God Wants Us
12/19/1999 Isaiah 9:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Text John 1:1-18
Think for a moment of a person you truly love. Suppose you had a large sum of money fall to you out of the sky, and a voice said, use this to buy that person a Christmas gift. Now would you think, "what’s the worse possible gift I could buy for this person to make their lives absolutely miserable? What can I get them, that they would use one time and then put it on a shelf and forget about it?" No you probably would want to give them something, that they would enjoy and something which would benefit their lives. You would do this, to let them know, "I care about you", "I want to be a part of your life", and "I want you to know that you are special."
When the angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields, they did not come with the message, "I got some bad news from God. You are really in trouble now because God has put up with all He’s going to take you from you." No, they came with the message, "Man have we got some good news for you. God wants you, and He’s sent a Savior into the world just to show you how badly He wants you."
The shepherds were considered to be the minimum wage earners down at the bottom of the economic ladders. They got the job nobody else really wanted. They were the dropouts, the uneducated members of society. Yet God wanted them and told them where they could find a Savior. But somehow through a star shining in the east God got the attention of some rich highly educated people to let them know they too were in a savior. They were the ones who brought to Jesus the gold, the frankincense and the myrrh.
At the heart of Christmas is the reality that God wants us. He wants us old and young, rich and poor, black, white, red, yellow, and brown. He wants the educated, the uneducated, He wants those in the city, in the country, and in the suburbs. He wants those in the east and those in the west. Look at the person next to you and tell them, "God wants us."
To fully understand the meaning of Christmas, Matthew tells us about the struggles of Mary and Joseph and their relationship to each other. Luke lets us know about the good news to the shepherds, but John takes us back to the ultimate meaning of Christmas and where it all began. You see some people think, Jesus came into existence when He was born and placed in a manger in the city of Bethlehem. But that’s only partially true.
If you look in John chapter one, you will discover where the Christmas story actually begins. Verse 1 tells us that in the Beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. John is telling us, "Look as far back as your minds could think, The Word was with God.
Now in verse 14, it says, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This means that which was with God in the beginning, became a human being and lived with other human beings. Now we know the Word is the same as Jesus Christ. You may here people use this big word called the Incarnation. The Incarnation simply means, that Jesus, Who Was God, came into a human body. I remember it by thinking of a human body as a carton or container. Jesus came and got into a carton.
Jesus was God -- and with God -- As The Word of God before creation. Everything that was made was made through Christ As The Word Of God. Remember, God spoke the word, "Let There Be" and whatever God said it was. As the Word, Jesus brought everything into existence. So Jesus existed long before Mary and Joseph had a little boy in Bethlehem.
When the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, decided to disobey God, God told them, "the day you do what you’re not supposed to do, you will surely die." Adam and Eve, like us so often, didn’t believe God knew what He was talking about, so they disobeyed and sure enough, not only did they die, we have all been dying ever since then.
But God went looking for Adam and Eve, because even though they had separated themselves from God, God still wanted to have a relationship to them. That’s when God promised them that one day Christmas is going to come. He told Satan, because you deceived Eve, one day she is going to have a great, great, great, great, great grandchild, and he is going to destroy you and the work which you have done.
From the very beginning, even before humanity was kicked out of paradise, God was making a promise, that He would have a way for us to once again enjoy life as He intended. Now God knew that some of us would go looking for life in all the wrong places. We think, if I get that position, I’ll have all the life I want. If I marry that man. If I get that salary. If I can have those women. If I can live in that house. If I can drive that car.
The whole world is busy seeking life and dying all the time. Some don’t even realize they are dying. They still think they are going to get this thing that will give them life. Nothing can replace the relationship we ought to have with God. Sooner or later we all end up, where it’s just us and God. No things, no people, no excuses. It’s just you and God.
