And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - 6 and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This morning we’re taking a break from our series on the gospel of John as we continue the theme of Christmas, and I want to tell you a parable of a very wealthy man, who with his son, shared a passion for art collecting. They travelled all over the world, attending the finest art auctions adding priceless works by Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet and many others to their collection. The father looked on with pride as his only child became an experienced art collector.
But one day war came, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram that his beloved son had been killed while carrying a fellow soldier to a medic.
A couple of years later there was a knock 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 the package, the paper gave way to reveal a painting of his son. Though the art critics would never consider the work a piece of genius, the painting did feature the young man’s face in striking detail, and seemed to capture his personality.
The following year, the old man became ill and passed away.
The art world was in anticipation. According to the will of the old man who no longer had an heir, all of the art works were to be auctioned. When the day arrived, art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings. The auction began though with a painting that was not on any museum’s list. It was the painting of the man’s son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid, but the room was silent.
“Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked.
Minutes passed with not a sound from those who came to buy.
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.” There were other voices which echoed in agreement.
But the auctioneer replied, “No, we have to sell this one first. Now, who will bid on this painting of his son?” Finally, a friend of the old man spoke. “I knew the boy, so I’d like to have it. I will bid $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. Sold.” The gavel fell. Cheers filled the room and someone said, “Now we can get on with it!” But the auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over, and that every painting which had belonged to the old man now belonged to the man who had bought the portrait of his son for just $100.
As you can imagine, there was stunned disbelief in 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.”
That is the essence of the story of Christmas: Whoever takes the Son gets it all.
1 John 5:11-13 puts it like this: “This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
The one who has the Son has it all. But exactly what is included in the “all”? There are several things, and I want to suggest that the first thing is that Christmas promises new life in Christ because it means we now know what God is like.
The coming of Christ gave us a living picture of who God is. Christ’s coming put a face on God.
Colossians 1:15-16 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him.”
This is what we mean by the word ‘incarnation’ - God came to earth wrapped in a human body. The God of heaven came to live among us so that we might know what He is truly like. He came to teach us. He came to die for us so that we can be forgiven. He rose from the dead to help us know that we too will be raised. He promised that He will return, and that hope gives our lives a real purpose. He opened the doors of heaven.
Imagine what the world would be like if God, in the person of Jesus Christ, had never come to earth.
Most universities and schools in the Western world would not exist, because they were started as Christian institutions of higher learning, even though God has long since been expelled from these places. The founders of these schools believed that to study science was to study the work of God. It was a way of learning more about what He was like. Many hospitals would not exist, because they were begun by people who had hearts full of compassion for those who were sick, due to their personal experience with Jesus Christ and being transformed by His love.
Our way of dating history would be completely different, since all of history is divided into the things which occurred before Christ and the things which occurred after Christ.
You might have noticed recently that the term BC has been replaced by BCE. BCE means ‘before current era’ – another futile attempt to exclude God from our lives, but the joke is that we still use the same numbers.
20 BC and 20 BCE are exactly the same year!
If Jesus had not come we would have only half a Bible. We would not have heard of the love of a personal God. God would never have visited the world and we would have no hope of His return.
Without Jesus, Mary Magdalene would have died in her sin.
Matthew would have remained a tax collector and a traitor to his countrymen.
Peter, James and John would have done nothing more with their lives than catch fish for a living.
The apostle Paul would never have been more than a cruel Pharisee steeped in legalism with an unrelenting demand for perfection from other people.
The people who needed healing during the time that Christ would have lived, would still have been broken in body and spirit.
The lame would still have been lame; the blind would have stayed in darkness; the deaf would have still lived in silence. We would never have heard the words: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
This is why we sing about Emmanuel at Christmas — God is with us. He was with us 2000 years ago, and He is with us now by His Spirit to show us what God is like, and to guide us into all truth.
We have a God who cared enough to come. He showed us what He was like and His name was love. He was the friend of sinners and failures. He showed love and compassion to the outcasts of the world. He healed the sick and He raised the dead.
He taught us not to use the values of this world to measure our worth.
He taught us that we are of infinite value to God.
And because Christ showed us what God was like, we are given the possibility of becoming like Him.
We have been transformed by His grace and renewed by His love.
We extend grace to others because it has been extended to us. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We give because He gave to us. We live because He has given us eternal life. Because Jesus came, we know what God is like — living love.
Secondly, Christmas promises new life because it means our sins can be forgiven. Think for a moment about the worst thing you have ever done — the one thing that makes you burn with shame. And then think of what it would be like if Jesus had not come and you could not be forgiven for that sin.
What would that be like? Your guilt would never be dealt with, and condemnation would always be hanging over your head. But since Jesus came, forgiveness is offered to those who have received the grace that Christ came to offer. We know the freedom that forgiveness brings.
We can forgive ourselves and others because we have experienced the liberating forgiveness that Jesus Christ came to give us.
But if Jesus had never come, we would have only commandments to follow, and we would never have heard these amazing words: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17)
Without Jesus, we would be missing a Saviour. There would be no talk of forgiveness and reconciliation to God - only laws to be obeyed, and we would not be able to obey them, bringing us only condemnation and judgment.
Grace would not be a word in our vocabulary. We would talk about justice, and people getting what they deserved, rather than finding mercy with God. If Jesus had never come, the woman caught in adultery would never have heard the words: “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”
1 John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
We are children of God because we have been forgiven as an act of the grace Jesus Christ made possible by His atoning death. It is as simple, and as difficult, as humbling ourselves and asking for the forgiveness which He offers.
But it’s more than just forgiveness. It brings about a transformation in our lives. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Christ came to not only clean our hearts, but to change our hearts.
We are being transformed into His character more and more with each passing day. Because we live with Him, we are becoming like Him. His Holy Spirit is working in us to reproduce His image.
And all of this is for one grand purpose, which leads to the third and final point — Christmas promises a new life in Christ, because it means we have the hope of heaven.
Heaven was made possible by Jesus.
Think about what the world would feel like if there was no hope of heaven.
How differently would we view death? What kind of hope would there be if life just – ended?
What if there was no hope beyond the grave? There would be no talk about heaven, and no reason to hope for eternal life with God.
If Jesus Christ had not come, there would be no book of Revelation; no hope for a returning Saviour who would overcome the world and open heaven for us. There would be no hope of hearing the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:23)
There would not be any hope of a resurrection — not even the concept of one. There would be no eternal life.
But because Jesus came, all of that has changed. We live in joyful anticipation of what is yet to come. We have hope.
I found a wonderful story of hope, written by a man who said that as a youngster, he always did a lot of snooping at Christmas time, trying to find his presents and guessing what they were. Of course, none of you here today have ever done that, but one year while still a teenager, this man found a large present with his name on it, and he knew it 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. It had my name on it, and 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.
Christmas means that Christ has given us the gift of heaven. At this point it is still wrapped. But the gift has our name on it. We know what awaits us. It is ours. We would never have received the gift if it were not for Christmas. And so we wait in anticipation for the day when we will enjoy the gift of heaven in all of its unwrapped wonder.
2 Peter 3:13 says, “According to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
There will come a day when we will hear these words from Revelation 21, and the true meaning of them will be crystal clear to us: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)
Those verses are usually only read at funerals, and that is a great pity, because it’s a promise we need to remind ourselves of all the time!
Because Jesus came, we know what God is like. We experience forgiveness for our sins and the transformation of our hearts and minds. We have received the promise of heaven and eternal life. What better gifts could we ask for?
“This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
But in order for these promises to be true, you must come to Christ. There is no other way. According to the will of the Father, whoever has the Son, has it all.