This Is Christmas

This Is Christmas

Subject – God’s Indescribable Gift to Us

By Rick Welborne

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NKJV) ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

--What gift is the Apostle Paul talking about here?  Keep in mind the Bible was not written in chapters…translators did that hoping it would help us understand better. Go back to chp.8.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV) ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 

--This is Christmas…this story…this message… this act of love…this is Christmas!

--Jesus was in heaven with the Father, He came to earth and was born as a baby in a manger (in a feeding trough). Anyone remember these homemade feeding troughs?

--One of my many jobs as a kid was “slopping the hogs”. We didn’t have fancy feeds like they have now. We kept a bucket in the kitchen for the leftovers. Nasty!

--The hogs were quiet anxious to eat the slop. I have a scar on the back of my leg where one of the hogs bit me. This was the kind of thing God’s indescribable gift was born in. What humility.

--He was rich but He became poor so that He could reach us with this wonderful gift. We try to use the gospel as a means of becoming rich. Where is our humility.

--Wait a minute, Preacher, are you saying that God sent His Son, His only Son to this earth to be born, to suffer, and to die as a gift for us…was Jesus ok with this plan?

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
¹  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
²  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

1. This is Christmas – God with Us.

--The Angel speaking to Joseph in a dream:

Matthew 1:20-23 (NIV) ²⁰  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
²¹  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
²²  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
²³  "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." 

--This is Christmas and this blows our minds…God the Father in His great love sent Jesus His only Son to come to this earth for us so we can be saved. This is Christmas!

--So many think that Christmas is all about getting the latest greatest gift. The latest I-phone. We are sad when the next new one comes out. 

--Our new car is new only one year. Until the next new style or model comes out. When will we learn that Christmas is and should be about Jesus. This is Christmas.

--My heart was so empty until I met Jesus and received Him as Lord and Savior. He brought life to a dead man.

John 10:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

--Jesus came to save us but was rejected by many but as many as received Him, He gave them the power to become the sons of God!  This is Christmas!

--Hebrews said, for the joy set before Jesus He endured the cross with all its brutality, shame, and even died a criminal’s death. He must love us so much!  This is Christmas. So when we say:

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NKJV) ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

--We are talking about God the Father giving you the most indescribable gift ever…This is Christmas!

--You know what would be sad…even rude…is today to tell God I do not want your gift. He has given the best gift ever known to mankind…salvation thru His Son Jesus Christ!

--Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

--Today is your day and now is your time! Please, do not walk out the doors of this church while God is dealing with your heart. This is Christmas! Accepting His indescribable gift.

--Imagine God with us. More important for you…God with you. What an indescribable gift. This is Christmas. The greatest gift ever.

2. This is Christmas – The Light Has Come.

--This is definitely Christmas that the light has come. None of us like when the electricity goes out during a storm. How excited we get when the lights come back on.

John 1:1-14 (NKJV)
¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²  He was in the beginning with God.
³  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
⁴  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
⁵  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
⁹  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
¹⁰  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
¹¹  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
¹²  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
¹³  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

--What greater gift could any of us receive? God’s only Son came to give us light and life. Jesus is the Light and the life of man.

--I love verse 12. The Light Jesus came into the world and as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

--What an indescribable gift! We were walking in darkness with no hope until the Light of Jesus love came into our lives.

--Preacher, I was raised in a Christmas home so I have always been good. It does not matter if you were raised on the streets or were raised in Billy Graham’s home: You need Jesus.

Romans 3:23-24 (NKJV) ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
²⁴  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

3. This is Christmas – No More Darkness

Isaiah 9:2&6 (NKJV) ² The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
⁶  For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

--A.W.Milne sailed to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific knowing that the missionaries before him were martyred by the headhunters there.

--Imagine loving the light of God’s love so much and loving this indescribable gift that you would be willing to go to a foreign land where the missionaries before you were martyred. 

--Milne had already found the indescribable gift and he was content with knowing this is Christmas, not only receiving the indescribable gift but sharing it with others.

--Milne did not fear for his life because he had already died to himself. He lived among the people there for 35 years and loved them. They buried him in the middle of their village.

Milne’s Tombstone – When he came there was no light. When he left there was no darkness.

--Wouldn’t it be great if we were known as a church that pushes back the darkness and shares God’s indescribable gift.

--This would truly be Christmas.