There is a reason for the Christmas story, and it’s not just so we can learn about shepherds, and angels, and mangers and stables. It’s not just to sing Christmas carols, or to decorate homes, or to have family come together. It’s the reality that we all needed a savior, because our sin is real and it separates us from the life that God wants us to have. You can search all over for life and try everything from drugs to educational degrees, but John tells us in verse four that in Jesus was life, and that life was the light of all people.
Until we have Jesus in our lives, not only do we not have life which matters, we are yet stumbling around in the darkness. There are a lot of things we do in the dark, that we will not do when the light shines on our situation. I go jogging early in the morning around the East Cleveland pond. When I start it is still dark outside and I jog not being able to see everything around me. When I am finishing my last lap, I start dodging all the geese dropppings that are on the pathway.
Yet earlier I had no problem running and stepping into the stuff because the darkness had me thinking I was alright and everything was fine with where my footsteps had been landing. But I was wrong. Many people are running through manure in their lives and think nothing is wrong, because they are seeing only what the darkness is allowing them to see.
Just because we don’t see the pain we’re causing others, does not mean we’re not causing pain. Just because we think our actions or our attitudes are just fine, does not mean our actions and our attitudes do not stink. The real issue is, how much light are we willing to have shine upon the subject. We see lights everywhere at Christmas time. In our Old Testament reading it says, the people living in darkness saw a great light.
When light shines, it shows us where the dirt, the dust, and the filth is starting to accumulate in our lives. God wants us, but God knows something has to be done about that dirt, dust, and filth that we so easily grow accustomed to having around. As John tells us in verse 9, Jesus is the true light that was coming into the world. As He shines upon us this morning, where is it that we need to make some real changes in our lives? What relationship needs mending? What attitude needs changing? What forgiveness needs to be extended? What sin needs to go out of our lives? What commitments need to be made? What promises need to be kept?
If all we see at Christmas is a little baby named Jesus, we will not understand just how much God wants us. In verse 10 is says, "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize Him." Think for a moment what it would be like to have a child who just turned 18. You’ve brought them a car as an expression of your love. While they’re driving that car, there’s an accident because of a poor decision on the child’s part.
The child is in a coma. Three months later the person comes out of the coma, in perfect health with the exception of having amnesia. Nothing you say can convince or jar this person’s memory about you. Even though you love this child dearly, unless the person chooses to love you back, he or she could simply walk out of your life forever. Even though you brought this child into the world, gave it life, a home and everything else, the child does not recognize you and chooses to make a life on its own, because they can’t remember you or their past.
That’s how God feels about so many of us. He want us to know of His love for us and how He wants to be there for us, but we’re not willing to trust Him. We choose to go and try to make it on our own. Before coming to Christ, we’re all walking around with a type of spiritual amnesia. We don’t know who our God really is. So we create all these other god and try to worship them instead.
It says in verse four, "He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive him." Now God had created the world and everything in it. He had told His people through the prophets, one day I’m going to come into the world as one of you so that all of you can be saved. I will live the sinless life, and willing pay the price for the wrong you have done, so that we can be together as it was in the beginning of creation.
When God came in the incarnation, or the Christmas story, most of the people didn’t recognize Him and did not receive Him. Not all the shepherds came to see Jesus. Not all the wise men left their country in search of him. Busy as Bethlehem was that day, nobody crowded the place to see Jesus. Even though Jerusalem was just a few miles up the road, there was no rush to come celebrate God coming in human form.
Jesus was just another baby to 99.99 percent of the world. So many people today keep Jesus as just a little baby in a manger who they can worship at a distance. Even when Jesus became an adult and did many miracles, most people turned and went the other way, when He let them know, He had come to deal with the problem of sin and separation from God. They wanted miracles and money from Jesus, not a plan of how God wanted to change their lives and their hearts. Jesus tried telling them, that God wanted them, "but they were too busy for all that religious stuff." They were not willing to receive Jesus.
