CHRISTMAS WORDS
“The Gift that Keeps on Giving”
John 3:1-16
Today we come to my final message in the sermon series I have been preaching titled Christmas words. In the past month we have taken a closer look at these words:
1. Peace. Some of you know there was a period of time between the writing of the Old Testament and the New Testament of about 400 years... They are often referred to as the silent years because that time period was meant to be a time of waiting. It had been prophesied over 400 times by the way in the Old Testament that this Savior would come into the world. Isaiah tells us that we He would be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of peace. One of the names given to Jesus was prince of peace. You know what the origin of the word prince is? Means chief. So Jesus is the man who is the chief of peace. In other words he is in charge of peace. if you need peace, go to him. Because he is the source.
2. Then we looked at the word hope. Hope is my favorite word in the Bible. We use it so many times we don’t really understand the power of the word. The word hope in the Greek has two elements. (1) Desire and (2) Expectation. Most of us, when we say that we hope for something, it’s like we’re saying I wish for it. When you wish for something you desire it, you want it, but you don’t always expect to get. But when you hope, when you have true biblical hope you not only desire it, you expect it. Just this week I heard a song Chris Tomlin sings that says,
Come thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
Prophets and others had been waiting for this one named Jesus to come to earth. And I love this phrase that he is that long expected Jesus. They weren’t wishing on a star---ever done that --- ore-they were going to see a star over Bethlehem that would lead them to the long expected Jesus. They knew it. Jesus is called our blessed hope. We do not wish to spend eternity with him. We expect to. We know it. If you have Jesus as your personal savior you can expect to spend all of eternity with him.
The third word we looked at was joy. I have never read so much about the word joy in my lifetime as I read that week for that message. The word JOY is used over 200 times in Scripture; my favorite way it is used is when we refer to it as unspeakable joy. It’s different from happiness. Happiness is based on your circumstances. Something good happens and you feel happy. Joy is not dependent on your circumstances. Joy is bigger than your circumstances. Joy is almost always preceded by an adjective--great joy, extreme joy-- in other words joy is a very intense word. And sometimes it is so wonderful that we cannot even find the words to describe it--all we can say is that it is joy unspeakable-so great I don’t have words to describe it. So full of joy I can’t even speak.
4. Then we come to the fourth week. I prayed each week asking God what word to focus on... Peace, hope, joy... These are common words we use at Christmas but in the fourth week God was impressing me with the word purpose. It’s a great word but first I thought... Is that a word we really talk about it Christmas? Yet God kept giving me that word----purpose. I came across these words and they really spoke to me:
There is something inside of all of us that causes us to want to believe that llife is not pointless and that we matter.
That statement is so true and it is true for everyone. Regardless of race, religion, where you were born, whether you are male or female God has instilled within all of us the desire to fulfill a purpose. You and I were created to fulfill a purpose. God has a plan and a purpose for every one of us. Why? Because we were made in his image. God created everything in this universe but he only created one who can communicate with him. People. You and me. We are his crowning achievement according to Scripture. Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 “for we are God’s masterpiece. God has a purpose for you and you are the only one can fulfill it.”
5. Then on Christmas Eve I spoke about the greatest Christmas word of all. Jesus. How can we possibly talk about Christmas without talking about Christ. And I reminded you that the innkeeper in Bethlehem was not the only person ever said the words, “we have no room for you”...
• Judas sold him for 30 pieces of silver. Money was more important to him that Jesus.
• John denied he even knew Jesus ----three times.
• Jesus asked the rich young ruler to give away everything he had and Scripture tells us he just walked away sad because he was so rich. He chose to cling to his wealth rather than to cling to Jesus— to fill his life with possessions rather than to make room for Jesus.
We do the same thing-just in different ways. As you look forward to 2019 if there is anything you need to make room for ---- it is Jesus. So those are the five words we have looked at and today we come to the 6th one, the final word. And it’s possible that it is a word we use more than any other word at this time of year and it is the word gift. Giving. Kids ask their friends, “Hey what gift are you getting for Christmas this year?” Husbands and wives ask each other— “anything in particular you would like for your gift this year?” There are television ads asking you what gift you’re going to buy …. just you’re going to— if you don’t know, guess what we have just the gift idea for you. One catchy ad shows you…. well I tell you what, I’m just going to let you watch it...
Play ad for 2019 Crew Cab
That’s the 2019 Crew Cab. And why just buy one. Why not two? After all the starting price for one is only $44,000... So that’s only $88,000 for two. And again that’s just the starting price. It gets much higher when you start adding items to it. (Like a battery and tires.) ?
My wife and I made the decision this year that we would not exchange gifts. In 42 years of marriage we have never done that. Instead we gave some money to help a family we deeply care about, then gave out tithe and then gave a gift to the legacy fund for the future of this church and another gift to the Lottie moon Christmas offering. I will admit because we’ve never done that before that our tree really looked failure with no gifts under. But the greatest reminder he gave to me this year was this...
It is always better to give than to receive. And Christmas is not about us, it’s about Jesus who came to bring us the greatest gift of all-Jesus Christ.
