Sermon Tone Analysis
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So with Christmas being 3 days away...
We will spend today looking - not merely at the birth of Christ...
but MORE THAN THAT - I want to PUSH THRU the birth itself - and look to the purpose and effect of it...
MEANING - I don’t just want us to leave here today with a better understanding of the - FACTS of the birth of Christ...
BUT more importantly - to examine 2 sides to His BIRTH...
the WHY of His birth
and then on the back side...
the EFFECT of His birth (how it impacts me as I walk out of here today)
I’m sure we all have at LEAST - a GENERAL understanding of what Christmas represents...
But I want to - UNWRAP Christmas…a bit
to DIG DEEPER and hopefully have something to take with us as we leave today...
And so let’s get right to the first part of it...
SLIDE: QUESTION 1:
[Why] was Jesus born in the flesh?
We all know that it's the BIRTH OF JESUS that is celebrated at Christmas, but if there would be ANY truth in that celebration......then we have to understand why we're celebrating...Of WHY He even came to earth...
HERE'S WHY....
In the very beginning, in the first Book of the Bible...Genesis chapter 1...we see God CREATE...
And we see that ALL that God had created was GOOD!
The relationship between God and man was one of PURE LOVE...There was UNHINDERED Worship!
SOOO Unhindered...that you had MAN and WOMAN....next to each other....naked...YET - they weren't FOCUSED on each other...RATHER......it was all about WORSHIPPING God!
There was NOTHING between God and man EXCEPT for - 'LOVE for God'!
BUT THEN...something happened....DISOBEDIENCE happened.
SIN happened...
Sin entered the world through one man - ADAM...and the consequence of that SIN reached through time and KILLS all of us...
Why?
Because we ALL sin...
Sin entered the world...and it shattered creation (which was good)...
Shattered the unhindered worship of God...
AND NOW, man was separated from God.
Physical death and Spiritual death now came into the world...LISTEN - FOR ALL MANKIND.
From this point on...man is NO LONGER ABLE to please God.
NO LONGER able to worship Him
NO LONGER able to believe in Him
NO LONGER able to come to Him...see Him...pursue Him...love Him...to have FAITH in Him....to place our trust in Him.
The very moment that sin entered the world, total depravity saturated mankind......and hopelessness before God became reality.
And so you might say - WOW - that sounds REALLY BAD!
You're RIGHT....it is REALLY BAD news....eternally BAD news...
MANKIND HAS a problem that MANKIND can’t fix!
We can’t YOUTUBE that thing in order to fix it ourselves!
SO - SIN is on the table…and it’s SET to DESTROY us…!
OK - the pieces are starting to come together!
If SIN is our problem … which it is…and WE can’t FIX it ourselves...
HOW DOES IT GET FIXED?
WELL - the Bible says that SIN can only be FORGIVEN - ONE WAY!
Well this tells us that FORGIVENESS can only happen through the - SHEDDING of BLOOD!
AND SO WE SEE WHY JESUS - CAME IN THE FLESH....
He needed to come to earth as a human so He could live a perfect life..
so He could suffer…and SHED HIS BLOOD for our SINS...
He put on flesh that it might be pierced...
He had a beard that it might be pulled out from His face
He had eyes so that they might be spit on
He had feet - that they would be nailed to the cross
He took on a body...that it might be destroyed
He put on flesh that He might become our sacrifice...
And so we SEE WHY He was born...
Jesus was born – so that we might be FORGIVEN
And so if we’re going to CELEBRATE Christmas - then we must KNOW the target of our CELEBRATION...
**Ever show up at a party NOT KNOWING what the party was for??
And so we SHOULD KNOW what “Christmas” is all about...
So do you see how Christmas has to do with SIN…
- And the remedy to that SIN…
SEE – there’s a BIGGER PICTURE here to see...when it comes to Christmas
Christmas is ACTUALLY just a small PIECE of the puzzle...
SO LET’S RIGHT NOW - look at the back of the PUZZLE BOX...
What’s USUALLY on the back of the puzzle box?
A COMPLETE picture of the puzzle!
Ok, here it is… Here’s a LOOK at the COMPLETE PICTURE...
Do you see?
the COMPLETE PICTURE is this = Reconciliation!
The AIM of Christmas is - Reconciliation
· The birth of Christ was a necessary EVENT – but just a piece of the larger picture of RECONCILIATION…
What is reconciliation?
· It’s the restoration of – relationship
And the verse speaks to this RESTORATION when it says… “making peace by the blood of his cross”
· So reconciliation POINTS to the PEACE that God extends….on
the basis of WHAT?
· The BLOOD of Jesus!
· And so - Reconciliation can also be viewed as a RECONCILING of ACCOUNTS…
· The DEBT we OWED due to SIN – PAID for by the BLOOD of the CROSS…
Jesus MAKES peace – by the Blood of the cross!
· This is the REASON that Jesus came – IN THE FLESH!
· To RECONCILE all things – to HIMSELF!
And if you are a FOLLOWER of Jesus Christ – then you’ve received the GIFT of RECONCILIATION!
What does that really mean?
It means – YOU NOW HAVE *Peace with God
The gift we now have is – the gift of Reconciliation!
Which is...
PEACE with God:
• An eternal sacrifice...
• with an eternal reward...
• brings eternal peace...
• IF you have been justified BY Faith in Jesus Christ...
• ...YOU WILL FOREVER BE AT PEACE WITH GOD...
• verse 1 says - ...since we've BEEN JUSTIFIED by faith, we HAVE peace with God...
• this phrase "we have peace" is in the present tense...
• The verb tense where the writer portrays an action in process or a state of being with no assessment of the action’s completion
• Eternally at peace with God...
• And so this impacts us in our lives...
• Being at peace with the creator of the universe impacts how we live...
IF WE NOW HOLD THE GIFT OF “PEACE WITH GOD” / RECONCILIATION – then we ALL ARE NOW CALLED TO BE – RE-GIFTERS!
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