Whoever takes the son gets it all

Matthew 1:18-21

 The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

 “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (NLT)

Illustration

Years ago there was a very wealthy man who loved to collect art. Whenever he would buy a new piece he would bring his young son with him. They traveled all over the world, buying expensive pieces to add to their collection.  When the son became an adult he also became an art collector.

Then one day war broke out, and the son went off to war.  After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram saying that his son had been killed while carrying a fellow soldier to a safety.

On Christmas morning a knock came at the door of the old man’s home, and as he opened the door, he was greeted by a soldier with a large package in his hand. He introduced himself to the man by saying, “I was a friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in for a few moments? I have something to show you.” “I’m an artist,” said the soldier, “and I want to give you this.”

As the old man unwrapped his package, he found a portrait of his son. Although the art critics would never consider it to be a good work of art it did resemble his son.

The following spring, the old man died. According to the old man’s will all his paintings would be auctioned. Art collectors from all over the world gathered to place their bids. The auction began with a painting that was not on any museum’s list. The painting of the son.  

The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent. “Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked. Minutes passed with not a sound. From the back of the room someone called out, “Who cares about that painting? It’s just a picture of his son. Let’s forget it and go on to the important paintings.”

Others agreed. But the auctioneer replied, “No, we have to sell this one first. Now, who will take the son?”

Finally, a friend of the old man spoke. “I knew the boy, so I’d like to have it. I will bid the $100.” “I have a bid for $100,” called the auctioneer. “Will anyone go higher?”

After a long silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once. Going twice. Gone.”

Cheers filled the room and someone was heard to say, “Now we can get on with it!” But the auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over. Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Someone spoke up and asked, “What do you mean it’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son. What about all of these paintings? There are millions of dollars worth of art here! We demand that you explain what’s going on!”

The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son... gets it all.”  

Whoever takes the son gets it all. That’s what the Christmas story is about.

1 John 5:11-12 reads “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”(NLT)

If we have the son we have it all but what does that mean?

Well there are several things. First of all Advents shows us who God is. Because of Advent We know what God is like.

Because of Jesus we can put a face to God.

Colossians 1:15 reads “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. (NLT)

God came to earth as a human just like you and me. The creator of the universe came down to earth to live with us so we could know what he was like.

Jesus came to teach us how we should live. He came to die for us so we could be forgiven. He rose from the dead to show us that we could be raised. And he promised us hat he would return again so we could have hope. He gave us the hope of eternal life in heaven.

Have you ever tried to imagine what the world would be like if Jesus didn’t come? It’s not the kind of world I would want to live in.

Things would be a lot different if Jesus didn’t come. We wouldn’t be worshipping here this morning. There wouldn’t be any Church. We wouldn’t have any of the New Testament just the old.

There would be no Christmas, no beautifully wrapped gifts under the tree. We wouldn’t have all these beautiful decorations here. We wouldn’t see all those smiling faces on Christmas morning. We wouldn’t be singing any Christmas Carols. There wouldn’t be any “Joy To The World The Lord Is Come” because there wouldn’t be a Savior to sing about.

If Jesus didn’t come, Mary Magdalene would have died in her sin.

Peter, James and John would have done nothing more than catch fish.

Zacheaus would have continued to rip people off on their taxes

Paul would just have been another cruel religious Pharisee steeped in legalism.

The lame would have never walked; the blind would have never seen; the deaf would never have heard. If you think the world is bad now how bad do you think it would be if Jesus didn’t come?

We would never have heard Jesus’ words:

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”

That’s why we sing about Emmanuel at Christmas — “God is with us.”

The worship Team sang about it earlier in our service.

He was with us 2000 years ago, and he’s with us right now to show us what God is like.

God cared about us enough to come. He cared and loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus into the world. God showed us who he was through Jesus Christ. God is love.  

He showed his love and compassion even to those who were considered to be outcasts.

Some of you may have watched “The Antique Road Show” on television.

If you’ve watched you know that on the show people will bring their items which they probably picked up at a yard sale for a few dollars or found laying around  in their attic or basement to find out if they’re worth anything. Some of the items that seemed like garbage ended up being worth thousands of dollars. Most of these people are shocked when they find out.

And that’s the same thing God does he takes people who feel worthless, people who feel they have nothing to offer and he tells them they’re worth something. You see God sees what we can’t see. He sees the value in our lives He see potential. All we see is what’s on the outside and sometimes it doesn’t look very good.

But God sees that person who has reached the bottom and he picks them up and shows them there’s still hope.

That’s what Jesus does. He takes people who seem worthless. People who are looked upon as rejects, the outcasts, the lepers, prostitutes, and demon possessed the alcoholics and he restores them. He makes what looks like trash into treasure.

Everyday people are being changed. Lives are being transformed by Jesus Christ. If Jesus didn’t come we wouldn’t have that hope. I wouldn’t want to live in a world like that.

WE RECEIVE FORGIVENESS

And because of Advent there’s forgiveness.

Think about the worst thing you’ve ever done — the thing that makes you really feel ashamed, that really makes you miserable. What if you has to live with that shame for the rest of your life? That’s what it would be like if Jesus didn’t come. There wouldn’t be any forgiveness. Our life would just be a useless meaningless hopeless existence.

