Why Christ Bothered
#1 Christmas Series 12/01/91
Text: 1 Timothy 1:15 E.B.C.
WHY CHRIST BOTHERED
INTRODUCTION
(A) One of the most basic errors we as human beings make is to assume that everyone thinks just like we do. If we are generous people, we assume that everyone else must be gener-ous too. If we are self-centered we conclude that every-one else must be self-centered as well. If we don't like certain foods we assume that no one else does either. Etc. etc., etc....
(B) This logic, as faulty as it is, only runs into trouble when we consider our personal rights. For example, we may believe that it is our right to drive our car wherever we want to. What happens if there are others who feel the same way? //??++**## Crash!
(C) But where our faulty logic really gets us fouled up is how we view Christ. What if Christ had the same thought pat-terns that we often have? What if he was as self-centered, egotistic, ands selfish we are? Do you think he would have come to earth had he been as "logical" as we humans are? He
may have taken one look at what he had in front of him, thrown up his hands, and said: "Why bother!"
(D) That's a good place to start a series of Christmas mes-sages. Why would Christ have bothered to come earth at all?"
I. REASONS FOR CHRIST NOT TO COME.
Off hand I can think of lots of reasons why Christ may have decided not to bother.
(A) First of all, the nature in which he was to come would have been ample reason for me to cancel my flight reserv-ations for earth. Think about it. He, being the very God, was to come to earth via "normal" child birth. Born, not to a family of royalty, but to poor paupers. Born, not in the state hospital
under the care of the best medical care money could buy, but in a stinking, disease ridden cow barn. Born, not to the drum
roll and fanfare of nobility, but anonymously and under the threat of death. "No, no, no", we conclude, "far to risky a proposition for me."
(B) If the nature of his coming was not bad enough, what about the reception he was to receive by his coming? The saviour of, not a mere individual, not a mere town, not a mere province, or merely of a country, but of the entire world arrives and no one is there to receive him or recognizes him for that matter. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him" (John 1:10-11).
(C) Not only was the nature of his coming and the reception he was to receive bad enough, but the rejection he was to receive to his coming could only persuade me further, if I were Him, against making the trip. The prophet Isaiah looked forward to the time of Christ's coming and laments, "He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem Him" (Isaiah 53:3). Much later, after Christ's death and resurrection, Peter points to those who detested Him so much that they had him put to death and says: "let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazerene, whom you crucified...He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders..." (Acts 4:10-11). Realizing all the rejection which was to come, most of us would have said, "Thanks, but no thanks."
(D) I can think of one further reason why Christ should not have come, were He as logical as we, the reason for his coming. He came to suffer and die. Isaiah saw it all coming when he said: "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5).
(E) Considering all this, we could easily conclude, only a raving lunatic would have come to earth like Christ did. But fortunately, Christ was not as "sensible" as we are for, despite all the reasons to the contrary, He came.
II. THE REASONS WHY CHRIST DID COME.
What, then, where the compelling reasons which could have persuaded Christ to come?
(A) What came over Christ to do such an unreasonable thing? Its not what came over Christ, for he never changed, but its what came over us that compelled Christ to come. We are all engulfed in sin, that's what it took to bring Christ from his lofty throne to this earth. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). This was not God's plan but when Adam rebelled against Him, thereby making all man-kind sinful, The remedy for this sin could not come from man himself but from God. Thus Christ came to earth.
(B) In First Timothy chapter one and verse fifteen, Paul tells us the only possible reason for Christ's coming: "It is a trust-worthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). If Christ had not come, we would still be in our sin, dead to Christ, awaiting eternal damnation. That's why Christ came - because he loves us, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16).
(C) Christ came to give life to that which was dead. "But, God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:4-5). The rest of John 3:16 says it all, "... that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
III. OUR RESPONSE TO HIS COMING.
What, then, should are response be to Christ's coming?
(A) Obviously, the first thing we need to do is to acknowledge that we are sinners and in need of a savior. That's where it has to begin for to say that we are not sin-ners is to deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8), or to say that we do not sin is to make God a liar and His Word is not in us (1 John 1:10). Either way we're lost. We are sinners desperately in need of Christ.
(B) Next, we need to believe that Christ can save us from our sins. The Philippian jailor realized he was a sinner and asked Paul and Silas "What must I do to be saved?" and they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:30-31).
(C) finally, we need to confess that Christ is our Lord. "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved" (Romans 10:9).
CONCLUSION
(A) There are cute little nativity scenes that are advertised which portray baby Jesus lying in the manger with Santa Claus bowing in front of the manger. There is something aw-fully wrong with this scene. Either Christ, along with Santa, is merely a myth or Santa Claus, along with Christ, is a historical figure. Either way, the Christ of the Bible is not portrayed.
(B) Christ didn't come to be incorporated into the "Spirit of Christmas". Neither did he come so we could have a wonderful yearly celebration each winter. The reason, the only reason, Christ bothered to come to earth was that He might die for sin and so that he might be our saviour.
(C) It is the birth of the Christ who bothered that we wor-ship at Christmas. It is only God come to earth in the flesh, who suffered and died, who was resurrected and now resides in glory, that we worship. We worship him when we honestly confess Jesus Christ as our Lord.