Tuesday, December 29, 2009

At Christmas "The Grace of God Has Appeared," Part 7 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: Advent not only commemorates the past and anticipates the future, but it consecrates the present.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that living between two advents should affect the way they live.

There are many stories that are associated with Christmas. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is one. Another is O Henry’s short story, The Gift of the Magi. Alice, what is the essence of that story?

A young married couple, very much in love and very, very poor, wanted to give one another wonderful Christmas gifts. But they had no money. The wife had scraped and saved pennies here and there, but on the day before Christmas was still far from her goal of giving her husband a splendid gold chain for his prized heirloom pocket watch. Then she realized she could sell her long hair for enough to buy the chain. Immediately she did so. When her husband came home from work that night, her heart was light and glad as she heard his step on the staircase up to their flat. But when he entered the tiny apartment and saw her short hair, his face fell. She knew he loved her long hair, but she was sure he would love the gold chain for his watch even more. The only way to explain her short hair was to give him the gift. With appreciation and a smile, he then handed her his gift: two gorgeous tortoiseshell combs for her long hair–which he had purchased by selling his watch.

Would you say that neither that young husband or that young wife received any gift that Christmas?

When you think back over your Christmases, and you were to think of the best gift you ever received, what would make it so?

Whether or not anyone has ever given you that kind of gift for Christmas, if you’re a Christian, you have received it because of the Advent. Paul strikes that note when he writes to Titus:

"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."

Paul begins and ends with the emphasis on God’s grace and what God’s grace has done.

I. He says that God paid a ransom price to set us free.

Without this text, what would we normally think He had set us free from? [God’s wrath, condemnation, etc.]

Paul tells us that Jesus has redeemed us from all sin. He not only liberates us from punishment, but He liberates us from the one that keeps us in moral and spiritual bondage.

What is a “lawless deed”? [Explore the nature of the Law.]

II. God purifies us for Himself to be His own special people.

What picture comes to your mind when you think “he purifies for Himself . . .”?

A gem dug from the dirt . . .

Water purified for use . . .

We are to be “zealous for good works.”

We can see the power of zeal in many different areas of life.

Sometimes it’s good, e.g., Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, scientists looking for a cure for cancer;

Sometimes it’s bad, e.g., fanatics who want to blow up the world.

The greatest or most convincing argument for the power of Jesus Christ is the simply demonstration of a good and loving life.

In the previous paragraph in Titus 2, Paul talks to slaves and masters, saying that both groups of people, by the way they live and do their work, “adorn the doctrine of God.” They set it forth in its most attractive fashion.

Good works are the mark of this special people in the marketplace.

III. At this advent, we think of the great gift God has given to us to make us His people. The gift that we give to Him is to display His power at work in our lives.