Just try to imagine how awful that would be? No relief ever, always feeling guilty and miserable inside. Imagine having all that baggage to carry around and no one to take it.

But today we can praise God because there is hope. Jesus did come and because he did we can be forgiven. It makes no difference where we’ve been or what we’ve done there’s forgiveness.

We don’t have to live with a guilty conscience. We don’t have to feel miserable. Jesus paid the price and because of his sacrifice we can receive forgiveness from every sin.

Isn’t it great to feel the freedom that comes with forgiveness?  Doesn’t it just make you want to give a big sigh of relief? We don’t have to feel guilty anymore.

The Bible tells us that he casts all our sins into the sea of forgetfulness never to be remembered again. Isn’t it great that when God forgives us he erases our sins from his memory? It’s like getting rid of everything on your computer hard drive.

We call it being born again because it’s a new start a new beginning.

But we’re not like God. We don’t always find it easy to forget we may forgive but it may takes years to forget and even after years it’s not really gone.  It’s somewhere in the background and every so often it comes to the surface. Aren’t you glad God isn’t like us?

But if Jesus didn’t come there would be no forgiveness. We wouldn’t be able to find comfort in the words of Jesus.

We wouldn’t have John 3:16- “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.” (NLT)

We would have those words because there wouldn’t be a Savior. There wouldn’t be any talk of forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

If Jesus didn’t come, the woman caught in adultery would never have heard those comforting words from John 8:11 “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin” (NIV)

Instead she would have been stoned to death.

It was love that brought Jesus into this world. He could have written us off as a lost cause. But instead he gave us a second chance a chance we didn’t deserve. A chance to be forgiven. When we come to Jesus when we accept him as our savior he gives us a clean slate.

It’s not an easy process for some because it takes humility. I spoke on humility a few weeks ago. Humbleness means letting go of pride. And that’s what makes it so difficult for many of us we’re proud.

Sometimes we’re too proud to admit our mistakes and failures. We’re too proud to admit our sin. But if we really want forgiveness we have to confess our sins. It means letting go of our pride admitting our sin and asking for forgiveness. Sometimes we don’t want to do that but it’s well worth the effort.

And with forgiveness comes transformation. Jesus didn’t just come to forgive us he came to clean us and transform us. Every day as look into God’s word, as we spend time with him in prayer and as we serve him with our gifts and talents His holy spirit will transform us more and more in to his character. Why? Because we live with him and his Holy Spirit live inside us.

ETERNAL HOPE

And finally because of Advent we have an eternal hope. Because of Advent we will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. If Jesus didn’t come there wouldn’t be any hope. But Jesus made it possible.

I’m dating myself now but when I was a boy we used to sing the old Hymn “When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be.”

What would the world be like if there were no heaven to look forward too? If all we had to live for was this life what would it be like? 

What words of comfort would I be able to offer those who were grieving over the loss of a loved one? There wouldn’t be any the grave would be the end. All I could say would be “Ashes to ashes dust to dust.”  How sad it would be.

1 Corinthians 15:19 tells us that “If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” (NLT)

If Jesus Christ didn’t come there wouldn’t be any book of Revelation; there would be nothing about Jesus coming back. There would be no second coming.

There would be no resurrection to look forward to.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 reads “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” (NLT)

There wouldn’t be any hope of a resurrection not even the concept of one. No eternal life. Not a thing to look forward to except death. But Jesus did come and because he did we can praise God. There is hope!

In his book “Dare to Believe,” Dan Baumann writes about what it’s like to know that something is yours even though you have to wait for it. You may even have it in hand, but are not able to enjoy it “out of the box.”

He says that when he was young he would always snoop around before Christmas always trying to find his gift and figure out what was in the wrapped packages which his Mom had hid.

One year he found a large package with his name on it that he knew was a set of golf clubs. One shake of that box revealed the unmistakable sound of clubs.

He says, “When Mom wasn’t around, I would go and feel the package, shake it, and pretend that I was on the golf course. The point is, I was already enjoying the pleasures of a future event; namely, the [unwrapping]. It had my name on it. I knew what it was.”

It was his, but it would not be handed over to him until Christmas morning. Then he would see with his eyes what before he had only seen with his heart.

(Sermon Central)

That’s what Christmas is about. Jesus has already given us the gift of heaven. But right now it’s still wrapped up. But our name is written on the tag. We know it’s ours. We know we’re going to get it.

And we would never have received God’s gift if it were not for Christmas. We know that the gift of heaven is ours and someday we’ll enjoy it. And although we enjoy our life here we still look forward in hope and anticipation. It’s our hope.

As the Bible says 2 Peter 3:13 “We are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.” (NLT)   

The day will come when we too will hear the words, Revelation 21:3-4 “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (NLT)

Because Jesus came, we know what God is like. We can experience forgiveness, we can be transformed and we can receive eternal life in heaven. What more could we ask for this Christmas?

(All Scriptures taken from Bible Gateway.com: Illustrations taken from Sermon Central)