CHRISTMAS - The Cost: To Those Who Accept = Free does not mean no strings!

In the summer of 1962 I was 6 years old. That's when my father cut my hair into a Mohawk, painted a yellow sun on my chest and called me – “Little Rising Sun”. This began my love affair with Cowboys and Indians. When Christmas came I asked everyone, including Santa for a horse.  Christmas Eve I had one of the most realistic dreams I had ever had; in it I owned a horse.  In the morning, I went downstairs and asked my parents where my horse was? They had to help me understand that it was just a dream, man was I mad! My dad and I talked and he explained what it would take for me to own a horse. The grooming, the feeding and what I would have to do in a stable with a shovel! 
My response to my father was that my horse did not need or do those kinds of things! You see, at 6 I did not understand what the cost would be to have the privilege of owning horse.

What does it cost to accept Christmas?  The opportunity of blessings and the privilege of relationship with Christ, which Christmas offers is tremendous, yet still comes with a cost to those that accept it. Salvation is free for us, however, Salvation does include conditions!

Some things are universal, like eating Oreo cookies -  everyone eats the middle first!  Or why a $3 hot dog at a baseball game taste better than  the  $.25 one at home!  Or when you go to the bank, there is always a long line, and only one teller is working…even if you were to go at midnight on a Tuesday!

Another universal truth, no one likes anyone telling them what to do! However, one of the costs for accepting Christmas is exactly that!

·      (1) Authority

When you accept Christmas you admit there is a God. When you admit there is a God you submit to the fact that there is someone above you.

It has been said:

"For God to be God, He must be greater than the one who recognizes Him to be God"

Job 38:1–11 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.  “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’

Sadly, many hold a view that I heard on a well-known TV show years ago:

"We have one God and He serves us well enough"

Many think God is there for them, not that they are here for Him! The world has it backwards – they say possess Money and use God! The truth is we need to let God possess us and use Money! God has included an instruction manual on His authority.

                §  New Authority = the Word of God!

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

·      (2) Your Identity

When you accept Christmas then you believe in a personal God! Which means that God gets involved with you!

Hebrews 10:14–16 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,  “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

1 Corinthians 6:14–16 And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.  Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”

A very important question to ask ourselves is: How am I different because of Christ? The answer should not be money or things – it should be Character.

George Muller was a drunkard and lived a very ungodly lifestyle, even while studying theology. When he made a personal commitment to Christ his life changed drastically. He began the Scriptural Knowledge Institute , setting up many Orphanages.  8000 children were educated and found jobs…he never took a salary, yet raised over 1,453,153 pounds! When he died he had 160 pounds to his name…his Orphanages are still going!

What possesses a man to change that much…not Santa Claus!

·      (3) Goals

When you accept Christmas you admit there is more than this life: your Destiny is changed; your future is changed and your goals are changed!

Luke 12:16–21 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

You now belong to God. This brings an eternal perspective…His goals become your goals, but what does that mean? 

§  1. You won't live as others do.

§  2. Your gains will not be what the world calls gains.

§  3. Your race will be a spiritual one between you and yourself - Not competition with the other guy.

§  4. Your life will be measured by what you gave for Him not by the things you've gained for yourself.

Have you counted the cost ? Are you willing to pay it?

CHRISTMAS: The Cost: The Father – A judgmental and cruel God?

Quiet your mind and imagine with me - God is approached by Gabriel: "What is it Gabriel?”… “Yes, I know they have eaten from it”… “I knew they would.”...”No they cannot stay in the garden, it would be deadly for them.”…”Yes they will die…Don't cry, I have a plan…You must wait"

Centuries later – “Today is the day Gabriel!”…Go…Go to Mary in Nazareth and tell her."

Luke 1:26–35 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,  to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.  Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”  Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.  “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.  And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”  Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”  The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

John 3:16–17 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Sadly, much of the world has tried and convicted God…ignoring all the facts. They make Him appear to be like the gods of the Greeks or Romans. Selfish, moody and playing games with humans. The record from scripture testifies to the very opposite! Even when it came to the garden, God’s concern was for us!

Genesis 3:22–24 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Some important issues here, Man would have known good and evil either way. If he had resisted the temptation to eat, he would know good and evil by exoeriencing good, and would have confirmed holy. However, he went the other way, and when he did that he was separated from God spiritually. If he were to eat of the tree of life he would live forever separated, so God in His mercy drove man from the garden and protected the tree, so man would die physically…but God would be able to offer redemption.

Not exactly cruel or selfish…is it?

