Christmas is Christ Celebrated

Introduction

What is Christmas? To many Christmas is made up of the lights on the house, the tree in the living room, and the gifts under that tree. Christmas is about asking for presents and receiving gifts. Likewise, Christmas is also about giving gifts. Other like to bless family members and friends through the giving of gifts. Maybe Christmas is watching a movie with family beside the fireplace. Eating together as a family or watching football together. Christmas is sentimental and brings up warm members of times past that were spent with loved ones.

While things such as having a tree, lights, and gifts are good and acceptable, that is not Christmas. The very word Christmas is made up of two words. The word Christ and Mass. Christ being God’s Son, Jesus, who descended from heaven to dwell with us. Mass being a celebration. So, Christmas is the celebration of Christ coming to earth. That’s Christmas. Jesus has come to dwell with sinful humanity.

Now what is so significant about Jesus coming to earth? Is it just that God’s Son has come to dwell among humanity. Certainly not, what is significant is that Jesus has come to not to merely dwell with humanity, but to save humanity from the extreme, awful, disgusting oppression that is sin.

Look with me at

Romans 5:12–21 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pray.

To Understand Christmas, we must start with the Fall.

Look back with me at verses 12-14

Romans 5:12–14 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Paul is the writer of the book of Romans. In this book, he outlines and explains in depth the Gospel. In doing so, he writes the passage that we are reading tonight. He has just talked about how Jesus came to the earth and died in order that mankind could be reconciled to God the Father. Now, Paul take us all the way back to the beginning. He takes us back to the Garden of Eden. This is vital to our faith and vital to our understanding of Christmas.

If you remember, God created the entire universe in 6 days. In His creation, He created humanity and He created them male and female. He created Adam and Eve. They were the first couple on the face of the earth along with all the animals and plants. God gave Adam and Eve one command: Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Giving them that command, Adam and Eve broken that command. However, in breaking that command, the consequences were extreme. Prior to that point, humanity was good and sinless and walked with God. But, by falling to the temptation of the serpent, satan, sin and death entered into the world and spread to all of humanity.

Sin and death entered into the world through one man, Adam. In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve fell to sin, sin and death then entered the world and spread to all mankind as all of mankind descends from Adam and Eve. As Millard Erickson puts it, “… the entirety our human nature, both physical and spiritual, material and immaterial, has been received from our parents and more distant ancestors by way of descent from the first pair of humans. On that basis, we were actually present within Adam, so that we all sinned in his act.”

Therefore, as Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, as the representatives of the entire human race, now we all are born receiving a corrupt nature that is inclined toward sin.

As Romans 3:23 says,

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We have all sinned against God and fallen short of His glory which is perfection or sinlessness. We all have inherited a sin-fallen nature that inclines us to sin against God. Adam represented all of humanity and when he sinned against God, we all sinned against God as we descend from Adam. John MacArthur writes, “When he sinned in the Garden of Eden, he sinned not only as a man but as man.”

This is not the only place in Scripture in which we find that sins consequences effect more than just the sinner. In Joshua 7, a man named Achan disobeyed God’s command and took spoil for himself. Achan along with his whole family was then stoned and killed. Sin has grave consequences and effects more than just ourselves. Just as Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and now sin spreads to all mankind, so our sins affect others as well.

However, Adam’s sin brought death into the world and now death because of sin spreads to all of mankind. Death is universal, meaning that every human being will face death unless Christ returns. Because of Adam’s sin, sin and death spread to all of mankind as we descend from Adam. We are all born with this sin fallen nature now.

Look with me at:

Psalm 51:5 ESV

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

This is David speaking of being conceived in sin.

However, I also want us to understand verses 13 and 14 which say,

Romans 5:13–14 ESV

13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Before the Law was given to Moses, death was still certain because each and everyone descending from Adam is born with a sin nature. So, death reigned from Adam to Moses before the giving of the law. However, we see in the end of the verse that hope is found in the One who was to come.

Christmas is the celebration of One who came.

