Tuesday, December 22, 2009
At Christmas "The Grace of God Has Appeared," Part 2 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: At Christmas we celebrate the grace of God.
PURPOSE: To help listeners feel the impact of what it was for Jesus to come into the world.
Do you like Christmas? What do you like about it?
Do you think preachers like Christmas? Yes and no.
One of the great Christmas texts, often overlooked, is found in Titus 2:11-14:
"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."
I. Advent celebrates grace: “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared.”
Grace is a commonly used Christian word. It’s in our hymns and is part of our religious vocabulary.
When we talk about grace, what do we mean by that word?
We often say it means “unmerited favor.” Another definition is that it is God’s act of favor bestowing the greatest gift upon those who deserve the greatest punishment.
Both of these definitions, at their heart, mean that what we receive from God we do not deserve.
Illustration: if a parent, instead of spanking a child for being disobedient, should treat him to a trip to the amusement park, that would be grace.
Another illustration: It would be like the IRS, when you’ve falsified your income tax and were caught, instead of your having to pay a penalty, you’d receive a generous rebate.
These illustrations sound wild. But that is what grace is, and we have obtained it.
II. The text says that the grace of God appeared in human history.
The Greek word translated appeared is the same one from which we get our word epiphany. It means "that which shines forth or becomes visible." What image comes to your mind when you think about that?
In what ways in Jesus do we see the grace of God appearing?
He comes as a baby to His creation. What does that tell you about God?
He comes into poverty. What does that tell you about God?
He identifies with the poor, the weak, the oppressed, the outcast, the fallen. What does that tell you about God?
He dies on a cross, a Roman execution rack. What does that tell you about God?
III. Two questions emerge from this:
How does looking at Jesus change a fundamental conception of God?
How might this change the way you look at Christmas?
