Christmas Eve 2000

Tom Shrader preaches a Christmas Eve gospel message connecting Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2 to explain that salvation is a free gift of grace received through faith, not earned by works. He uses Luke 2:14 to correct the common misreading that God is pleased with everyone, emphasizing that peace with God comes only through faith in Christ. Drawing on John MacArthur's reflection on the incarnation, Tom urges those without faith to receive Christ and invites the congregation to discuss Jesus with family over the holiday.

“Jesus was born to die — not so that you'd have an interesting story, but because you need a savior.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Christmas

Recorded: 2000 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 17 min

Themes: christmas, salvation, grace, gift, faith, peace with god, incarnation, eternal life, seeking salvation, non-believer, holiday seeker, new believer, spiritually curious, sharing faith with family, feeling unworthy, questioning faith

Scripture: Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Luke 2:14, Hebrews 11:6

Theological Themes: soteriology, salvation by grace, justification, faith alone, sola fide, incarnation, romans 6:23, ephesians 2

Full Transcript

The Predictability of Christmas

When I think of Christmas, one of the things I love about it is that it's predictable. Tradition and predictability go hand in hand, and it's pretty well understood what Christmas is and what it's all about. There's just a certain flow to it that I like. I know that on the first Sunday in December here at East Valley Bible Church, when I come in I'm going to get a different bulletin, and I know that on that Sunday we're going to sing the carols. I love singing those old carols, and I stay away from the rehearsals — just like this morning — so that I can come in and enjoy it and be struck by it just like everyone else.

When those carols start, I get a whole flood of memories. They're not necessarily good and they're not necessarily bad. They're just memories, primarily from when I was a kid. For whatever reason, when I hear "Silent Night," I think of my grandma's house. The carols conjure up those memories for me.

The Word Most Associated with Christmas

If you talked to the population of our country in general and did a word association exercise, I really think the word you would get back most closely linked to Christmas would be gift. We could argue whether that's good or bad. A long time ago I gave up speaking against the materialism of Christmas — I don't think that's a fruitful exercise. The word is gift.

God's Free Gift

When I get to the New Testament, it talks about gifts as well. In Romans 6, Paul writes about the free gift of God — the free gift He extends to us — and it is eternal life. When Paul writes about eternal life here, what he has in mind is not just quantity. When we talk about eternal life, there are two aspects: quantity, how long it is, and quality. Paul has both in mind when he writes.

Here is what he says: *"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus."* What Paul is saying is that when we want what we have earned, here is what we have earned — here is what we deserve. We deserve death, where death means separation. In this case, what he is talking about is separation from God. But the free gift of God is eternal life.

Defining Salvation

In the book of Ephesians, Paul begins to define for us what that free gift is. He writes: *"For by grace you have been saved through faith"* — and he adds that it is the gift of God. There are some words here that need definition. Grace means undeserved, unmerited, permanent forgiveness. And then there is that word saved.

For some of you — especially those who are not Christians, or who are neutral or even antagonistic toward the faith — that word saved is like fingernails on a chalkboard. You hear it and you think of somebody on a street corner, or some pastor stretching it into a three- or four-syllable word: "Have you been saaaaved?" The word never really lands because we never ask the next question: saved from what? What do you mean, saved? I don't feel like I'm in jeopardy. I'm doing well. House payments are current, got a little money in the bank, got the deal closed, family's in good shape, been working out, I'm healthy. Saved from what? What's in jeopardy?

I Found It

I was thinking the other day — I've lived basically exactly half my life in Iowa and half of it here. I had not been down here very long when I walked into a Circle K and saw an old Volkswagen bus with a bumper sticker that said "I Found It." Some of you are smiling with recognition — you remember it, the Campus Crusade campaign. I probably responded exactly the way the bumper sticker was intended to work. I went up to the guy driving the van and said, "I Found It — what's the deal with that?" He said, "It's my brother's van, man, I don't know." I said, "Oh, okay. I guess I still haven't lost it then, because I don't know what it is I lost that needs finding."

That is how important context is. "Have you been saved?" What are we talking about? We take the verse from Romans 6 and put it together with Paul's writing in Ephesians: the wage of your sin is death. What every person who has ever been born deserves is death — separation from God. Some words may sound old-fashioned, but hell and heaven hang in the balance. *"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus."* We have been saved through faith. It is not of ourselves; it is a gift from God. It is not a result of works, so that no one will boast.

That is what religion is — man trying to figure out how he is going to satisfy a holy God. Christianity comes along and says, no, that is not it at all. I am saved, I am delivered, I am rescued, I am in right relationship with God through grace. It is a gift, and there is nothing I can do to earn it.

Glory to God in the Highest

Luke chapter 2 is a passage we find ourselves returning to at Christmas. The angel appears to the shepherds and tells them not to be afraid — they will find the baby wrapped in clothes, lying in a manger. Then in Luke chapter 2, verse 14, the angels begin to sing: *"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men."*

That is exactly how you see that verse. You see it on Christmas cards, in bookstores, in little frames with flowers. Here is the thing, though — that is not the whole verse.

Peace on Earth — But With Whom?

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom God is pleased." You and I live at a time and in a culture that delivers to us the myth — the lie — that God is very happy with everybody, that we are all God's children and He is the Father of all and we all get along. But that verse tells us there is a group of people with whom God is not pleased. He is displeased with them. The wages of sin is death, and God indeed judges that.

