The Gift of Love

The Gift of Love John 3:18; 1 John 4:9-10; Luke 2:16-35 Series: Away in a Manger #2 Dec. 8, 2019 Rev. L. Kent Blanton Introduction • The true story of Father Maximillian Kolbe, Catholic priest in Auschwitz WW II prison camp • Father Kolbe gave an incredible gift of love to his fellow prisoners • 2 millennia ago, God gave an incredible gift of love. What is God’s gift of love? • Jesus is God’s gift of love to us as human beings • John 3:16 CSB - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. • Mary is the one through whom God chose to give this extraordinary gift of love to the world. • She would be able to love Jesus not only because she would be His mom, but also because He first loved her before she even realized what love could be towards her. • I John 1:9-10 CSB - This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Mary’s Response • The capacity Mary had to love Jesus as His mom was created in her by Jesus before she ever knew what her heaven-sent assignment was going to be as the one who would carry Him in her womb. • Since the angel Gabriel had conveyed her unique task, Mary had been anticipating the moment she would meet her firstborn son, conceived not by her husband, but by the Holy Spirit. • She likely experienced the full spectrum of emotions from the time of her angelic encounter announcing her highly-favored status, through the nine months of what appeared to others as an embarrassing and shameful illegitimate pregnancy, through her first delivery in the crass surroundings of a stench-filled cattle barn, to the unexpected arrival of some most unlikely guests. • Luke 2:16-18 CSB – They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. • Luke 2:19 CSB - But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. • Mary was listening, lingering, and loving everything she was hearing from these shepherds who had come to adore the One she already was in love with deeper than she ever thought possible. • Mary was a new mom. Most new moms will testify that love wins the day despite the difficult journey through pregnancy and the intense pain of labour. • Mary was in love with her wrinkle-faced son and likely had counted all His fingers and toes more than a time or two. Now she’s taking it all in as stories from the shepherds sound like something she experienced nine months earlier. • While she recovered, Mary welcomed the faithful ones who came with stories, adoration, and praise for God’s love now come in human flesh. • It’s as if Mary could have been nodding in agreement with the lyrics that would be written over a thousand years in the future: “O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels!” • Mary was faithful to God (see Luke 1:38). As a faithful Jewish female who had just given birth, she knew she could only welcome others to come and adore Jesus for so long before two significant dates would be upon her. • The covenantal rite of circumcision preformed eight days after his birth (Luke 2:21) • The first-born redemption ceremony at the Temple performed 31 days after birth And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord  (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice (according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons). Luke 2:22-24 CSB Words of Prophecy: Elation and Foreboding There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to Israel’s consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him up in his arms, praised God, and said, Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace, as you promised. For my eyes have seen your salvation. You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples—a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people Israel. His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Luke 2:25-33 • Simeon declared Jesus to be God’s salvation, a saviour, the messiah who would be the glory of Israel and a light to the Gentiles. Joseph and Mary stood in amazement as they listened to Simeon’s pronouncement. Their hearts must have been filled, again, with wonder, as they had been on the night of Jesus’ birth over the bundle of love God had delivered into their care. • But Simeon also had some poignant words of warning for Mary. Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary: “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed— and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35 CSB • A few moments earlier, Mary had stood marvelling at the declaration that her Son was the promised Messiah who would bring salvation to Jews and Gentiles, alike. But now, her emotions tumbled as she heard that her Son would stir controversy. • Mary’s heart would be emotionally pierced as she saw the division among her own people as they would debate the Messianic claims of her son, and as she would, helplessly, watch him die. • Just like he was presented to the Jewish people that day at his redemption ceremony in the Temple, he would in the years ahead, be presented again in Jerusalem to the Jewish nation, but in very different circumstances. Simeon’s prophecy would come true as Jesus stood before Pilate who condemned him to be crucified. • Soon, nails would pierce His hands and feet and a sword his side. A piercing that was spoken prophetically over three decades earlier not far from Calvary’s cross would occur in the heart of his mother. Mary’s heart would overflow once again with love, but this time accompanied by great sorrow and