There are verses in the Bible that have become so popular that many believers have memorized them. One of them is the 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. We could possibly recite that entire chapter today, together from memory. Another is the Lord’s Prayer. Our Father. Most every believer knows that passage/prayer by memory. Others have memorized more simple passages like the shortest verse in all of the Bible: Jesus wept. But the one that stands out for me is this one, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish but shall have ever lasting life.” It is the gospel in a nutshell. It is one of three verses I have used many times to lead someone to Jesus.
Romans 3:23. All have sinned. Romans 6:23. The wages of sin is death and then John 3:16. If someone can understand those three simple verses they can be saved.
Now this word gift. Giving. For God so loved the world that he gave. The passage that leads up to verse 16 describes the story of Jesus and a man named Nicodemus. This is the famous passage in the Bible where Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and says to Jesus in verse two: “Rabbi/teacher, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs/miracles unless God was with Him.”
Some of us have that person in our lives that’s really hard to buy for. Maybe they seem to have everything they need. You know what do you buy for the guy who has everything? I mean what does Bill Gate’s wife get him for Christmas? After all, his net worth is now $94 billion. I mean she probably doesn’t get him a new laptop. Or what do you get for Mark Zuckerberg; his wife probably doesn’t send him a note on face book. When we are looking for the perfect gift, one of the first things we consider is the need. If it’s cold and someone doesn’t have a coat you buy them one or perhaps you give them a blanket. If you see a need in their lives, then you know what to buy. But these needs don’t always all into categories of things that can be purchased. I think there are about four categories of gifts we can give.
1. A material need. Perhaps someone has real need. A car. Close. Food. Something that costs money.
2. A physical need. The doctor has given them some news that all want to hear. Cancer maybe. Something that has completely changed everything. And so our gift is a gift of prayer for that friend.
3. An emotional need. Something like depression or grief. So we try to offer that individual hope and we pray for them that they will have the peace of God in their lives. I don’t have to tell you but at this time of year depression affects 40 than at any other time.
4. One more. A spiritual need. Perhaps they don’t know Jesus. So we tell them about the greatest gift of all.
And when we give any of these gifts we give from a heart of love because God loves a cheerful giver. Not grudgingly or out of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver. And that is exactly what I God so loved the world gave his son I ask my friends on Facebook this question... Name a reason people return a gift. These were some of their answers:
• the wrong size
• they already have one
• it was the wrong brand they didn’t like it
• exchanged it because they needed the money more
• In all honesty, it was just too ugly. You know those sweaters you get sometimes
So the gift gets returned. But how could anyone refuse to accept the gift of eternal life? I pity anyone want to exchange it for something else?
Let me remind you very quickly of five things that cannot save us:
1. Human effort. Being born again is not about human effort. If anyone deserved eternal life it would have been Nicodemus. He had all of the right qualifications.
2. Our position in life will not save us. Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees; he was one of the 70 prize the Sanhedrin the judicial body. This was basically the Jewish Supreme Court. But our position in life will not save us.
3. Popularity will not save us. Everyone’s name has a meaning. The name Nicodemus means well-liked or popular. He was well known. He was recognized as a leader. He was popular. But being born again is not about popularity.
4. Prestige cannot save us. Jesus identified Nicodemus as the ruler of the Jews. He was the spiritual advisor of the day. The one who spent his life studying the Scriptures. We thank how is it possible that he could study the Scriptures all of his life this and miss the most basic teaching of all?
5. Piety cannot save us. Nicodemus had plenty of knowledge about religion. He knew the difference in right and wrong. The first words he spoke to Jesus in verse two were “we know.” Don’t ever try to impress Jesus with all that you know. The reality is that Nicodemus did not know. He had all of the external things right but he was still lost.
6. Finally let me remind you, being born again is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is not about religion, it is about a relationship.
Paul Azinger, a pro golfer was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 33. He won the PGA and ten other major tournaments. He wrote these words….. (When I realized I had cancer) a genuine feeling of fear came over me that I could die from cancer. But then he said, “Another reality hit me even harder. I’m going to die eventually anyway, whether it is from cancer or not. It’s just a question of when. And he said, suddenly everything he had accomplished in golf became meaningless to him. He said, all I wanted to do was to live. Then he remembered something his Bible teacher had said to him, “Paul, we are not in the land of the living and going to the land of the dying. We are in the land of the dying ad we are going to the land of the living.” He went through chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour but with a different perspective. He said, “I’ve made a lot of money playing golf and I’ve won a lot of tournaments but that happiness is always temporary. The only way you will ever have true contentment is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And he was right. Do you have it?
So what happened to Nicodemus? He is only mentioned two more times in the gospels. (1) During the trial of Jesus it was Nicodemus who spoke up and said the trial was unfair. (2) Then when Jesus died on the cross, Nicodemus showed up with Joseph of Arimathea and together they requested to take the body of Jesus. Joseph offered a proper burial place and Nicodemus and together they anointed the body of Jesus with 75 pounds of aloe and myrrh. And together they placed his body in the tomb.
It would appear that earlier both of them had become followers of Jesus but had not quite gotten the courage to express their faith publicly. But now they had it. If we’re not careful we can miss the greatest gift of all. Jesus. Salvation. Our deliverer. The one who has come to rescue all of us.