How do you please God? In Hebrews chapter 11, the author of Hebrews tells us, "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him." Now we begin to see what is at stake. The wage of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. Faith is that gift from God. I have peace with God if I please Him. How do I please Him? I please Him if I have faith — if I believe Jesus is who He said He was.

A Word to Those Who Come Only Occasionally

Let me speak for a moment to those of you who are here but are not with us on a regular basis. Maybe we have not seen you for a while. Maybe the last time was Easter. You are part of the group that says, "I love to come to that church," and the only pattern you can identify is that there is always a poinsettia or an Easter lily on the platform. I will be really honest with you — I do not understand why you come. It does not make a bit of sense to me.

I will regularly meet people who are new to the church and ask them why they are here, and they say, "Our kids are at that age where they need church." My question to them is: why do they need it if you do not? I do not get why you would come here once in a while if you do not really believe this. Maybe you are here out of a sense of generosity to the person who brought you — someone who has been praying for you for months, asking whether you would come to the Christmas service, and you said, "Can we go early and get it over with? Can you get us in at 9:30?"

But this is really serious business. If you are here and you do not know Jesus Christ, rather than pleasing God, you are displeasing to Him, and He will pour out His wrath on you.

Christmas Cannot Be Separated from Easter

At East Valley Bible Church, we never separate Christmas from Easter. John MacArthur writes these words:

> Here is a side of the Christmas story that is not often told. Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill and be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant's head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear. Jesus was born to die.

If you are here this morning, what you need to understand is that Jesus came as a baby, grew to be a man, and died on a cross — not so that you would have an interesting story, but because you need a Savior.

Mary, Did You Know?

When the worship team was singing "Mary, Did You Know?", I pictured Mary on that first Christmas, holding that baby, with everything unfolding around her. She did not fully understand what was happening. Somehow she knew she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, as a virgin — and there she was holding Him, with no idea that He would walk on water, that He would heal the lame, that the blind would see.

There is a magnificent line in that song: "Mary, did you know that the baby you delivered would one day deliver you?" That is the story of Christmas right there. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for the sin of His people, and He extends to you and me — to all of us — the offer of the free gift of eternal life. Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth.

Do You Have Peace?

Do you have peace in your life? This can be a deceiving question, because things may be going well right now. You may be sitting there thinking, "I do not know that I need this." The family is doing well, everything is in place at home, you are feeling good, business is good — it has never been better. You may feel you have no need. Humanly speaking, perhaps you do not. But you have a divine need: you need the payment for your sin.

If you are here this morning and you are not a Christian, and you die in that condition, you spend eternity in a place called hell. What we offer you this morning is not religion. Religion says, "Come on in, clean up your act a little, do the best you can, Jesus will do a little, you do something, and we will see how it works out — we think it will be okay." We do not extend that offer to you. What we extend to you is grace.

The Offer of Grace

Believe that Jesus is who He said He was and that He did what He said He would do. Embrace His promises. Understand that He died on the cross so that you would have eternal life. If you have faith — if you believe that, if you understand that you are a sinner separated from God by your sin and that the wage of your sin is death — and if you trust Christ, and Christ alone, as Savior and Lord of your life, then on your death you will be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

If there are people who have been working to get you here to church, you may wonder why. It is not because they earn points for it. They love you. And they understand what is at stake.

A Christmas Invitation

The people who invited you here care about you deeply — they care about your soul. That is why they brought you. Every Christmas Eve I issue the same invitation, because most of you will leave here, do a little shopping, a little cooking, and then gather together with family. When you are sitting around the table and you have exhausted all the conversation — figured out the water bill, talked about the kids, covered everything else — let me suggest a topic: Who is Jesus, and why was He born? That will send the company home fast.

But here is what happens every Christmas. Every year, someone comes back and says that for the first time their family sat together and talked about what it means to be a Christian. For the first time, a mom, a dad, a brother, or a child agreed to come to church. They may not be a believer yet, but God is working in their life. And every Christmas, there is somebody who comes to faith, because God works in their life.

Communion Together

As Christians, one of the things we celebrate every Sunday here at East Valley Bible Church is communion. Communion is a time when we come together to proclaim Christ's life and death and the fact that He is coming back again. Believers are commanded to enjoy and participate in communion whenever we gather together, and that is why we have it every week.

If you are with us today — whether you are a visitor or someone who joins us every Sunday — and you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we want you to join us in this time of communion. Please listen very closely on this point. If you are not a Christian, then when those elements come to you, will you pass them by with honesty and integrity? Do not pretend. If you do not accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you have no faith in Him, there is no reason you would want to participate in communion.

On this Sunday more than any other through the year, we have more children in the service than we typically would. Communion is not something children do simply to be like mom and dad. Your children should not participate in communion until you are convinced that they know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and you have seen fruit in their lives. This service is a great teaching moment for you with your children.

Communion is a special time — a great time for us as God's family to come together, to eat and drink, and to proclaim His life and death. It is a time to thank Him for the grace, the unmerited, undeserved, permanent forgiveness He has extended to us. The servers will come and present the elements to you, and we ask that you take them, hold them, and we will take communion together.