Look back with me at verses 15-21

Romans 5:15–21 ESV

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

From these verses, we see that Jesus is the One who came. Adam was described as a type of the One to came, and Jesus is the One who came to address the sin problem that entered the world through Adam and spread to all mankind. After sin entered the world through Adam, death and sin reigned as humanity continually disobeyed God.

The Old Testament spoke of this coming One that would deliver humanity of sin. As Adam sinned against God, sin then spread to all of mankind. However, in verse 15, we see this free gift that is mentioned. What is the free gift?

The free gift is the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary that paid the price for our sins. Jesus took our place on the cross even though He never committed sin. Jesus bor our sins and our shame that we deserve because of our sin against God the Father. Isaiah 53 prophesied of the coming deliverer.

Isaiah 53:4–6 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus went to cross for us. He is the free gift. The phrase free gift seems redundant. However, it is translated from the greek word charisma and “refers to something given with special graciousness and favor” (MacArthur). That is exactly what Christ and Him crucified is. Jesus is a gift given with special grace and favor toward sinner that are worthy of hell. Likewise, verse 15 says the free gift is not like the trespass. The term trespass refers to someone who has deviated from a path. In Adam, we all deviated from the path by sinning against God.

Sin and death then entered the world. The Scripture says that many, meaning all, die through the one man, Adam’s, trespass in the Garden of Eden. There we see our fallen condition. Then, we see great redemption in Paul’s statement, “much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” There we see that Christ has come to earth and through Him many, meaning those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, will be redeemed from their sin through faith in the free gift that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

According to verse 16, the free gift does is not like the trespass in its result. Adam and Eve sinned with the desire of becoming more like God. However, in their sin against God, the trespass did not achieve its desired result; instead, the trespass gave way to death, the entrance of sin into the world, and separation from God. The free gift did achieve its desired result. In the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, redemption and justification came. Jesus took our place and bore the wrath of God in order that sin would be dealt with once and for all.

1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The trespass brought condemnation as we all stand condemned before God because of our sin. The free gift brings justification and life as those who repent and believe in Jesus are forgiven and viewed as righteous in the sight of God. Justification can be viewed as making one just as if they’d never sinned. Now, life reigns through Christ. Death no longer reigns. Christ has paid the price for you and for me. Now, grace abounds. Through the one act of Jesus Christ, sin was dealt with once and for all time. Jesus’s one act carried out its desire.

John MacArthur writes, “Despite the fact that God hates sin so much that any one sin could damn the human race, His loving grace toward man is so great that He provides not only for the redemption of one man from one sin but for the redemption of all men from all sins. Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins of the whole world.”

Jesus has paid the price once and for all for us.

Look back with me at verses 20-21

Romans 5:20–21 ESV

20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Law was given by God as a revealer of sin, not as a way for humanity to be saved. The was given by God as a standard for righteousness. The Law reveals to us just how sinful we are. No one can live up to the law. Because of our sinfulness, we fall short of the glory of God which is perfection. God gave the law that we might understand righteousness and have a standard. Likewise, we recognize how far we are from the righteousness of God. Because of our sin-fallen nature inherited from Adam, we cannot live up to the law and are condemned before God. But God, in His grace and mercy sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.

That is Christmas. Charles Spurgeon said, “Those little arms in the manger will one day grapple with the monster ‘Death’, and destroy it.”

Christ as come to the world and we celebrate because He has brought forgiveness of sin. As we started in the Garden of Eden, we come now to present day. We are still affected by the sin that took place in the Garden of Eden. We cannot live up to God’s standard and we live in a society that seeks to cancel God and the Gospel at every turn. Look at what Christmas has become. I am not saying that we cannot celebrate Christmas in our own culture, but I am saying that the Church must never lose sight of the true meaning and true joy that Christmas is. Christmas is the celebration of the Messiah coming to this earth living perfectly according to the law, dying on the cross, and being raised from the dead to deliver us from the sin that enslaves us. It is Jesus the Messiah that has come to save the world from sin.

What is Christmas?

Christmas is Jesus has come for us.

As the Meredith Andrews song says,

He has come for us This Jesus He's the hope for all Mankind He has come for us The Messiah Born to give us life

Will you place your faith in Him today?

Let’s pray.

Invitation