"The Greatest Gift"

"Road To Christmas"  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Jesus is the King that took the place of mankind at the cross and died in order that they would be saved.

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ILLUSTRATION

We are continuing our “Road to Christmas” sermon series. Last week we looked at when the wise men came and were looking for “the king of the Jews” but it wasn’t Herod they were looking for Jesus. They wanted to worship Him.
This week we are going to look at the gifts the wise men bring to Jesus. There is something special about the gifts they bring, each gift means something special pertaining to Jesus.
Christmas is 2 days away. Can you remember the greatest gift you ever recieved?
What is the best gift you’ve ever recieved for Christmas?

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

PRAY!

I. Jesus is King

v. 11 “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him, Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold.....”
The first gift they give Jesus is gold
Last week we talked about the wise men seeking Jesus
They recognized Him as “the king of the Jews”
The gold they give him represents his Kingship
Matter of a fact
Every gift them give Him represents gifts or items a King would have been given or already had
Jesus is the King
That is what they recognized Him as
They finally get to worship Him for who He is
Php 2:8-11

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is the name above every name
The name that EVERY knee should bow
When the wise men went to Herod
They called Jesus “the King of the Jews”
He was more than that
If the wise men only saw Him as the “king of the Jews” then they wouldn’t have bowed
THE GREATEST GIFT
JESUS IS King
There is something truly special about knowing that God took matters into His own hands
For thousands of years man looked to man for help
Israel had the Judges that they looked to
They also had King David
King Solomon
Even prophets
They all failed them
So God did what only HE could do
He took our sin problem into His own hands
Came to be despised and envied by man
Now He sits at the right hand of God
Luke 22:69

69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

Elvis Presley is known as the King of Rock and Roll
There was a lady who made a sign about him being the king, and he said, “I’m not the king. Jesus Christ is the King. I’m just an entertainer.
Elvis could have easily got caught up in that
He gave the Kingship to Jesus Christ
That was all God ever wanted
Remember last week I asked a question
Who did God want Israel to choose as their King?
God wanted Israel to WANT Him as the King
They wanted something different
Often times we reject Jesus as King in our lives
When we say Jesus is our Lord and Savior
We are confessing Him as King over our lives
If we don’t listen to Him then we are disobeying the King
Jesus is either our King or He isn’t
THE GREATEST GIFT
JESUS IS KING

II. Jesus Intercedes

v. 11 “they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense...”
Frankincense was a spice that was used for aroma sacrifices and prayer
Frankincense came from Arabia and India
Frankincense also represents Jesus intercession
This was apart of the prophetic message that came from Isaiah
Isaiah 60:6

6  A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

It may or may not have been known to the wise men what they were actually doing when they brought these gifts
That this gift of Frankincense represented Christ intercession
Romans 8:34

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

We talked about this a little bit last week but imagine that
We have Christ in our corner interceding for us
THE GREATEST GIFT
JESUS IS KING
JESUS INTERCEDES

ILLUSTRATION

President Lincoln was one day assured by a friend that he was prayed for as no man before had ever been remembered, and he replied: "I have been told so, and have been greatly helped by just that thought." Then he slowly and solemnly added: "I should be the most presumptuous blockhead if I for a moment thought that I could discharge the duties which come upon me in this place without the help of One Who is stronger and wiser than all others." If prayer was help for him, so is it for the lowliest Christian. Thank God, "I have prayed for thee" of Jesus is always ours. He ever lives to make intercession for us.
That should be what motivates us
To know that Jesus is interceding for us
His entire life was to intercede for us
His life was lived for one reason
To take our place at the cross
1 Peter 2:24

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

That was supposed to be our place on the cross
Jesus took our sins
He did this so we might die to sin
That means that we have to give up our sinful lives
We will still fail
We will still sin
That is why Jesus intercession is so important for us
Even though we sin Christ is there interceding for us
Like I said last week, Jesus is our lawyer defending our case to God
Telling God that we trusted in Him as our Lord and Savior
Telling God all the times we stood up for the Gospel
Telling God how we asked for forgiveness of our sins
How He has taken our place at the cross
That He has made us righteous
That now we are seen holy in Gods eyes
THE GREATEST GIFT
JESUS IS KING
JESUS INTERCEDES

III. JESUS DIED FOR US

v. 11 “they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
Myrrh was also a spice or perfume
Myrrh was used to embalm bodies when someone died
Myrrh represents Jesus death
John 19:39 talks about Nicodemus bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes for Jesus in the tomb
The intercession of Christ and His death go hand in hand
When Jesus interceded for us and took our place at the cross
That same place where he took the sins of the world like 1 John 2:2 says

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

He also died
Romans 5:10

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

There are some of us here today who are enemies of God
There are plenty of people who have died
Are Dying and or are alive that refuse to accept Jesus died for their sin
They refuse to acknowledge Him as King
Sometimes we even feel like we are too bad
The things we have done are too horrible to be forgiven
That we have to “work” off our sin
Jesus is the free gift though
Romans 6:23 NRSV
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus took that death for us
He took the wrath of God for us
THE GREATEST GIFT
JESUS IS KING
JESUS INTERCEDES
JESUS DIED FOR US
Not one of these gifts are greater than the other though
Jesus could have died for us but if he didn’t intercede for us
By taking our place then it wouldn’t have mattered
If Jesus wasn’t King sitting at the right hand of God then Him interceding for us wouldn’t have mattered
He had to be and do all three

ILLUSTRATION

A visitor approached the preacher after listening to his sermons on the necessity of receiving Christ as Savior. The man said he thought that Christianity should limit itself in presenting Christ as our example whom we should follow. The preacher turned to the visitor and said, "If I were to preach Christ as our example, would you follow His example?" "Why not?" was the flippant answer. The preacher thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let us think then of some of the things that Jesus did and did not do. One of the things that is said of Him is that He did not sin. Can you take that step and follow His example in doing no sin?" "No, I must be very honest about myself, I do sin." The preacher then answered: "It is impossible then to follow Jesus unless you first make Him your Savior. It is He who must live in you so that you can say 'For me to live is Christ.' " Jesus came into the world not to set an example for us, but to become our Savior. It is only as we receive Him that we are able to follow Him because He indwells us.
With each gift together we get THE GREATEST GIFT
The gift of salvation

INVITATION

God saw man and the issue of sin we had
He took matters into His own hands and came into the flesh
We know that name as Jesus
He interceded for us
Meaning He took our place from paying the ultimate price for our sin
He took on the wrath of God for us
He died for us
So that “for us to live is Christ”
The only way that can be true is for us to see Jesus as King
King of our lives
The King we submit to and bow down to
The only way to follow Him is to accept Him as Lord and Savior over our lives
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