The Perfect Purpose of Christmas

Introduction

We are just ten days out from Christmas...

Wow it has gone fast, Thanksgiving was late this year, we were traveling we get back and Christmas shopping wasn’t done… panic time!

Don’t worry, crisis averted… my kids will have gifts to open. I hope they like their new socks and underwear.

this is the story of the American Christmas right…

We see it coming, we prepare for the onslaught of commercials, gift buying, event planning, family gatherings, community events

then we need reminders that the reason for all of this is supposed to be about Jesus and his coming

God rest ye merry gentlemen let nothing you dismay, remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas Day, to save us all from Satan’s power when we have gone astray. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

The Purpose of Christmas

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons

Jesus’ Perfect Timing

There are always four Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas

in the church world it is called the season of advent…

we have celebrated advent in the years past

I chose to not do that this year, I always hesitate in being too traditional that it means nothing to us

but yet every year, we say things like I cannot believe that next week is Christmas… As if normally there are four weeks between, yet, this year there are only two

What happens is, our timing for what ever reason gets off

you know those people that have bad timing, maybe you are more familiar with the ones that have good timing

always sem to call you when you are about to eat… or better yet, show up when you are about to eat

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

When time came to completion…

Paul is the writer and I think that it is important, that before we dive into all of this they we understand the completion of time…

Fullness of time… KJV, ESV, NASB

Time did not stop…

When Roman society and the spirituality of man were ripe

this is interesting thought… but I am not one the subscribes to it

why, there has not been a better time in history that you could get a message out…

infrastructure and ability to travel from one place to another quickly is unmatched by any other time in history

God does not need our infrastructure…

oh I wish those folks would hurry up and make travel easier… well, this is good enough

When Roman society and the spirituality of man were ripe

When man could understand the law enough to appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus

Paul has spent several chapters speaking about the grace of God… that there is no other gospel and that we cannot save ourselves

there is only one gospel, he defended throughout his travels and before the other apostles…

that the law does not save, it only convicts

Can you imagine what we would be like if Jesus would have come and died for our sins just outside the garden of Eden…

if Eve would have given birth to Jesus… then offered up the child as a sacrifice.

the ease that people would see salvation…

kind of like infant baptism… as if because you get their head wet, regardless of what they do in their life they are saved.

there would be no true appreciation of our sin and his sacrifice

we would be religious people with no real relationship with God

we would be followers of God by name only

this is where we are in our country

I am always amazed when traveling at the different cultures

I know there is always a hesitation, or fear, when the Pastor travels we get to hear how we do not worship like other cultures, we don’t love Jesus like other cultures.

we don’t, I think that is a good thing, that will be the joy in Heaven, all the different ways of worshipping and rejoicing in the love of God

my fear with American christianity is not the way people worship, that is different between denominations and churches ext…

I am afraid at the ease with which one associates themselves as a Christian

we cannot fathom the persecutions and sacrifices that people around the world make to when they accept Christ and begin to call themselves a Christian

I do not want us to have to go through that, but at the same time, we must not act like we have it hard here

oh, they do not use the word Christmas…

oh, we might lose our tax status if the wrong person gets elected.

Remember the purpose of Christmas

We must remember the purpose of Christmas, and the first thing is to remember, Jesus came at the perfect time

Jesus is Born

It is funny that this is something that we have to be reminded of

I am not talking about those who say, Happy Holidays… Us, we need to be reminded

We are the ones that when we say how long until Christmas, we think shopping days

God sent…

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law

dispatched, sent with a a designated goal

This was not the creation or starting point of Jesus

sent his son not created his son

Christmas is not the beginning of Jesus, it is not the moment when God finally figured out what he was going to do to solve this sin problem

Well I said I wouldn’t flood the world again… So I know, Mary is going to have a baby

The Son is eternal

3;

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is God in the flesh

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

Fully Man

Immanuel means, God with us!

Fully Man

born of a woman - fully human

this goes back to , where God tells Eve that her offspring will battle against Satan

born under the law - as in subject to its curse

died under the curse of the law - though was perfect

took the wrath of God that was due us under the law

There is a temptation on our part to think of Jesus as so high above us, which he is, that we believe that he wasn’t tempted to sin, not understanding what it means to be human

this is what born of a woman under the law means.

he is fully human, fully man

he was tempted to sin in every way, he did not have it easier because he was God

or he would not be the perfect sacrifice

I would think that would be tempting to not go through this...

It seems like yesterday I was creating all of this… now here I am stuck in it

He has to be fully God in order not to sin, he had to be fully man to pay the price and take our place

Jesus Came to Redeem

We looked at God sent… remember that word meant, sent with a purpose or mission you might say…

The text gives two reasons for the birth of Christ, to redeem and adopt

to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

the english word redeemed is derived from a latin root meaning “to buy back” thus meaning the liberation of any possession, object or person

to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

the greek word means to liberate, to obtain release or freedom by means of payment

Slave Market

slave could be set free by a redemptive price

there would be a price for a slave, and you could pay that price and obtain that slave as your own, or you could set them free… the price for their redemption

the price for your redemption, was Jesus’ life

there is no amount of silver and gold that you could give to God

He created everything, what could we give him that he does not already have

Kids giving you a Christmas gift when they are little… you gain nothing

There is no good works that will pay that price...

this is what the law reveals to us, it convicts us of our guilt

we are not good, even when we do some good, the motives of our hearts are often bad

Christ set us free from bondage to sin and the law

through Christ, we no longer are bound to Satan and his rule

we have been set free through the blood of Christ

Jesus Came so we could be Adopted

I am not a pet person… I feel kind of bad about it, because I do not get excited when people talk about their pets

“oh look at this cute thing my dog did…” I try and act interested, in my head I am thinking, “it’s a dog, it poops all over the yard.”

Cats are worse… we put special boxes in the house so we can let them go inside and clean up after them…

What I do find amusing is how you can train dogs to do things, and not cats…

this is what makes dog people dog people and cat people cat people

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 120 Cat Did Not Cooperate

From Tokyo comes this report: A cat followed his master in a neighborhood burglary attempt, but when the man fled the cat did not, leading to the man’s arrest, police said.

“I loved that cat and always took him with me, but I didn’t know he was with me then,” police quoted Masakazu Kodama, 22, as saying.

You are not a pet that Jesus has purchased

Because we are redeemed we receive full status as God’s children

You are not set free just so that you could follow Jesus around and have him pat you on the head every once in a while and say good boy

even though we may act like cats and turn our nose up at him every so often when he tells us what to do.

Because we are redeemed we receive adoption as his children

full status as God’s children

without thought to previous life

or ethnicity

not step, but adopted…

we are not his children just because we came along with relation to somebody else

He chose us… over and over scripture talks about us being God’s chosen, or the elect

Our text here, you are redeemed, “So that...”

this was not just something that happened, but the purpose of the redeeming price that Jesus paid

He paid the price specifically for you

he is the good shepherd that would leave the 99 to find the one sheep that has gone astray…

the rights come as a gift, or not at all

you are not getting to this status any other way…

this is the purpose of Christmas, of the birth of the son of God

not just to keep you out of hell… but to allow you to enter into a relationship with him.

Do not let this pass you by as you worry about the amount of shopping days left