12/08/13 The Gift That Came!
Advent Week 2
“Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death spread to all men, because all sinned -- 18 Therefore, as through one
man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so
through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in
justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” Romans
5:12, 18-19 (NKJV)
Intro: The advent season reminds us of the gift that came.
Day
6 - Meditation –Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people were waiting. Every
struggle, every hardship could be endured because they believed that one day a
Messiah was coming, and in the day of His coming, they would live in safety and
freedom. Certainly, the Israelites did not understand exactly what this meant.
They hoped for freedom from foreign oppression. But God’s plan had to do with
freedom from debt to sin. The bondage one feels when in financial debt is great
and can lead to all kinds of trouble. How much greater is the debt people incur
with the acts of sin. It requires a sacrifice, loss of life. “For the wages of
sin is death” The Jews of Jesus’ time knew this well; the temple floor ran red
with the blood of offerings. The practice of making atonement was part of their
culture. But when Jesus suffered and died on the cross, as a sin offering, He
paid that debt once for all. God is calling all people all the slaves, all the
prodigals, all the losers to start over again on level ground. What a
celebration we will have when we realize what this really means! This
Christmas, before we go out and spend all of our money on the wants of this
life, perhaps we should take a few minutes to thank the One who was born to pay
all of our debts.
Illustration: Lay potato chips, can’t have just one. Once you
bit into one chip you realize you can’t eat just one, you must have more. The
spiritual chip can only be enjoyed when you have more than one bit (read)!
Application:
This gift came because of one man.
The gift that came amplifies Love: “In this
the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not
that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10
The Gift that came because of a problem and this
problem can be fixed through a person, and that person offers peace.
The Gift
that came fixed the problem:
1. There is a problem: vs.12
“Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death
spread to all men, because all sinned.”
The problem is we have all sinned and
fallen short of the Glory of God! Sin is the cause of death, and Adam was the
cause of sin. He was the author of apostasy. Whatever theories may say, one
thing is clear: Adam was the cause of sin in the very same way in which Christ
is the cause of righteousness.
“Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, That
it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities
have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2
A person does not become a sinner by
committing sins but rather commits sins because their by nature a sinner. That
is also part of the problem, by nature we sin. Sin brings several kinds of death.
Death is separation, and Adam’s first death was spiritual separation from God,
which Adam experienced immediately after his disobedience. The unsaved are “darkened
in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.” The unregenerate are
very much alive to the world, but they are dead to God and to the things of
God.
A second, and obvious, kind of death that sin brings is physical,
separation from fellow human beings. A third kind of death that sin brings is eternal,
referred to in Scripture as the second death; this death not only brings
eternal separation from God but also eternal torment in hell.
The unbeliever
has reason to fear all three deaths. Spiritual death prevents his earthly
happiness; physical death will bring an end to opportunity for salvation; and
eternal death will bring everlasting punishment. But no kind of death should be
feared by believers. They are saved permanently by Christ from spiritual and
eternal death, and their physical death (or rapture) will usher them into His
divine presence. For believers Christ has removed the fear of death, that’s the
gift that came. That fixes the problem.
Because of an unrighteous man sin came,
because of a righteous man sin can be forgiven.
The Gift that came was a person:
2. There is a person: vs.18
“Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment
came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous
act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.”
“For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Romans 6:23 This person is the answer to man’s problem, to the
nakedness man exposes themselves too.”
There is an interesting parallelism
here: In one person there came sin and in another person came life! So life to
all men here refers exclusively to those who trust in Christ. Salvation comes
only to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. What a gift that person (Christ)
gives! Another look at this parallelism reveals the essence of Adam’s one
transgression which was disobedience, whereas the essence of Christ’s one act
of righteousness was obedience. When God commanded Adam not to eat of the
forbidden fruit, Adam disobeyed and brought death. When God sent His only
begotten Son into the world to suffer and die, the Son obeyed and brought life.
Adam’s disobedience caused him and his descendants to be made sinners by nature.
In the same way, but with the exact opposite effect, Christ’s obedience causes
those who believe in Him to be made righteous by nature. From beginning to end,
Jesus’ earthly life was characterized by perfect obedience to His heavenly
Father. In His incarnation, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross.”
The person who genuinely belongs to
Jesus Christ will reflect that same spirit of obedience, because he has
Christ’s own life within him. When a person places his trust in Christ, he not
only is declared righteous forensically but is actually made righteous, that
is, given an inward righteousness that must and will bear fruit. As long as a
believer is in the flesh, they will have the shortcomings and weaknesses of the
flesh, and their righteousness will not be manifested perfectly. But if a
person’s life is characterized by sin and shows no fruit of the Holy Spirit,
that person has no legitimate claim on Christ. The person who is made righteous
by Christ will live righteously.
Christ is the gift that fixes the problem. He
is more than a patch to plug a leak; He is more than a piece of Duct tape to
hold something in place. He is more than a rubber band attached to hold parts
together. He is more than superglue that bonds separate surfaces. Nothing can
separate the believer from the love of God and the gift that came; however, you
got to open it! You must by faith receive and believe.
The Gift that came offers
peace:
3. There is a peace: vs.19
“So also by one Man's obedience many will be
made righteous.”
The gift that came willingly died so man could have peace. This
peace can be like a shirt or pants that you put on when you dress yourself. After
you dress, to avoid the embarrassment you leave your clothes on, unless you
choose to run around naked. I can’t speak for anyone other than myself; I am
going to leave my clothes on! If you take your clothes off you expose yourself.
In the spiritual sense nakedness is exposure to sin and worldly desires. There
is no peace! For the Christian, when you accepted Christ you put on, or clothed
yourself with Him: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:27 (NIV)
God’s gift allows us to have
permanent peace, He rescues us: “The righteous person faces many troubles, but
the LORD comes to the rescue each time.” Psalm 34:19 (NLT)
“These things I have
spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33
This
is not a worldly peace it is a Godly peace!
"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" Luke 2:14 That’s the gift that
came!
Conclusion:
"Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved." Romans 10:13
The Gift of Christmas is the person Jesus Christ,
there is a problem, sin. Sin is the stain that shows the dirt, grim and mess of
unrighteousness. Christ is the bleach that washes our sins away and allows us
to wear new garments of purity and righteousness. Without the acceptances of
this gift, you cannot wear the garment of Christ, or have real peace.
Repeat of
intro: God is calling all people all the slaves, all the prodigals, all the
losers to start over again on level ground. What a celebration we will have
when we realize what this really means! This Christmas, before we go out and
spend all of our money on the wants of this life, perhaps we should take a few
minutes to thank the One who was born to pay all of our debts.
YOU DON’T HAVE
TO BE A LOSER START OVER AGAIN ON LEVEL GROUND: TAKE THE GIFT!
In : Sermon
Tags: advent
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