Christmas 2023
12/17/23
“The Greatest Gift Ever Given”
Matt 1:18-21 NKJV “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Also in Luke’s gospel we find the archangel Gabriel informing Mary that her supernaturally conceived Son is to be called Jesus.
So both Joseph and Mary were separately told they were to name their Son Jesus.
If ever a name was loaded with meaning, it is the name Jesus.
In Hebrew His name is Yeshua meaning “to rescue,” “deliver,” or “save.”
Jesus simply means “The Lord is Salvation.”
Hence, we call Him our Savior!
God’s announcement to Joseph was that Jesus would SAVE His people from their sins.
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First, what is sin?
Sin is described in the Bible as breaking God’s law.
“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.”—1 John 3:4
Now God’s law is encapsulated in the 10 commandments:
Don’t put anything above God,
don’t create false idols,
don’t lie about others,
don’t take God’s name in vain,
don’t commit adultery,
don’t murder,
don’t steal,
don’t covet what others have,
and honor your parents.
The Bible says we have all broken at least one or more of those laws.
And to break one is to be guilty of all:
“For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”—James 2:10
Further, we’ve all done this because the Bible says that from Adam we all inherited the inclination to sin, which is WHY we sin:
Romans 5:12 “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
—So we are sinners because we sin, and we sin because we are sinners!
The Apostle Paul vividly describes how helpless we are to deal with the sin problem in our own strength or will power.
Ro. 7: 14; 24-25 “So the…trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin…For I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate…I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”
In light of this endless struggle with sin, Paul cries out in despair:
24 “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”
What can I do? How can I be free?
Then he answers his own question: 25 “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!”
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So sin is real, it cuts us off from God, it destroys our life, and it ultimately sends us to a Christ-less eternity.
And THIS is why Jesus came!—His coming to earth was a rescue mission to save us from our sins!
Now, there are several ways that Jesus saves us from our sins.
First, He saves us from:
I. The guilt of our sin
Sin brings crippling guilt.
One of the great plagues of the human race is guilt.
Guilt is a ball and chain that weighs your heart down, saps your joy, destroys your happiness, and ruins your enjoyment of life.
Guilt will derail your dreams and destroy your confidence.
In worst case scenarios it can bring a person to the place of totally giving up on life!
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We try many different things to get rid of it.
—We try drowning our guilt in alcohol,
—Or numbing it through drugs,
—Or silencing its nagging voice with endless busyness,
—Or rationalizing it away,
—Or we bury ourselves in new pursuits, or endless distractions.
But nothing truly takes away it’s STING.
Nothing, that is, BUT the blood of Jesus!
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].”
Ro. 8:1 “Those who enter by faith into Christ no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud (of guilt).”
As the old hymn says:
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
“Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”—Acts 10:43
So first, Jesus saves us from the GUILT of our sin.
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Then secondly, Jesus saves us from:
II. The power of sin
The Scriptures teach that the entire human race is under the power and control of sin.
“We know that Satan rules all the people who belong to this world.”—1 John 5:19
The Bible teaches that before Christ we were literally the slaves of sin:
Romans 6:20-23 “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.”
And that is why Jesus came—to FREE us from the POWER of sin!
This means that after you came to Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and the Holy Spirit came to live inside of you, you were delivered from slavery to sin’s power!
Now you no longer belong to Satan, so he can’t order you around anymore!
Ro. 6:14 “Sin can no longer tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.”
Romans 6:22 “But now you are FREE from the power of sin and have become slaves of God.”
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And one last way Jesus saves us from our sins is from:
III. The eternal consequences of sin
The worst effect of sin is that it separates us from God in the here and now and in the hereafter.
In the here and now includes His peace, His life, His fellowship, His wisdom, His guidance, answered prayer—everything!
Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
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And the ultimate consequence of sin is eternal separation from the Lord:
2 Thes. 1:9 “They (those that reject the salvation Christ offers) will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”
But Jesus came to FREE us from the eternal consequences of our sin!
—“You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”
It’s Christmas time, so let me tell you about the greatest gift you will ever receive:
Ro. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”