R.E.A.L. Part 1
R.E.A.L. • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
A.
The Christmas message is …
I. Evident
I. Evident
A. Hope in Hopelessness
When did the message of Christmas begin?
In the beginning
The Word
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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
In the garden
The Protoevangelium
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
The message of Christmas was born in hopelessness and suffering.
Perhaps you look at your life right now and wonder, “Where is God in this? Because there’s so much pain, and suffering, and hopelessness!”
The message of Christmas was forged in pain, and suffering, and hopelessness!
B. Why You Need Him
10 Reasons
You shall have no other gods before Me
If you think you haven’t broken this one, you’ve absolutely broken number one, because you’re so impressed with yourself
You may not worship another god, but anytime we sin we are serving another god: ourselves.
You shall not make for yourself an idol
Sometimes our idols are little green pieces of paper or little pieces of plastic
Sometimes we constantly upgrade our idols with new carpets, furniture, countertops, etc.
Sometimes we’ll watch and cheer our idols for hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon
Any idol is anything that we lose our identity if we don’t have it.
You shall not take the name of God in vain
The name of Jesus Christ is the most cursed name in the world, regardless of religion or language.
Nobody stubs their toe and yells out, “Mohommad!”
To live in such a way gives no evidence to the God whose name you bear as a Christian.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
Traditionally, the Sabbath was observed on Saturday.
Then, in the 1st Century, Christians began to observe it on Sunday. Why?
Any day can be the Sabbath
There are some denominations who claim one day is holier than others, but that’s just simply not the case.
Romans 14:5–6 (NASB95)
5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord …
Every day should be a time of remembrance and thankfulness to God for what He has done.
Honor your father and your mother
The first command with a promise.
Through honoring and respecting the authority of their parents, children learn what it means to honor, respect, and serve the Father.
A child’s first exposure to authority, discipline, love, compassion, grace, mercy, comes from mom and dad.
You shall not murder
Nowhere does Scripture say thou shall not kill.
Killing takes place in war or in self-defense, and scripturally those are supported.
Murder is the unjust taking of an innocent life.
22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
You shall not commit adultery
Not just the physical act, but the spiritual
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
You shall not steal
You ever take something home from work or school that didn’t belong to you?
You shall not lie
You shall not covet
Looking at someone else’s stuff and wanting it for yourself.
Coveting could cause you to lie, to steal, to commit adultery, and perhaps even commit murder.
Break any one of the 10 and you need salvation.
It’s evident!
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
C. Hope
In our evident need for a Savior, we have hope
I will not be afraid, for He has become my salvation
2 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”
I will delight, for God is my salvation
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
I will wait expectantly, for God is my salvation
7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
Today is the acceptable time to accept salvation (quoting Is. 49:8)
2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
The Christmas message is …
II. Absolute
II. Absolute
A. No One Comes But Through Me
The message of Christmas is exclusive
Jesus alone
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Why is this the case?
Sin nature
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so 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 until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Therefore, He shall be called the Son of God
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
Luke 1:35 (NASB95)
35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
The message of Christmas is available to anyone
Good news of great joy
Luke 2:10 (NASB95)
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
For all the nations (Jew, Gentile, Male, Female, Slave, Free)
God desires for all to be saved
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
That’s why Christmas was necessary
1 John 4:9–11 (NLT)
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world (this is Christmas) so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
B. The Message of Christmas is Absolute
Christmas is only the Child in the manger, because on the Child can:
Identify with you totally
Hebrews 2:10 (NLT)
10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
Hebrews 2:17–18 (NLT)
17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
Love you completely
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—
Save you absolutely
Luke 1:77 (NASB95)
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Behold now is the acceptable time, and today the day of salvation!
The message of Christmas is …
III. Legitimate
III. Legitimate
A. More Than a Story
Christmas is not a story
Christmas is a message
Christmas is a fact
Christmas is a reality
That 2,000 years ago, in the city of David, there was born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord
Christmas was determined when the world began
Declaring the end from the beginning
9 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Christmas was revealed to and prophesied by the prophets
They carefully searched and inquired
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
They prophesied:
A virgin will conceive
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
A Child will be born
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
He will come from Bethlehem
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
He will be presented with gifts from kings
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. 11 And let all kings bow down before him, All nations serve him.
Christmas was fulfilled in Christ
How can we know that Christmas is Legitimate? How can we know that Christmas is REAL?
The message of Christmas was experienced
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. 28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.
Here is that word mystery (Gk. mysterion) a truth hidden, but made to be known
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Christmas is more than a story.
B. A Message
Christmas is a message of:
Tragedy, pain, sorrow, and suffering
Joy
Love
Peace
Hope
Redemption
Salvation
