at Christmas Eve.
By this point, all the gifts should be wrapped and under the tree.
You will have already thought about each person that you were going to give a gift to and what it is that would be that special something.
And while you have been out shopping, no doubt you have seen things that you might like to find under the tree for yourself to unwrap.
Maybe it is a new cell phone.
Perhaps, for some of our younger audience it is the New Sony PS3 or Nintendo Wii.
Maybe it is some Jewelry that you have been wanting
Perhaps it is a new watch.
Or maybe if you are in that small group of shoppers, it is a new Lexus with a bow on it.
Or maybe it is nothing material at all.
Perhaps you are just looking for the health of a family member.
Or the safe return of a loved one or friend from Iraq
But no matter
how expensive, or
how big or
how noble
the gift you have been wanting and waiting for this Christmas,
there is no gift greater than the gift of God’s love that was wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger for you.
God sent his own Son, Jesus,
giving up the greatness and glory of heaven,
to be born into this dark and dreary world as a baby,
so that we might have the privilege and blessing of unwrapping God’s love into our lives.
This morning we are going to finish up our series on unwrapping the gifts of Christmas and talk about how to unwrap the gift of God’s love into our lives.
We are going to be reading the account of the Shepherds in
Luke 2:8-20 (p. 725).
Slide
We are going to take a look at
who this gift is for and
how we can unwrap it into our lives
so that we can experience the wonderful love of God not only at Christmas, but 365 days a year.
This is a gift that is not just opened and used for a couple of weeks and then tossed aside, but this is a gift that will not only last for this lifetime, but into eternity as well.
So let’s read in
Luke 2:8-20
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
(from New International Version)
Before we get into the text, I want to ask you a question.
Has someone ever given you something or attempted to give you something that you felt you shouldn’t take because
You felt you didn’t deserve it or
It would hurt your pride to think that you needed something
Maybe you think to yourselves that
I don’t need any help or
there are others that could use this more than me.
I would imagine that practically everyone here has experienced that at some point in their life.
One more question.
How would you feel if you gave someone a gift but they refused to open it or use it?
“Hey John, how is that gift I gave you?”
Gee Joe, I haven’t even opened it. I really don’t need it. Maybe I’ll just give it to someone else.”
I’d be thinking, “If I wanted someone else to have it, I would have given it to them.”
Now, getting back to our text, I want us to notice who God wants to unwrap this gift.
I want us to see that
God’s Love should be Unwrapped by All People
Slide
Luke 2:10
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. (from New International Version)
It is not for some people, it is for all people.
Maybe you’re thinking that there are others who are more in need of God’s love and mercy than you.
Or
Maybe you are thinking that God’s love and mercy is only for those who
Have been bad
Are in poor circumstances
Are unable to earn it,
Then I would say you are right.
But the thing of it is, is that that describes you.
This is where people get their pride a little bruised.
We need to humble ourselves and recognize our need because this gift is for us and we need it desperately.
The Bible tells us that
Each of us has been bad.
"There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10)
Our circumstance is poor, we are separated from God
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God (Isaiah 59:2)
And none of us are able to earn our salvation.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
So it appears that we are all in the same boat.
All of us are in need of a gift that some of us don’t want to open, because by opening it, we agree that we are in need.
If you leave with one thing this Christmas Eve, realize that you are in need, and the gift of God’s love and mercy is the only thing that is going to provide for that need.
As the Scripture says, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
And as the beginning of
John 3:16 says
"For God so loved the world (All People) that he gave his one and only Son
God is giving a gift for you.
Will You open that gift? Will you acknowledge that you need it?
How can we open it? How can we receive God’s love into our lives?
God’s love is unwrapped by Accepting His Son
Slide
After the angels told the Shepherds about Jesus, the believed in Him as the Christ.
They showed their belief by their action of going to see and telling others about Him
Luke 2:15-20
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
They accepted Jesus as the Christ.
That right there is the basis of our entire faith system, that Jesus is the Christ.
Throughout the Bible we see it being proclaimed by those who are affirming their faith.
We see Peter proclaim it when Jesus asked him who He was in
Matthew 16:15-16
15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
We see Mary, of Martha and Mary, testify to it when her brother Lazarus had died.
John 11:27
27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
We see Jesus Himself, testify to this in front of Pilate
Luke 22:70-23:3
70 They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."
71 Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."
Luke 23:1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
When we accept this and truly believe it, we have unwrapped the love of God into our life in such a way that we will never be separated from it.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(from New International Version)
God’s love will be there connected to us always. When we accept God’s gift of love that He gave us in His Son, we are loved eternally and we have eternal life.
This is why He gave his Son, to give us salvation.
John 3:16-17 says
16 "For God so loved the world (All People) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall 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.
So when we accept God’s Son, by believing in His Name, we unwrap his Love into our life.
Transition
But how many of you have seen on Christmas morning yourself or your kids unwrap a present and it is the greatest thing, but then 2 weeks later, off it sits in a corner, no longer a part of your life or being used in your life.
The unfortunate thing is that while from God’s perspective, the gift of His love is sealed with us forever when we accept His Son, I have seen many people
after initially finding great joy in the Christian life and in receiving God’s love,
later on seeing it have little to no apparent impact on their life after a time.
My question is this. How do we make the gift of God’s love a reality from our own perspective, each and every day, and not just the day we unwrap it?
Now while we unwrap God’s love permanently into our lives by accepting His
Son as Christ, our Savior, from God’s perspective,
For us to experience it from our perspective,
God’s Love is unwrapped by Abiding in the Son
Slide
John 15:9-11 (NIV)
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain (abide; meno) in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain (abide; meno) in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Now the word that is translated as “remain” or “abide” in this text is the Greek word “meno” (Strongs # 3306). It carrys the meaning of constancy, a not leaving, a continual living in or with.
Jesus says that if you keep his commandments, you will abide or remain in his love. You will continually experience his love.
He is not going to remove his love from you, but if you are not following His ways, you will not be able to experience His love from your perspective as He wants us to.
And it is in His love, that we experience joy.
Look what he says in John 15:11.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
He wants us to have complete joy, and that is
found in a continual experiencing of his love which is
found in a continual obedience to His commands.
John 14:21
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
(from New International Version)
We will be able to experience Christ and His love on a continual basis as we abide in Him by staying close and doing what He says.
We will NOT be able to experience His love, though we will not be separated from it, when we are not abiding in Him.
If you want to unwrap the Love of God into your life continually, then choose each day to abide in Him.
It is then that you can know the fullness of His love and the joy and peace it brings everyday.
Conclusion
This Christmas, why not unwrap the gift of God’s love into your life.
For those who have never unwrapped it, this is the one and only gift you need.
Unwrap it today by accepting Jesus, the Son of God, as the Christ who was born into this world and died for your sins.
Acknowledge Him as your personal Savior.
Recognize your own sinfulness and your own need and receive Him as Savior today.
For those who have unwrapped God’s love and received Him as Savior, my prayer is that you make that a reality in your life each and every day by abiding in His love by following what He wants you to do.
Then you will be able to experience the joy of the Christian life.
Let’s pray.
