Wednesday, December 30, 2009

At Christmas "The Grace of God Has Appeared," Part 8 of 9

TEXT: "That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:10b-14).

IDEA: God’s grace gives us not only a purpose for life but a way of life.

PURPOSE: to help listeners understand what difference Advent should make in their lives.

Do you like Christmas carols?

There’s one Christmas carol you may not understand: “God rest you merry, gentlemen.”  The carol shows the importance of where we place the comma.  It is a hymn that reflects the great truth of Titus 2:11-14:

I. The grace of God teaches us or trains us how to live.

How does the grace of God teach us how to live?

What do we have to look at in terms of Christ’s coming that tells us how we’re to live Christ’s life today

II. The grace of God teaches us what we ought not to be:

Negatively, we are to deny ungodliness. What does that mean? These are acts we do that are unlike God in His grace and love.

We are to deny worldly lusts: the nature of worldly lusts is to turn the arrows in on ourselves, being led by our own greed and ambition to use others for our gratification. These lusts are the lusts of the culture, I John 2:15-17:

Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

III. The grace of God also teaches us three positive things:

We are to live soberly, that is, self-controlled, steady, free of the madness that comes from simply satisfying worldly appetites.

We are to live righteously – live with honesty, fairness, with considerateness and compassion toward others because that is the way God has dealt with us.

We are to live godly – to live in a way that reflects God in the world, to image God in the world.

CONCLUSION:

The grace of God affects the total person.  It puts us into a new relationship to ourselves, to others, and to God.  It’s a wonderful relationship.

So we could sing that carol for both gentlemen and gentlewomen:

God rest you merry, gentle persons, / Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior / was born on Christmas Day,
To save us all from Satan’s power / When we were gone astray,
O tidings of comfort and joy!

From God our heavenly Father / A blessed angel came,
And unto certain shepherds / Brought tidings of the same,
How that in Bethlehem was born / The Son of God by name,
O tidings of comfort and joy!

“Fear not, then,” said the angel, / “Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Savior / Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him / From Satan’s power and might,
O tidings of comfort and joy!

Now to the Lord sing praises, / All you within this pace,
And with true love and brotherhood / Each other now embrace,
This holy tide of Christmas / All others doth deface,
O tidings of comfort and joy!