I realize that our text tonight doesn’t sound like a Christmas text – but
trust me. It really does have something to say to us on this Christmas Eve.
I’m hoping that it will help you to hold more dear what Jesus was doing on
that first Christmas night.
The epistle to the Galatians is one of Paul’s more argumentative letters.
The very Gospel is at stake and so Paul pulls out all the stops to defend
it. It is in the context of this contentious letter that Paul speaks of
Jesus as the one ‘who loved me and gave himself for me’. Paul gets very
personal here. He speaks of the cross, of Jesus giving himself there, in
very personal terms. It’s as if Paul is saying, ‘What Jesus did on that
cross, He did for me.’ It is no longer some distant event that occurred in
some remote place. ‘What Jesus did, He did for me.’
I want you to think about the Incarnation in that way. It’s not just dying
that Jesus did for individual Christians. Everything He did, He did for
individual Christians. So, I want you to say to yourself, right now, ‘What
Jesus did when He was born in that stable, He did for me.’ Do you see what
that means? Jesus didn’t come for the sake of some faceless multitude. He
came for His own. He came for you. ‘What Jesus did when He was born in that
stable, He did for me.’
Now understand something of what that means. For one thing, if you were the
only person needing His grace, He would have come. Imagine yourself as the
only sinner. And you’re reading the Christmas story. You read about the
shepherds and the wise men and those angels singing at the top of their
lungs. You read about Jesus being born. And you think to yourself, ‘All of
this just for me.’ The fact that there are other sinners with you to enjoy
the blessings of the Gospel doesn’t change the fact that His coming was for
you and it would have been only for you.
Let’s take the next step. Think about who this ‘you’ is. Consider who you
are. Make a list of your qualities and characteristics and all the rest. At
some point in your list making, after you’ve listed your best traits, you’re
going to have to include the qualities and characteristics that aren’t so
appealing. You’re going to have to start including your sins. So, you’ll
include the sins that your co-workers may know about. Then, you’ll include
the sins that your family may know about. Then, for those of you who are
married, there will be the sins that your spouse most certainly knows about.
But then there will be those things about you that no one knows about – the
secret sins. This is ‘you’; the good, the bad, the ugly. This is the ‘you’
that Jesus came for. And it’s not as if He came and then discovered, to His
shock, who the real ‘you’ is. He knew all about the real ‘you’ before
Bethlehem ever occurred. And still He came. What tremendously good news!
Think about it. Jesus knew all about the real ‘you’ and He still came for
your sake. That means that you are loved. Not just the nice parts of who you
are. You are loved, even with your foul and detestable sins. Remember that
when it feels like no one loves you or when you’re afraid that no one will
love you if they really knew you. Jesus knew the real ‘you’. Still, He came.
But let’s take that another step. If Jesus decided to love you, to come for
your sake, already knowing all about the real ‘you’, then what could you do
at this point that would make Him change His mind? What could you do that
would make Him stop loving you? Is there some sin that you could commit that
would suddenly shock Jesus into reconsidering His relationship with you?
Absolutely not! Having decided to love you, He will love you to the end. So,
say it again to yourself. ‘What Jesus did when He was born in that stable,
He did for me.’
All of this will bear some striking fruit. Getting a good hold of this truth
will result in a profound sense of humility. ‘Me?!? Jesus, You came for me?
Why?’ The Christ’s amazing love crushes vain pride. And it’s as we grow in
our comprehension of what this is about, our comprehension of what the love
of Jesus is really like, that we respond with our own love in return. ‘Of
course I love You, Jesus. No one else has loved me as You have.’ And so,
because of this, we find ourselves becoming quite bold. Not arrogant but
bold. We are loved with an incredible love that nothing can change. So, what
do we have to fear? Really, what do we have to fear that the Jesus’ love
cannot handle?
So, I want you to remember this one thought from this evening’s sermon.
‘What Jesus did when He was born in that stable, He did for me.’ This is the
Gospel. Remember it. Believe it. Relish it.
