God's Gift to the World

God's Gift to the World

Intro: Luke 1:26-35 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

•   This is the story of the Angel Gabriel telling Mary that, though she has never known a man, she shall have a child, and that child will be the Son of God. One can only imagine how awe struck Mary must have been. But This information from Gabriel has been long awaited by all Jewish women. For Isaiah the prophet had prophesied this very thing, and every Jewish woman had hoped that they would be the one that this child would come by.
•   Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

•   There is a reason that this child must come by way of a virgin birth. This was not any ordinary child. This Child is the "Lamb of God." The One who will come and die for man's sin, and rise from the grave and ascend to heaven to sit on the right hand of God, to intercede in our behalf.
•   This Child is God's gift to the whole world, and that is the true story of Christmas. God gave man the greatest gift this world has ever known.

* Well why by way of the virgin birth? Well that has to do with the fall of man that took place back in Genesis. You see, Adam and Eve sinned, and this sin was passed onto every person that has ever or will ever be born.

The problem with this is that there was a penalty pronounced upon sin, and that penalty is death.

•   What death really is, is separation. That is what sin did in the garden; it separated man from God. Before the fall of man, God fellowshipped with man. > Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
•   We see here that it was God's practice to fellowship with His creation,

"God walked in the cool of the day." Walking denotes fellowship. The Bible says, "can two walk together accept they be agreed." But when they sinned, fellowship was broken.

•   Broken Fellowship was not the only thing that happened. God had instructed that death would occur the moment that they ate of that forbidden fruit, and that is what happened. They died spiritually that moment, and physically Adam died nine hundred thirty years later. But the worst part is, that state of sinful depravity was passed on to their children. This continued to be passed on to every person that will ever be born, accept for the One who comes by the Virgin Birth, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
•   Because Joseph was not the father of Jesus, Jesus was brought physically into this world without sin. This is of extreme importance to you and I. Now Jesus has always existed, but here in Luke, Mary is told that she shall bring forth this child, and he shall be called Immanuel, which means, "God with us."
•   Jesus Christ is the only One who can restore the fellowship between God and man. During this time of year we call Christmas, it is easy to get caught up in all the hustle and bustle of the holiday and we forget about the true reason for the season. As we go about getting and receiving gifts, let this remind us of the Greatest Gift mankind has ever been given, the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• > Romans 5:14-21 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
• That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
• As we come to the end of this short story of the Birth of Christ, the Greatest gift ever given, I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself,
• "have I received this gift of Christ into my heart?" You see, the sad reality is, one can reject a gift that has been offered to them.
• Can you imagine how you would feel, if you spent all that you had on a gift, and took great pains to offer it to someone you truly loved with all you heart; to have them simply reject it. How would you feel? God has offered to us His greatest Gift, His only begotten Son, because He loves us. Let us not reject, but humbly accept it in repentance and faith.
• > John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I thank You oh God, for Your great love where with you have loved us, and I thank You for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, my savior. Amen. 

-Bro. Daryl Pitts