The Greatest Gift

The Greatest Gift

Luke 2:1-20

Is there a gift you remember receiving?

Illustration: Jennifer making treats for Abigail’s teachers when she was small. Put treats in Ziploc containers that were holiday colored. Also put a leftover pork chop in one. Next day she sent the goodies with Abigail to school to give her teachers. That evening she began looking for the pork chop. It dawned on her that one of Abigail’s teachers got a left-over pork chop as a Christmas goodie.

We are imperfect givers.

We give imperfect gifts.

God is the perfect giver.

He has given us the perfect gift in Christ.

This Christmas Eve I want to share with you about the greatest gift ever given, the gift of salvation in Christ.

1. It is a gift we could not purchase for ourselves.

Have you ever wondered why God chose to come into the world through a virgin?

There are some theological reasons:

The sin nature is passed through the father. Without an earthly father Jesus could be human but be born without a sin nature like the rest of us.

To fulfill prophecies. Genesis 3, Isaiah 7:14

To establish that the Savior is not just a man. He is Immanuel, God with us.

There is something else we can glean from the virgin birth. A virgin conception is something man could not accomplish.

We needed a Savior, but we could not create our own.

God is determined to give us what we cannot create.

In the story we have the Roman Empire demanding the people return to their birth towns for a census. The purpose of the census was twofold:

Taxation

Military purposes

The government is burdening the people.

Forcing them to travel

Forcing them to pay taxes

Forcing them into the military

The truth is the Jewish people could not even save themselves from the Roman Empire. They certainly couldn’t save themselves from their sins. The people were in a pitiful state.

But God was working all things together for His glory. He was moving all the pieces in place. He got Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem so the prophecies about the birth of Christ would be fulfilled. 700 years earlier Micah said the Savior would be born in Bethlehem.

This couple traveled 85 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

You may think that this is inconvenient for Mary and Joseph. It was. But many others were doing what they were doing. Our thoughts should be with Christ.

Christ is the eternal God.

Christ becomes a baby and lives within the womb of Mary for forty weeks.

Christ is born in humble conditions.

Christ submits Himself to his parents.

Christ is rejected, tortured, and killed.

Why would Christ place Himself in this situation?

Because we cannot save ourselves. He is the only One who can save us.

We can buy gifts for one another.

Illustration:

Woman wanted buy gifts for some of her friends. Her list got longer than she could afford and time was running out so she decided to just send cards. She rushed to the store and picked up a pack of fifty cards with a beautiful picture on the front. She didn’t even read them, she addressed them, wrote “With all my love”, and sent them out. She had a few left over and it was New Years Day. She picked one up and decided to see what they said on the inside. It read “This Christmas card is just to say a little gift is on its way.”

We can buy:

Toys

Clothes

Trips

Jewelry

Electronics

Food

Cars

Homes

We cannot buy our salvation or anyone elses.

If we could, why would Christ come?

Look at the cross. Would Christ suffer all of that if we could save ourselves?

The virgin birth shouts to the world- God is doing something for you that you cannot do for yourselves.

2. It is a gift we do not deserve.

On the night Christ was born God chose to make the announcement to shepherds.

That’s important because they were low on the social ladder.

They were poor.

They were unclean.

They were untrustworthy.

People didn’t like shepherds because:

They were unable to attend many religious services

They often were accused of taking others sheep or allowing their animals to graze on people’s property.

The Talmud would not even allow them to testify in a court of Law.

Look how they respond to the angel:

They were filled with great fear. They were sinners in the presence of angelic beings. They probably thought this was it for them. In their minds God had come to judge them.

The angel calms their fears. He says “Fear not. Behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

The angels said a Savior had been born.

This implies someone needs to be saved.

Saved from what?

Saved from our sin.

All of us like these shepherds.

Poor

Unclean

Untrustworthy

Angels looking down on earth burst out in worship. There was one angel then suddenly there are many and they shout:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.

The gift of salvation brings glory to God.

It exalts Him.

It speaks of his character.

It speaks of His wealth and generosity.

We could never pay Him back.

Sometimes when we’re exchanging gifts, we put a dollar amount. We say the limit is X amount of dollars. We don’t want anyone to spend more on us than we do them.

God has spent more on us than we can ever spend on Him.

All we can do is praise Him.

We’re not worth what He has spent on us.

This is why we worship the Lord. We heap praise on Him because of His mercy and goodness toward us.

The gift of salvation brings peace to men.

At Christmas we speak of peace on earth. Ultimately there will be. That peace begins in the human heart. Salvation brings peace.

Our greatest fear has been calmed through this gift.

We can’t buy peace.

You can buy an alarm system to alert you if something bad happens.

You can buy insurance to help you financially if something bad happens.

You can buy a weapon to protect yourself if something bad happens.

You can’t buy peace.

Christ gives peace.

Peace in circumstances. God is with me.

Peace in judgment. My sins have been pardoned.

Peace in death. Death has been defeated.

The Christina has nothing to fear.

What an amazing gift God has given undeserving sinners.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you’d go to a birthday party for a friend? All the kids would gather round and watch the birthday boy/girl open presents. When the big present came all the kids would ooh and ahhh.

The angels are looking down as God presents His greatest gift to Adam’s helpless race. When they see what He has given us they OOOHHH and AAAHHH!

3. It’s a gift that becomes more precious the older we become.

Gifts are normally age appropriate.

You give an adult a gift for a kid, it’s foolish. You give a kid a gift for an adult it’s confusing.

When I was a kid the worst gift in the world was socks and underwear. I didn’t understand why anyone would buy me that.

Just the other day I was putting on some socks. They were falling down. I hate that. My socks will bunch up under my feet. I thought to myself “I sure hope I get some socks for Christmas.”

If you told ten year old Kyle there would come a day when he hoped for socks for Christmas ten year old Kyle would have called you crazy.

The gift of Christ is not a gift that is for one particular age. He is a gift that is necessary in every stage of your life.

Why?

Because we are always sinners, we always need a Savior.

Because we always have decisions to make, we always need His guidance.

Because people we love will die, we always need hope.

Because we will die, we always need His peace.

Christmas has a unique way of making us look at ourselves.

There is a darkness to Christmas.

When we ask the question “Why was Christ born?” We see that darkness.

Christ was born to die.

He was born to die for our sins.

He was born to be cursed.

The Christmas child is also the crucified Christ.

There is no appreciation for the Christmas story without the story of the cross.

I cannot think of Christmas without thinking of the cross.

As the Christmas hymn says

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the new-born king"

The older we get the less things in this world matter. Christ becomes more and more precious to us.

From birth to death Christ is the greatest gift!

Remember the hymn says:

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,

And feel the pride and joy he gives.

But greater still the calm assurance,

This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Christ is precious because He gives us hope when we are newly born, and He gives us hope when we are nearly dead.

I think few things make Jesus more precious than the aging process.

Give a set of car keys to man who can no longer see to drive.

Offer a steak dinner to a woman who can longer chew her food.

Deed a new home to someone who cannot leave the nursing facility.

Christ grows brighter with age!

He becomes more and more precious.

Christmas means I have hope no matter what the doctors say.

Christmas means I will see those I love again one day.

God has given us so much in Christ!

Salvation in Christ is the greatest gift!

Christmas calms our greatest fears and gives us our greatest joy!