Christmas, a shadow of the gift(s) to come!

Last night we had our one28 worship. Jonathan Sarr gave a great sermon titled "Responding to Salvation" from 1 Peter 1:13-21. He talked about how in salvation we respond with hope, holiness, and honor (fear).

We have been going through the book of 1 Peter this fall, and it has been an awesome journey. We are learning how God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ! We were once dead and now because of God's great mercy are alive, and not in ourselves, but in Christ! If your a Christian your old self is dead, if not then your not Christian.

Its important to remember that Peter's audience was Christians that suffered much in their time. It is beyond words what they did endure for the cross of Christ, God's gospel. It would have been much easier to taste the joys of heaven in their time. They didn't have comforts to look too. Their life was a living hell, which made looking to the unseen worth all the cost of following after Christ! But here in America it is hard to taste the joy of heaven, let alone get into the kingdom. For most American Christians, America is our treasure instead of Christ and all things that point towards heaven.

I think our problem in America is what we think and ponder on. Jonathan asked a question last night, one that he had asked before in a previous sermon. It is a good question.

He asked, "What would your life look like if you focused on your salvation as much as you should?" Think about it!

I thought about it, and came up with this example of my life to help not only my own heart to keep its eyes on Christ, but also to help give my junior high students a vision of the cross and the inheritance that awaits them in Christ!

As a young child, one of the best times of the year was Christmas! I would get so excited about all the gifts under the tree and wouldn't cease to think about them and what I was getting. The day after Thanksgiving the tree went up, and as each gift that was placed under the tree I couldn't help to consume my thoughts on what my awaited me on Christmas day! Sometimes I got so excited I thought it was in my best interest to take a peek or sneak into my parents room to find out. And when Christmas Day came I would find myself excited to open all my presents and spend the whole rest of the day playing with them. This joy didn't last long....usually by the time my birthday in April came around I was looking for satisfaction in something else....it was an endless cycle that never did find hope worth living for.

Look at Christmas as a way of keeping your eyes on Christ. Your wasting your life if your living for Christmas presents. To settle for junk that looks pretty wrapped up in paper, instead of Jesus Christ, who is God and came down to earth to die for sinners and give us a better way to live this life and in the end eternal life with Him in heaven FOREVER! Get your head out of the broken cistern of materialism, and come to Christ. He is God's gift to sinners. He is a treasure that holds so much more value then any gift you can get at Christmas.

I listened to a sermon this morning by John Piper and in it he made this statement which I will quote:
"You don't know what your leaning on until its taken away!" That is why when we lean on Christ we stand on solid ground. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If your hope is in Christ and the inheritance that is kept for you in heaven, then no evil or suffering of this world would change that. In Christ we can stand firm.

So in the end I answer Jonathan's question with this: A life that will focus its core on the salvation given to us in Christ and all that deals with eternal things is a life that would look rooted in hope for the unseen things, holiness in our duty and conduct, and honor for King Jesus! Its a life worth living will all your soul. It is a life not wasted!