Advent: The Gift of Love

Genesis 2:4–8 ESV

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Advent is the period of time counting down to Christmas. The four Sundays before Christmas are used to prepare our hearts for what Christmas really means so that we can genuinely appreciate the holiday and remember the reason why we celebrate.

Each Sunday during Advent we light a candle. The first candle is the candle of Hope. Real hope is more than a desire for something to come to pass; it is the firm belief that it WILL come to pass. Jesus brought hope when he came that first Christmas, and because of him we have the hope that one day we will live with him forever in heaven.

The second candle is the candle of Peace. Because Jesus came, we have been reconciled with God. We no longer have to fear God’s judgment or wrath. We have peace with God. And because we have this confidence that God is on our side, working on our behalf, we can have peace in the midst of this world’s chaos.

The third candle is the candle of Joy. The very first people to hear the good news of Jesus’ birth were lowly shepherds, who were visited by a host of angels. The angels told them they had reason to rejoice, for the promised Savior had come. That Savior, Jesus, came for all of us. We don’t have to live in darkness. Because of Jesus, every single one of us has a reason to rejoice!

Today, we light the fourth candle—the candle of Love. The world has such a messed up view of what love is. They confuse love with attraction. They focus on the warm, fuzzy feelings. They think love is all about grand gestures and words that stir the heart.

But real love focuses on the best interests of the beloved. It is putting your beloved’s needs above your own.

The Gift of the Magi

There is a short story that was written in the early 1900s called “The Gift of the Magi.” It tells the story of a young couple, Jim and Della, who struggle financially. It’s Christmas Eve, and Della, who doesn’t have a job because it’s 1900 and few women held jobs outside their homes, sells her gorgeous, ankle-length hair to a wig maker in order to have money to buy a present for Jim. She purchases a simple gold chain to go on Jim’s beautiful pocket watch, which had been passed down through several generations.

Jim comes home, and just stares at Della’s short hair. Della is afraid that Jim is disgusted with her, and she starts pleading with him to not be angry. She tells him that she only sold her hair to get him a gift, and she pulls out the gold watch chain. Jim then reveals that he is not angry with her. He pulls out a wrapped package for her, which she opens and discovers inside two beautiful, jewel-encrusted hair combs. Jim then tells Della that he sold the watch to buy her the combs.

Of course, the point of the story is that these two cared more about each other than about anything else they might have treasured. They weren’t trying to prove anything or be impressive; they simply wanted to act lovingly toward each other.

God’s Gift to Us

In the same way, God loved us enough to send his only begotten son into the world to save us. And unlike Jim and Della, God provided this gift when we were still in rebellion against him.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Real love does not require that the other person loves you back. Jesus came into this world and died on the cross knowing that many would reject his gift, but he did it anyway because he loves us.

I opened this sermon with a passage from Genesis, telling about when God created man. What always struck me about the story of creation is that God spoke the entire universe into existence—except for one thing. There is one creation that did not appear by a mere word, and that is man. God knelt down and put his perfect, holy hands into the dirt. He shaped that dirt into a human body. And then almighty God bent even lower so that he could place his lips on that mound of dirt to breathe life into it.

The eternal God who transcends all things kissed dirt to create us!

Let’s move to the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:10–18 ESV

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

The apostle John is imprisoned on the isle of Patmos. He is worshiping on the Lord’s Day, when suddenly he hears this powerful, booming voice. When he turns around, he sees this being of immense power. The ground where the being is standing is bursting into flames. Light is pouring out of his eyes, out of the pores of his skin. He is holding seven stars in his right hand. He opens his mouth, and a sword comes out! It had to be a terrifying sight.

John collapses in fear. And this amazing, incredibly scary dude responds. The same hand that had been holding stars is now reaching down to touch John with compassion. And the booming voice speaks out reassuringly, “Fear not.” Basically, I hear Jesus saying, “John, don’t you get it? It’s me, Jesus, your best friend. You have no reason to be afraid of me.”

So you have Genesis, the beginning of the Bible, with God reaching down to a lifeless man. You have Revelation, with Jesus reaching down to a lifeless man. Can you see how beautiful that is!

I have nothing of worth to offer God. I constantly mess up. I fall down. Yet, when I am at my most unlovable, God loves me!

We live in a world where the concept of love is so twisted. Love is used as a commodity. One young girl once told me that “I love you” is just something a guy says to manipulate you. All people know is conditional, situational love, a love that has to be earned, a love that can easily be lost.

It’s no wonder that these people question whether God loves them. They think that a loving God will fix everything so that they can live how they want and be happy. Instead, they have a God who loves them enough to give them what’s best for them, even if they don’t appreciate it at the time. They have a God who loved them enough to kiss dirt in order to bring them into existence. They have a God who doesn’t give up on them, who stays by their side with an open hand to help them when they struggle, even if they don’t recognize him or understand what he’s doing.

Jesus loved us enough to come and be born in a barn as a baby to a lower middle class family. He loved us enough to live among us as one of us, experiencing our joys and sorrows, our gains and losses. He loved us enough to die for us. And he loves us enough to prepare an eternal home for us where we will live with him forever.

Revelation 21:1–4 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”