Christmas
from
God’s
Viewpoint
West Side Baptist Church and
The Free Grace Bible Institute
Pastor-teacher David Pearson
Christmas from the Divine (God’s) Viewpoint
Luke 2:10-11 (NASB) 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring
you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of
David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Key: “a Savior who is Christ (Messiah) the Lord”
We celebrate Christmas and see the baby Jesus in the manger; we recall the history of
the events surrounding His birth; we sing songs and give gifts to those we love. But why
did this event happen? Let’s look at Christmas from the Divine Viewpoint.
God knew we human beings needed a Savior.
“a Savior”: a Savior has to save someone from something. The word “Savior” means
“deliverer.” What did He come to save or deliver us from?
From man’s two main problems as defined by our Creator-God…
Matthew 1:20-21 (NASB) 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from
their sins."
“He will save his people from their sins.” Sin is anything that violates the standard of
the absolute perfection of our Creator-God. Who can ever claim to live up to that
standard? The old phrase is “nobodies perfect” is absolutely correct. But to come into
the presence of a perfectly holy and righteous God requires that one meets the standard
of perfection – that you be absolutely perfect. Sin prevents that –
This is how we look in God’s eyes:
Romans 3:23 (NASB) for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory [the standard of
perfection] of God
Man cannot meet that standard of absolute
perfection. We have no righteousness of our
own. We are all imperfect.
Romans 3:10 (NASB77) as it is written,
"There is none righteous, not even one
Isaiah 64:6a (NASB) For all of us have
become like one who is unclean, And all our
righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…
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Problem one: we have no personal righteousness. We need a Savior to save us from
our sin by making it possible for us to meet the standard of perfect righteousness that
God requires.
But there is another issue which is the consequences of sin: spiritual death –
which also required a Savior. Someone to save us from our spiritual death.
Romans 5:12 (NASB) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned
Ephesians 2:1 (NASB) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
The consequence of sin is spiritual death – every person ever born into the world has
been born spiritually dead because of the sin of Adam and Eve.
Unless a person receives spiritual life they cannot be with God in eternity.
The Bible speaks of a special book that God maintains; it is
called, “The Book of Life.” Everyone whose name is not in the
Book of Life will be separated from God forever in a place called,
“The Lake of Fire.”
Revelation 20:15 (NASB) And if anyone's name was not found
written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Spiritually dead people are not in the Book of Life. We need
someone to save us by giving us spiritual life.
Let’s review:
1. Man cannot have the privilege of being with God because he does not have
perfect righteousness.
2. Man does not have spiritual life and is therefore destined to be separated from
God forever in the Lake of Fire.
On his own, man cannot solve either problem. He or she cannot meet the standard
of absolute perfection and no one can give themselves spiritual life. Man needs a
Savior – a Deliverer!
That is why Jesus came into this world – to be a Savior who could solve both
problems for us.
John 3:16 (NASB) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world”: This is the first great good news! Our Creator-God
loves us even though we do not meet His standard of righteousness and even though
we are spiritually dead.
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God “gave His only begotten Son”: Jesus is the Savior who came to solve man’s two
big problems.
As to the sin problem, let’s first see what John the Baptist said about Him:
John 1:29 (NASB) The next day he saw* Jesus
coming to him and said*, "Behold, the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!
Remember what the angel had said about Jesus:
Matthew 1:21 (NASB) "She will bear a Son; and you
shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people
from their sins."
1 Timothy 1:15 (NASB) It is a trustworthy statement,
deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost
of all.
How does He save us from our sins? How can we meet the standard of perfect
righteousness?
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus came to save us from our sin by making it possible to meet the standard of the
perfect righteousness of God. By dying on the cross He paid our sin debt. Since He took
our sin on Him and paid the full penalty for that sin, we can have His perfect
righteousness credited to us. This does not mean we now live perfectly but, rather, it
means God now applies the righteousness of Christ to our account so that God the
Father looks at us as being as perfect as Jesus in our legal standing before Him. By this
man’s first problem is solved.
Jesus also solves man’s second problem: the need for spiritual life.
“Shall not perish”: meaning you will not be condemned to the Lake of Fire. This will not
happen to you, Jesus promises, if you believe in Me for eternal life. Thus Jesus solves
the problem of the eternal consequence of not having spiritual life.
How does He do this? By giving you eternal life!
“has [present possession] everlasting life”: everlasting life does not begin when you
die – it starts the moment you receive that life. What does He offer? Eternal Life – Life
that lasts forever from the moment you believe His promise to give you that eternal
spiritual life.
John 6:47 (NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has [right now,
present possession] everlasting life.
How does one receive this everlasting life?
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“that whosoever believes in Him”: This is what we have to do to receive spiritual
everlasting life: believe in Him (the Savior, Jesus Christ).
It does not say to do good works or be religious or to clean up yourself from sin. It does
not say believe and then behave in order to keep it. All it says is “believe.” Believe in
Jesus Christ for what he offers and it will be yours! What does He offer? One thing and
one thing only: eternal life.
But what about positive righteousness – how do we receive that credited to our account?
What is required to be righteous before God?
Romans 4:5 (NASB) But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies [declared righteous] the ungodly, his faith is reckoned [credited to his spiritual
account] as righteousness,
Notice the critical phrase: “the one who does not work”: Not works a little – does not
do any work to attempt to qualify by self-righteousness through good works.
To have “faith” and to “believe” are synonymous terms. What is required to have this
positive righteousness? In one word: believe.
Romans 3:26b (NASB) ….so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has
faith in Jesus.
To believe simply means to know that something is true. To believe (have faith) in
Jesus is to know that Jesus is the only one who provides this eternal life and He
gives it as a free gift. It is to know He will keep His promise to give you eternal life
when you trust in Him for that life.
John 11:25-26 (NASB) 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will
never die. Do you believe this?"
Do you believe this? Have you been
convinced that this is true? Are you
attempting to earn your way to God by
works? On you counting on your
religious activities? Are you believing
in some other religion? You have to
believe that Jesus alone offers you
the free gift of Eternal Life in order
to receive that life.
Do you believe this?
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Once you believe and receive eternal life Jesus wants you to learn about who He is
and what He wants for your life. He wants you to “grow up” in the faith by the learning
and application of what the Bible teaches – Bible Doctrine.
He wants you to serve and follow Him not only so that He can bless you in this life, but
also so that he can reward you in eternity.
John 12:26 (NASB) "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My
servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
You can choose to follow Him and be rewarded. Or you can choose not to follow and
miss His plan for your life and miss your rewards in eternity.
Either way, you still have eternal life and are still credited with His positive
righteousness. You still go to heaven when you die. You still live with God forever
because you have believed in Jesus alone for your salvation.
Are you convinced this is true?
Do you still have a “Yes, but” in your mind? If you do, you have not believed.
If you are convinced His promise of eternal life is true then you have believed. If
you have accepted the promise of Jesus to give you eternal life, then that life is
yours forever.
If you have believed you right now have everlasting life that you cannot lose.
As a believer will you now choose to follow Him by
learning and living out the teaching of the Bible?
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