That first Christmas was the ultimate statement of the Creator God’s heart for His creation!

Scripture makes it clear that the cost of our redemption would be God Himself! God the Father will not wink at sin, it must be paid in full…but only One could make that payment…God!

Hebrews 10:5–7 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

This was an act of total self denial and unconditional love.

On Dec 6 1988, my youngest son, Zach…only 1½ years old brought this Truth to a reality in a way I have never forgotten. Dee and I were carrying into the house the freshly cut family Christmas tree we had just as a family gone and cut down. Christ and Cilla were playing with friend right across the street. As we went into the door, Zach crawled under the tree out to the front yard. He saw his brother and sister, and began walking to them. Dee and I heard the screeching of car tires…we looked and there in the middle of the street was a car and it’s front bumper was about 6 inches from Zach’s head. Dee and I both screamed and ran out into the road. Dee grabbed Zach, who had no idea of how close he had come to dying, I went to the driver, which I could see almost had a heart attack. She was so shaken because she realized how close she came to hitting and most likely killing Zach. I asked for her forgiveness and explained we thought he was in the house, because that’s where he was when we opened the front door. That night I lay in bed unable to sleep, the thought of losing my son was overwhelming. I would have lost him due to an accident, would I be willing to lose him deliberately to save a person…maybe even a person that does not care about me? What our Father did is beyond my comprehension!

Let’s just consider some of the great cost God paid:

·      (1) Paid it for His enemies

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

We are not talking only about people that made a mistake and said I'm sorry. These are people that hate God and want nothing to do with Him.

·      (2) Paid it with no help from us

Romans 8:3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

Realize God did this with no strings attached! He still leaves the choice to you and I if we want a relationship with Him. The price has been paid in full whether you accept it or not. However, He leaves up to you if you want to apply the payment and be redeemed.

·      (3) Paid it Himself

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

The Father allowed humans to murder His Son, but the Father poured His wrath and judgment on His own Son to fulfill the payment due sin. That is not the work of a “cruel” God, but a sacrificial and loving God.

God held nothing back on that first Christmas. Perhaps it would be beneficial if we meditate today and ask ourselves…have we held back anything from Him? 

CHRISTMAS The Cost: The Son - A good deal??

I remember one time, while working in a prison ministry, a man said to me that he thought that the deal Jesus had was not so bad. To die, even though he admitted it was a terrible death, then to stay in the grave for only three days, but then to come back to life and be King of all creation forever…was not a bad deal. I agreed with him…if that had been him or me. Then I asked him  - “if you were a billionaire, had all the fame and power in the world…and I offered you a deal…to be tortured to death, dead for three days and then when you came back to life I would make you a billionaire and give you all the fame and power in the world…would you do it?” He said, “why would I, I already have everything you are offering!” Then I could see the light go off in his head – he understood, Jesus already owned everything, so what was His gain? We will look at that after we finish what it cost Him.

We have already seen that that first Christmas cost Jesus:

·      [1]          Cost the Right to home

·      [2]         Cost the Right of perfect Fellowship with the Father.

·      [3]          Cost the Right of Eternity

Here are two others:

·      [4]          Right of Omnipresence

The Son as God had no limit on His presence. How does that work – only one person understands that…God. When Jesus gave up His rights of deity, and became incarnate, He now was limited to being in one place at one time. Having never been able to experience this we do not know what a sacrifice it was. Still, after working in a prison for two years, I did understand the tremendous power and privilege I must have seem to have compared to the inmates. I can come and go as I please, they on the other hand were forced to remain in the prison and many times even in their small cells.    

·      [5]         Right of Omnipotence

Before incarnation Jesus never needed anything or endured the limitations of the human body. That first Christmas changed all that. As God incarnate He experienced things that God never would have.

o   Growth

Luke 2:52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

o   The grief of a friend dying

           

John 11:30–35 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.  Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.

o   Hunger

Matthew 4:2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

o   Fatigue and Thirst

John 4:5–7 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

Compare your Christmas to His. Allow what He did to encourage you not to allow any disappointment with this season to rob you of the real joy that Christmas can bring.

One last thought: Did Jesus gain anything from His sacrifice that He did not have prior to becoming flesh? Yes! Not in power, or abilities, but in possessions. He fulfilled His Father’s desire to give fallen humans a path to redemption, and for that He received the pleasure of His Father. Secondly, if any human being will see their condition as a sinner, and the penalty that awaits all of us, but decides to place their trust in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, they become children of God! Consider that, the next time you think about what Jesus did…He left all so that He could gain us! Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?