“Could Christmas Happen Today?”

Scripture: John 18:33-37

C.I.: “I Have Come to…”

Because of the attention given at this time of year – you might think Jesus came simply to be born!

Others, later in the year might remark to us – “No, Jesus didn't come to be born. He came to die.”

In today's lesson we will here from Jesus as to why He said He came!

•  Three Reasons Jesus Gave for His Coming…

•  Reason #1: To Serve

•  ( Matt. 20:25-28 ), “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. – It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, - and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served BUT TO SERVE, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

•  There were a number of ways that Jesus served us. . .

•  He serves by showing us God's nature …

•  ( Jn. 1:18 ), “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom, He has explained Him.”

2) ( Jn. 14:9 ), “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen
the Father.”
3) ( Jn. 10:30 ), “I and the Father are one.”

•  Jesus serves by meeting physical needs
1) ( Matt. 14:14 ), “He saw a great multitude & felt compassion for them, and healed the sick.”
2) ( Matt. 14:19-21 ), “He took the 5 loaves & 2 fish … there were about 5,000 men who ate, aside from women & children.”
3) In serving others He becomes a model for us - ( Phil. 2:3-5 ), “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but
with humility of mind let each one of you regard the other as more important than yourselves. Not merely looking out for
your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have THIS MIND in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

•  Jesus serves by meeting spiritual needs
1) During His earthly ministry we see…,( Mk. 2:1-12 ), “‘My son, your sins have been forgiven.' The were some scribes
sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak this way? Who can forgive sins but God alone?'…
‘Which is easier to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven” or to say…, “We have never seen anything like this!””
2) Today He meets our spiritual needs thru the cross, ( I Pt. 2:24 ), “Now He Himself bore our sins in His body on the….”

3) Jesus serves (as a model for us) by meeting the spiritual needs of:

a) …believers - ( Jms. 5:19-20; Gal. 6:1-2 ), “If any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let
him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way – will save his soul from death.” – “Brethren, if
anyone is caught in any trespass… Bear one another's burdens & thus fulfill the law of Christ.”

b) …non-believers, ( Mk. 16:15-16 ), “Go into all the world…!”

•  A life that is characterized be serving others is truly “life” indeed. Everything else is mere existence!
1) Is our life spent in serving the physical & spiritual needs of others?
2) So could Christmas happen today?! The answer is yes, for every time we serve the physical/spiritual needs of
others, we are bringing Christ into the world! ( Matt. 25:34-40 ), “Then the King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was
hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty…' – ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these
brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'”
3) Or do we find ourselves robbing of this privilege because our existence filled with the distractions of this life?!

•  Reason #2: To Bring Conflict

•  ( Matt. 10:34 ), “Do not think that I came to bring peace upon the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword .”

•  Even before His birth Jesus was creating conflict in the lives of people.
1) ( Matt. 1:18-19 ), “When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be
with child by the Holy Spirit. – And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to
divorce her secretly.” – Joseph had two choices…
a) ( Deut. 22:23 ), “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies
with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and shall stone them to death.”
b) ( Deut. 24:1 ), “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes
because he has found some indecency in her, he writes her a certificate of divorce and places it in her hand

•  Your faith in Jesus will create conflict in your marriage, your family, and other relationship too.
1) A lukewarm, complacent Christianity has no problems. It is genuine Christianity makes distinctions!!!
a) ( Matt. 10:35-36 ), “For I came to set a man against His father, and a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.”
b) The weak, or non-believing members of your family will not understand you.

•  ( Mk. 3:20-21 ), “He came home, and the whole multitude gathered again to such an extent, that they could not even eat a meal. When His own family heard this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses!'”

•  We get to choose where we will have peace & where we will have conflict.
a. For we will either have peace with the world or peace with God. We can't have it both ways!

1) ( Jn. 16:33 ), “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take
courage; I have overcome the world.”

2) ( Jms. 4:4 ), “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God, and whoever makes himself…..”

3) For you can't have it both ways, - ( Matt. 6:24 ), “No one can serve two masters, for either he will love one and hate the
other, or hold to one and despise the other.”

3. Clearly, we live in a time where belief in Jesus causes conflict!

a. So could Christmas happen today?!
1) You may be thinking, “What about the promise of the angels, “…Glory to God in the highest and on earth
PEACE among men…,” ( Lk. 2:14a ).
2) Yet notice the rest of the quote, “…peace among men WITH WHOM HE IS WELL PLEASED!” ( Lk. 2:14b ).

3) The promise of peace is only for those who are in a right relationship with God!

b. Yet it is the message of Jesus that is the means to resolve the conflict!

•  ( Rom. 5:1 ), “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ!”

•  ( Eph. 2:17 ), “…preaching peace to those who were far off, and peace to those who are near.”

•  Reason #3: To Save

•  The reason why most people believe Jesus came, or at least it should be, to save lost mankind!

•  ( Lk. 19:10 ), “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost!”

•  Sin separates us from God ( Isa. 59:2 ) – all have sinned ( Rom. 3:23 ) – therefore, without God intervening on our behalf, all of us would be lost ( Rom. 6:23a )!

•  But God loves us too much to let us go easily into an eternal hell, ( Rom. 6:23b ), “…but the free gift of God is….”
1) So the question for us becomes are we going to celebrate a birthday and continue on with our lives as they are –
or are we willing to learn the lessons from His coming, and now choose: to serve each other as well as others; to
choose to be severed from this world and sin & live at peace with God; and to choose to be saved?!!!
2) MARK 16:16