Dec. 24, 1999 Christmas Eve Service
Christmas Trees
INTRODUCTION
It’s Christmas time. I suppose that this time of year is filled with more family traditions than any other. I know that if I were to poll this group of people, we would find that each of you has your own special ways that you celebrate at this time of year. Some of you celebrate by gathering the whole family together for a time of food and fun. Some of you celebrate by cuddling before a roaring fire. In our family, we have begun a couple of new traditions over the last two Christmases. Last year, we decided that we wanted to go out to eat for Christmas, so we drove all over town looking for a restaurant that was open. Finally, getting off the highway, we saw a cardboard sign that someone had put on the exit ramp that said “Subway is open”. We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant. A new tradition for us this year is that we are actually going to wait until Christmas morning to open our gifts. This service here tonight is a new tradition for us as well.
Many of the family traditions that each of us have at Christmas center around the Christmas tree. Almost everywhere that I have gone in the last month, I have seen temporary stands along the side of the road where people are selling Christmas trees. Many of you probably purchased a tree at one of those places. Maybe in your family, it’s the job of dad to go and find the perfect tree and then bring it home for the family to decorate. In the old days, dad would have to go out into the woods and cut down the perfect tree. When I was growing up, the tradition was that the artificial tree would come out of the attic after the Thanksgiving meal, and all the kids were responsible for decorating it. Even in homes where there are no presents, there is almost always a tree. It may look like Charlie Brown’s tree, or it may look like the 45-foot tall tree that stands outside the White House. There’s something about Christmas that is incomplete without a tree.
The Bible is the record of the story of Christmas, because it records the love of God for mankind which is what Christmas is all about. But the Christmas story is not just those words that Linus quoted standing in the circle of that spotlight. The story begins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and it is not completed until Revelation, the last book of the Bible. And throughout the story, there are trees that mark the beginning, the climax and the end of the story. These are the trees of Christmas.
1. The trees in the garden. (Gen. 2:8-9)
The love relationship that God has with mankind began in a garden thousands of years ago. And it began with the first two humans, Adam and Eve. On the 6th day of creation, God took the dust of the earth, formed it into the body of a man, and then breathed life into that body. He made man in His own image. And then on that same day, He caused Adam to go to sleep, and formed for him a beautiful wife. The first gift ever given was a wife – and she wasn’t even wrapped! Both Adam and his wife Eve were perfect. They had no physical imperfections, and more importantly, they were without sin. That meant that they could enjoy a relationship with God with nothing standing between them. God placed these two perfect persons in a perfect environment. There was no danger, there were no sicknesses, there was no cause for crying. Their only responsibilities were to have lots of babies and to take care of a garden that took care of itself. In the middle of that garden, God placed two trees. The Bible speaks of them in Gen. 2:8-9. [read] God put one simple requirement on the young couple. He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . . . “ (vs. 16-17) And He said that if there ever came a time that chose to eat of that tree, then there was going to be a consequence. “. . . when you eat of it, you will surely die.” It’s kind of like those presents under the Christmas tree that are marked “Do not open until Christmas!” You remember the warning that you received from your mother or your wife: “If you open them, then I will kill you!” The difference between the warning that mothers give and the warning that God gave is that God wasn’t kidding.
Adam and Eve resisted the temptation for a little while until someone came along who enticed them to do what they knew they were not supposed to do. Every family has one – that person who attempts to convince mom and dad to let them open the Christmas presents early. Or maybe younger brother convinces older brother to come down with him in the middle of the night to snoop underneath the tree. Up until this year, I was the one who convinced my wife to let the family open early. The Bible records that there was someone there in the garden who convinced Adam and Eve to disobey God and bring sin into the world. “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” God was just kidding with that death stuff. He just doesn’t want you to have any fun. It isn’t logical to have to wait until Christmas to open all your toys. That’s just less time that you’ll have to play with them! Did you ever make that argument as a kid? Well, Eve listened to the arguments that the serpent gave. She ate of the fruit of the tree, and then she gave to Adam, and he ate. At that moment, something changed in Adam and Eve and in the world that they lived in. With one act of disobedience, sin entered the world. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (3:7) True to His word, God brought death to Adam and Eve because of their sin. The death wasn’t immediate, but it came. And since you and I are descendants of Adam, then we have inherited from him that sin nature and its penalty (Rom 5:12,14 NIV) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- . . . Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. Sin and death are inseparable partners. The Bible records that all of us are sinners. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and that because of that sin, we are doomed to die. “For the wages [the result, the payment] of sin is death . . . “ (Romans 6:23) When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought God’s judgment on themselves, their descendants and their world. But even as God was passing out their judgment, He gave them a cause for hope. He prophesied concerning the second trees of Christmas. The second set of trees are the trees on a hillside.