sadness as she watched life ebb from his body. The Reason for Jesus’ Death • Jesus had to die because of your sin and my sin, our rebellion toward God. • For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Rom 3”23 CSB • For the wages of sin is death . . . (Rom 6:23a) This means spiritual death . . . separation from God, now and forever. • God didn’t want us to remain separated from him. He wants us to be with him, in his presence, now and forever. The only way that our sin could be paid for was for someone who hadn’t sinned, who was not guilty of rebellion against God, to die in our place; to die as a substitute; to take the penalty of eternal death that should have been yours and mine. The Motivation Behind God’s Gift of Jesus • What motivated God to send Jesus for us? Love. • The gift of God resonates from the cross down the halls of eternity to every single human. That voice says, “I love you! I died for you!” 20th Century Example of the Gift of Love • The Victoria Cross is Canada's highest military honor. It’s awarded for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. • The first Victoria Cross of World War II was awarded to Company Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn. He and his men were cut off from their battalion and under heavy attack in the Battle of Hong Kong. • When the enemy came close enough, the Canadian soldiers were subjected to a concentrated barrage of grenades. Several times Osborn protected his men by picking up live grenades and throwing them back, but eventually one fell in just the wrong position to pick up in time. • With only a split second to decide, Osborn shouted a warning, shoved aside a fellow solider, and threw himself on top of the grenade. It exploded, killing him instantly. The rest of his company survived that battle because of Osborn's selfless love for his friends. God’s Gift of Love • As beautiful and as moving as was this heroic and selfless act of love by this solider, through Jesus, we see an even greater love in the heart of God. You see, soldiers who fall on grenades do so out of love for their friends while they’re on the battlefield trying to kill their enemies. Jesus died for his friends, and his enemies. • Rom 5:10 reveals that apart from Jesus, we all are enemies of God. We have rebelled against his authority. We have all chosen to do life our way. Rather than submitting to his rulership, each of us has exalted ourselves as the master of our fate. • And here’s an amazing thing - God chose to love us while we were his enemies. While we were still living in a state of rebellion toward him, God gave up his Son to die for us. • Rom 5:8 CSB - But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. • God didn’t wait to for you to repent of your sin, to surrender to him and his will before sending his gift of love to you. Love compelled him to send the gift of his Son while you were still in rebellion toward him. While you were his enemy, God sent his love to you wrapped in the form of a baby. • Don’t be fooled. The purpose of the Baby in the manger was not to be oohed and aahed over. His purpose was to die on a cross. Why? Because of love. • Just like Father Kolbe, the Polish priest who out of love choose to give his life as a gift to another prisoner, so did Jesus, out of his great and unfathomable love, choose to give his life as a gift to you. Your Response • What have you done with God’s gift? Have you rejected it, or have you received, opened, and cherished it? • How can you obtain God’s gift? • Admit that you need God’s gift. You must agree with God that you have sinned. That you have rebelled against him and his rightful authority over your life. • Turn from you sin. The Bible calls this repentance. To repent means to give Jesus control of your life and to follow his instructions for how to live. You say, Kent, I don’t know if I can do that. In your own power you can’t, but God will help you if you choose to give him the reins of your heart. • Believe & confess. You must believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he died as your substitute, taking the penalty of death and separation from God that should have been yours. And you must believe and confess that three days later Jesus rose from the dead to give you eternal life. • Receive the gift of forgiveness and life that God has given to you. A gift only becomes of value to the recipient when it’s received and opened. I purchased a gift for ____ this week, but unless _____ chooses to receive it and make it his/hers, it will be a no benefit. • Have you received the gift of love that God sent to be born by a teenaged girl named Mary, that was laid in a feeding trough, and that one day hung on a cross for your sins? If not, you can, today. • Like the shepherds, you can choose to come and adore Christ the Lord, the Saviour, God’s gift of love to you. • If you’ve already received God’s gift of love, are you cherishing that gift? Are you hanging out around the manger this Advent and Christmas season? Like the shepherds, are you beholding and adoring the Saviour that God has sent for you? Like Mary, are you treasuring the gift of love that God has given you? Are you thanking God for his indescribable gift? Challenge • This second Sunday of Advent and throughout this Christmas season let us remember, celebrate, and adore the greatest and most precious gift we’ve ever been given. The gift of love. The gift of a Saviour. The gift of Jesus.