Verse 12 lets us know, there is always going to be somebody who’s willing to serve the Lord. It says in the verse, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe on His name, He gave the right to become children of God." Now this verse is loaded with truth. First of all it matters in the long run what we do with God’s Christmas Gift of Jesus Christ to us. It says to all who received Him. God will not force His plan for your life upon you. You and I must make a willing choice to receive Jesus Christ. This verse lets us know, that not everybody is going to make that decision. But it’s not God’s fault.
It’s not a matter too of saying I receive Christ, and that’s it. What if you gave somebody a gift all wrapped up, and they told you, "Oh thank you so much for this gift. I know its something wonderful. Thank You, thank you, thank you." But before they ever opened it, they put it up on a shelf and never ever took it down to see what it was they had received from you. In reality, they never received your gift, only the decorative paper that was covering it. Yet so many people want to receive Jesus, but don’t want to see how getting to know Him is going to make a change in their lives.
The verse also says, to those who believe on His name. The verb believe means to have faith in or to entrust oneself to. It goes beyond a thought, to bringing about an action. It’s one thing to say I believe there’s a bomb in this box that will go off in 30 seconds. It’s another thing to actually believe it. You are not going to stand around and act as though you do not believe what you said.
What we put our trust in does make a difference. It says to those who believe on His Name, referring to Jesus. Christmas is about God’s declaration of there being one and only One way to Him. Jesus said, "I am the Way, The Truth, And The Life, No one comes to the Father except through Me." That was most offensive statement Jesus ever made.
Today, we want everybody to say Happy Holidays because it gets around the Jesus question. Jesus is always going to be offensive to most people. Because if He was right, there are a lot of good religious people who are still lost in need of a savior. Just because some Moslem, lives a holier life than I do, does not mean Jesus was wrong and Muhammed was right. It means I need to get my life more in line with the will of God for me.
Verse 12 goes on to say that Jesus, gave those who received Him and believed on His name, "He gave the right to become children of God." Now Christmas is the time of year when we start making declarations that are completely false about everybody being brothers and sisters and children of God. Now we are all brothers and sisters in terms of our humanity but it stops there. We are all children of God in terms of God having created us all but it stops there.
Christmas tells us there is a new family that has been created where you must voluntarily choose to join. The fact that Jesus gave us the right to become children of God means, before Jesus, we did not have that right. He would not give us something we already had. He only gave the right to those who had made the decision to receive Him.
Suppose there was a billionaire who had a large bank account which he freely shared with his children. Now if you were not born into the family, you can forget about getting any of that money. But if the billionaire said, "anyone who chooses to be adopted by me, can become one of my children with access to my money." Now by his statement, he has given you the right to become one of his children, but unless you go through the adoption process, you still cannot get any of those funds. You can complain all you want, that you don’t think its fair. But the truth is the truth, and if you are unwilling to meet the terms of the agreement, you lose out.
Before Jesus came on the scene, we did not have the right to become children of God. Now God was merciful to all of us in that He provided this world for our needs, but we had no claim on God that God had to do such and such for us. Even in our salvation, God had to start the process on our behalf. He had to make the provisions for Christmas. No matter how many good things we did or tried to do we could never earn God’s favor because we could never get rid of our sin. We could not make Jesus come into the world or die for our sins. God did all the hard part Himself, and then simply asks us, "will you receive what I have done for you so that we can be together again."
One does not become a child of God simply by being born. Becoming a child of God is a supernatural work of God, in which God intervenes in a person’s life and changes completely the person’s way of looking at life. A person welcomes Jesus in and responds in faith and obedience to Him, all the while the Holy Spirit is working inside you to make a change. God wants us, knowing that He is able to make a change in our lives.
This Christmas coming up doesn’t have to be like Christmases that have been in the past. You don’t need to rely on drugs and alcohol to get you in the spirit. Let God fill you with the Holy Spirit and get drunk on Him. You don’t have to be lonely. Make up your mind to go and minister in the name of Christ for someone else or invite them to be with you.