2. The trees on a hillside. (Luke 23:33-34,38-43)
Jesus, like Adam, came into this world without sin. But He was not born into a perfect garden; He was born into a putrid stable that reflected the putrid condition of the sinful world around Him. Unlike Adam, Jesus never yielded to the temptations that He faced. (Heb 4:15 NIV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. He lived a life of love and ministry to a people that He created and a people with whom He wanted a relationship. But the people to whom He came wanted nothing to do with Him and the message that He delivered. He told the people that they were religious but that they were not right with God. He told them that He was the only way to get to God. It wasn’t through being good or doing good things, or giving lots of money, or having the right heritage. He told them that they put up a good show on the outside, but inside they were rotten to the core. They were wrapped real pretty so that it looked like there was something extra special inside. But all that was inside was an empty box. The people didn’t like to hear that, so eventually, they rejected Him. And then they placed him on a tree. The Bible records in Luke 23:33ff that after Jesus had been tried by a kangaroo court, He was nailed to a cross along with two other criminals. [read 33-34] The three hung there side by side with Jesus in the middle. One criminal began to mock Jesus along with the rest of the crowd: (Luke 23:39 NIV) One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" If you’re really God, then you’ve got enough power to get me out of this mess that I’ve gotten myself into. You can take away all of my pain. I don’t really care for you to have any control in my life; I just want the presents that you can give me. (Luke 23:40-41 NIV) But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don’t you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." That young man hanging beside Jesus realized something that us moderns still haven’t figured out. Most of the pain that we experience is not because an evil God delights in seeing us suffer; that pains comes to us because of our own faults, our sin. We deserve every heartache that we endure because of our rebellion against God. We don’t have the right to shake our fists in the face of God and say, “Why have you brought this into my life?” The young man spoke correctly when he said that our punishment is just.
But that young man didn’t end his conversation with Jesus by talking about punishment and judgment. (Luke 23:42-43 NIV) Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." On that day, Jesus died on a tree of Christmas. Because of that death, all mankind now has the means to live for evermore. (Eph 2:12-13 NIV) remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Adam’s act of sin brought death, but Jesus’ act of obedience brought life. (Rom 5:18-19 NIV) Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The first tree of Christmas brought death. The second tree of Christmas brought life.
There were two men hanging on trees beside Jesus that day. One rejected Jesus, and because of it will never get to see the last tree of Christmas. But the other man received the forgiveness that Jesus offered. And because of that, he lives forever even though his body died on that day. This one, like all who take Jesus’ payment for sin as their own, will get to enjoy the last tree of Christmas. The last tree of Christmas is the tree in heaven.
3. The tree in heaven. (Rev. 22:1-5)
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, part of the result was that they were banned from the Garden of Eden. (Gen 3:22-24 NIV) And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. This banishment was not a punishment; it was a protection. God was preventing Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life. He knew that if they ate of it, they would live for ever in their sins and would never again be able to be completely free of their sin. That would mean that they would never be able to renew the relationship with God that their sin had cost them. They would be forever separated from God and forever trapped in sinful, imperfect, decaying but never able to die bodies. That would truly be hell on earth.
But the day is coming when all who have trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will once again have access to the tree of life. The Bible speaks of this day in Rev. 22:1-5 [read].
CONCLUSION
Yes, I imagine that each family represented here has some kind of tree like this one (pointing to Christmas tree on platform) in your home. But if that is all that you have, then you will not really be celebrating Christmas tomorrow. Not until you have the Jesus of this tree (pointing to cross on the platform) will you truly know the joy and peace of Christmas.
INVITATION
If we could have every head bowed and every eye closed. In a moment, the music is going to begin to play. As it plays, I want you to think about what you have heard tonight, and I want you to think about your own heart. I have spoken to you tonight about the trees of Christmas. One act committed at the first tree brought sin into the world. And with sin came death. The Bible says that we have all sinned, and because of that, that we are all going to die. “It is appointed unto men once to die and after this, the judgment.” But one act committed on the second tree, the tree on a hillside, opened the way for us to receive forgiveness of our sins. Jesus, God Himself, died on a tree to pay the debt that you owed. (John 1:11-12 NIV) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- We are all present at the foot of the first tree. The second tree is available to all who will choose to do so. But the third tree – the tree of life in heaven – is only available to those who come to Jesus, admit their sinfulness before Him, believe that He died on the cross to pay for their sins and rose again, and then commit their whole lives into His care. Maybe God’s Spirit is speaking to your heart right now telling you that you’ve been celebrating the wrong thing at Christmas. You’ve been celebrating greed rather than celebrating the life that you have in Jesus. He’s telling you that you need to come to Him and find forgiveness. If you would like to do that tonight, then pray this prayer with me either out loud or in your heart.
[sinner’s prayer]
With our heads still bowed (and the music still playing), if you prayed that prayer tonight, would you lift high your hand so that I might see. [acknowledge hands] Now I’m going to ask you to do one more thing. If you really mean business with God tonight, I’m going to ask you to get up from where you are, and come and stand at the front of this stage.
