The Necessity of Christ

Introduction

Isaiah 9:6-7 - 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. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

I love Christmas season and while we celebrate and commemorate Christ all year long, this season is extra special. Although it is heavily commercialized and increasingly secularized we want to ensure that we remember that it’s all about Jesus. That it is not about the gifts that we give and get from others but the gift that has been given by God. I want to spend a few minutes today talking about the necessity of Christ and why we should be ever conscious of His sacrifice.

Message

The fall of man, through Adam, caused all mankind to be born in sin. The root cause of Adam’s sin and resulting fall is pretty evident in Genesis; self-righteousness. Let’s take a quick look:

Gen 2:9 - And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen 2:17 says that if they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they will die.

When God created the environment for Adam and Eve to live in it was supposed to reflect His glory

Pleasant to the Sight - it was to reflect the Glory of God

Good for Food - it was to reflect God’s love and provision

Gen 3:4-6 - Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die (deception). 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (division).” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate (listened to the creature instead of the creator).

Eve seeing it being pleasant to the eyes and good for food wasn’t a problem; God created it for those reasons. Satan, by way of the serpent, cause them to also look at it from a standpoint of self-righteousness. The problem with this is that it takes Glory from God and places it on oneself.

It would be safe to conclude that self-righteousness was the reason that they consumed the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If it were just the fact that it was good to the eyes and good for food one could successfully argue that they would have partook of it before the serpents influence.

What does the bible say about man:

Is 64:6 - But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Psalm 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Ecc 7:20 - For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.

Rom 3:10 - As it is written:“There is none righteous, no, not one;

Jer 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Gal 5:19 - Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

It is obvious that because of the fall of man, through Adam, we are a terrible people, destined for eternal damnation, separated from God’s fellowship for eternity.

He so loved the world (people) that He gave (sacrificed) His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (places their trust) in Him should not perish (eternal death) but have everlasting life.

Jesus is God’s expressed love for us so that we can be made right with Him. What’s interesting is that you’ll still find people that will say” how can a God that loves people send them to hell’. People that say that either haven’t read John 3:16-21 or understand scripture or they are trying to live under two sets of righteousness, which goes back to them not understanding scripture. Jesus sad that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that the only way to the Father is through Him (John 14:6)

Jesus didn’t just come to take on the punishment of the sin that Adam committed. The sin that Adam committed opened the door to all kinds of evil. Romans 5: 12-17

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Our redemption is based on our abilities. We have to understand that it was not because of what we’ve done (or have not done) that separated us from God so it’s not by our abilities that we are made right with God. Remember Psalms 51:5.

In closing I want to share an amazing thing about God. Our God, the creator of everything seen and unseen, fully understood that we could not in our own strength be made right with Him. Because of that truth and His desire to be in right fellowship with his creation, even in all of our filth, He not only gives us His word and His Spirit to help us to live according to His requirements, He Himself stepped down from Heaven to become the sacrifice needed in order to make us right with Him. He paid His own price yall. He was the only one that could do it. Jesus the Christ was all God and all man.

1 Timothy 2:5 - 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

He so loved the world (people) that He gave (sacrificed) His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (places their trust) in Him should not perish (eternal death) but have everlasting life.

During this season and everyday, lets never forget what Christ has done for us, and let our life display how much we love and appreciate Him for it.