You don’t need to go out and buy gifts you can’t afford. Why don’t you give gifts that don’t cost money. Write in a card, "Honey, I give you the gift of getting rid of my nasty attitude." "I give you the gift of no longer criticizing you." "I give you the gift of my obedience at school." "I give you the gift of never bringing up that issue again.", "I give you the gift of encouraging you from now on." "I give you the gift of never using profanity at you again." " I give you the gift of helping out more with the chores." "I give you the gift of being more loving, more patient, more kind, more forgiving, more trusting and more gentle." These are the kinds of gifts that we really need in our homes. But we’d rather give a thing, than give a better version of ourselves.
So much of what’s under the trees are going to do little than to bring a few minutes of excitement. After the gifts are all open, and we come to the close of the day, will we have given something that is going to make a difference in our relationships one to the other. Jesus raised the standard of loving our neighbor as ourselves, to "loving one another as Jesus has loved us." Jesus is nowhere nearly as concerned about the things He gives to us, as He is about our daily relationship to Him.
And what is the gift that we are going to give Jesus? Are we mature enough as believers to ask God to shine His light on our lives, and then pledge ourselves to change in those areas which He reveals to us? Are we willing enough to say God I need a change, and I’m willing to trust you with my future, because I don’t know what’s going to happen when I let this thing go? Are we willing to say yes, God I exercise my right to become a child of God. I want you to remember this Christmas that God wants you, and you, and you. How do I know. Because God wants us all.
J. What Gift Will We Give To Jesus
K. Mature Enough To Ask The Hard Questions
L. God Wants Us
John 3:16 "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.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
John 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Join Us For The Christmas Eve Service
This Friday At 7pm
Church Next Sunday At 10:45 AM
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick
12/19/99 God Wants Us
Isa.9:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, John 1:1-13
I. Wanting To Give A Special Gift
A. The Voice From Above
B. The Miserable Choir
C. Care, Want To Be A Part, You Are Special
D. Angels Message Not Bad News
E. The Low Shepherds To High Wise Men
II. The Heart Of Christmas
A. Come One Come All--God Wants Us
B. Matthew---Problems Mary & Joseph
C. Luke---Revelations To Shepherds
D. John---The Place It All Began
III. Jesus Was There Right At The Start
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. John 1:1-2
A. As Far As Your Mind Can Go
B. Word Is Jesus Christ
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
C. The Incarnation
1. In human carton
D. The Word Created All There Was And Is
IV. The Original Need For A Savior
A. Adam & Eve
B. God Promises Christmas To Satan
C. Looking For Life In All The Wrong Place
D. Eventually, Just God & You
V. Real Reason For Christmas
A. Shepherds, Angels, Etc.
B. Carols, Decorating, Family Together
C. Savior & Sin
John 1:4-5 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
D. Jogging In The Dark
E. What Are you Stepping On
F. The Light Comes To Reveal
G. Where Do We Need To Change
H. A Child, A Car, Amnesia
I. Spiritual Amnesia
VI. Getting Back In Touch With Our God
John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
A. Christ Lived The Life That We Could Not
B. 99.99% Did Not Make It
C. Money & Miracles Is Enough
D. Somebody Is Willing
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--
E. What We Do With Jesus Matters
F. Everybody Makes A Decision
G. I Receive Christ Is Not Enough
H. The Wonderful Gift That Sat Unopened
I. Jesus Makes A Change
J. To Believe On--To Entrust Oneself
K. Is There A Bomb Or Not
VII. Where Jesus Offends Others
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
A. Happy Holidays--Not Christmas
B. What About Holy Moslems
C. The Right To Become Children Of God
D. Who Are Our Brothers & Sisters
E. A Billionaire Offers A Plan
F. Never Could Earn God’s Attention
VIII. Becoming A Child Of God
M. A Supernatural Work
N. The Holy Spirit Makes The Change
O. Why Not Make This Christmas Different
P. A New Kind Of Drunkenness
Q. A New Kind Of Loneliness
R. A New Kind Of A Gift
S. What We Need In Our Homes
T. Will Your Gift Make A Difference
U. Jesus Gives A New Commandment
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35
