2 Timothy 1:16

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Father, we ask that You would give us insight. Lord, teach us from Your Word. Jesus, You proclaim that this is truth, and it's the way in which You have determined to transform us, to sanctify, to cleanse us.

As we look into it today, we ask that You would be doing just that, making us more like You, and that we would be able to share Your grace and Your truth with those we come in contact with in our neighborhoods, on our school campus, in our office, or wherever we are. Help us to declare Your praise. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

For the last two weeks leading up to today, we have been looking at this topic, this question: Why Christmas? As I have said a number of times in this series, even people who don't necessarily read the Bible or go to church will be able to answer some questions, as you saw in that video. Some of them will get at least close to the right answers.

When you ask them, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" many people will ultimately get to the point where they'll say something about Jesus, something about Christ. Well, "Christ mass," "Christ miss," they should be able to see some sort of connection, some sort of association. A lot of people will come to that conclusion. Even if they're off just a little bit, they'll recognize that Jesus has something to do with that, that His birth is what we're celebrating.

However, when you begin to talk with them a little bit more and you ask them, "What was the point of His birth? Why did He come, and why is it important?" many people, both in the church and outside of the church, don't necessarily know the answer to that question. That is what we've been hoping to address and look at here with this series.

Why Christmas? We've already seen in our first study a couple of weeks ago that to understand, to really grasp why Christmas is necessary and important, we have to go back to the beginning of the Bible, back to the book of Genesis, and consider the reality that we live in a broken world.

In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, we see that in the beginning, the gift-giving God created a good creation. Everything seen and unseen, He spoke into existence. The Bible says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and then it goes on from there. He spoke light into existence, and then after that, He formed and fashioned this earth, this planet. He made waters upon the earth, fashioned land into mountains, formed trees and forests, and populated the earth with all kinds of animals in the sea, beasts upon the land, and birds in the air. Ultimately, we see in that account in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 that God made man.

We just read that verse, Genesis chapter 2, verse 7. He formed man from the dust of the ground, and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living being. God took that man whom He had created and placed him in the midst of a garden that He had formed. This garden was comprised of trees that were pleasant to the eyes and good for food. God said, "I give this garden to you, man, Adam, the first man."

However, there was something that was missing. God knew it, and He was going to address it. He looked upon His creation, and Genesis chapter 2 tells us that He said, "It’s not good that man should be alone." So, God took and formed from man the first woman and brought her to man as a gift, a helper that would be compatible and comparable to him.

God had given a commandment to this man whom He had created, as stated in Genesis chapter 2, verse 17. He said, "Of all the trees in the garden, you may freely eat." Every one of those trees was pleasant to the eyes and good for food. But of the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God gives us the name of this tree. He said, "You shall not eat of it, because in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."

Now, understand that the death that would come as a result of partaking of this tree was not necessarily the punishment of God for disobeying His commandment, but actually the result of eating, partaking of this tree. So, God says, "Don't eat of it."

Because in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. But, of course, we saw that the serpent in Genesis chapter 3 came and brought deception to humanity. Speaking with the woman, Eve, as she looked upon the trees, she saw that they were pleasant to the eyes and good for food. She even noticed this tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that it was also desirable. The serpent introduced a question into the mind and heart of humanity: Is God really a gift-giving God? Will He really take care of your needs? He's withholding something from you. Many falls toward sin have resulted from that kind of thinking—that this person or God is holding me back from what is really going to be good.

When the woman saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes, that it was good for food, and that it was desirable because the serpent said it would make her like God and wise, she took and ate of it. She also gave to her husband, and he ate as well. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 3 that their eyes were opened, and they saw that they were naked. Ultimately, we know the fall and the curse that came from that. The world is broken.

To understand the importance of Christmas and why it is necessary, we need to grasp this essential truth: the world is broken. There is a way in which every one of us can see that. We recognize it to be true. We see all the things happening in this world—the things reported in the news, the things we read about on the internet, and the things we observe on a day-to-day basis. We understand the concept that the world is broken. It is not in conflict with what we see.

So, why Christmas? The world is broken. The second thing we looked at last week was the reality that God is a gift-giving God. He is a good, gift-giving God. When He looked upon His creation that was now broken, He knew that He had the right answer. He had that which would be the resolution, the perfect gift that the broken world needed. God had a day and a way in which He would address this problem—the brokenness of this world. It was a day that was yet in the future when Genesis chapters 1, 2, and 3 were happening. Throughout what we call the Old Testament in the Bible, we see God giving hints about that gift that is to come. Like any good gift-giver, He always wants the person to receive that gift.

They give hints about it, and those hints are prophecy. We considered a number of those last week, the hints pointing to the gift that the gift-giving God had for a broken world. When you look at the brokenness of this world, which is the result of man's failure, even though it was due to the deception of the serpent, it was still the failure of man.

As you recognize that God is the gift-giving God, you still have to wonder, why would He even care? Why not just look upon it and say, "Well, forget it. You broke it. You deal with it." Sometimes that would be our attitude. It is a very good thing that we are not God, because that would probably be how we would address it many times: "You broke it. You fix it. You figure it out."

I will say this: every world religion, other than Christianity, is man's attempt to try to correct or fix, on his own, the brokenness of this world. But the Bible reveals something different. You still have to ask that question: "Why, God, do You even care? Why not just leave it to humanity to deal with?"

I would suggest to you that the answer to that question is because, to God, life is precious. Life is precious. In answering the question, "Why Christmas?" we have looked at the fact that the world is broken and considered that God is a gift-giving God. Today, we look at this reality: life is precious. That is why Christmas is important.

The preciousness of life is apparent to every single one of us. We comprehend this. Humanity desires to live on. Billy Graham, the great evangelist, often said that one of the basic desires of the soul is to live on. We all have this desire within us to continue to live on. Even though we may grow tired of the pains and aches of life, we never grow tired of life itself.

We desire to live on, although every single one of us, as a result of Genesis chapter 3, lives under the shadow of our own personal apocalypse. We all live under this shadow, this recognition that there is coming a day. Perhaps you can even think back in your life to the first time you began to recognize that. For each of us, it was at some point in our early childhood, maybe when a family member died.

Grandma or grandpa, someone died, and there was a recognition that something strange happened. You see, death, when you read Genesis, is a foreign agent in this world. It wasn't what God intended. Even as a young child, you may begin to remember when that was, when you recognized that a family member is gone, and you're told by your parents that you're no longer going to see them. Sometimes you're told crazy things like, "Well, grandma fell asleep," and then kids get afraid to go to sleep because they may never wake up. You wonder, "What happened?" You hear, "Well, she's gone to the man upstairs," or whatever it may be, and you're told that someday you'll go to be with her.

We have all these kinds of concepts, these things that we're told, and so we begin to recognize mortality. The reality is we don't like to think about that. We often avoid thinking about mortality, which is why many people have a hard time going to funerals. They don't want to be confronted with the reality of it. This is also why people often hesitate to visit those who are sick in the hospital; they don't want to be reminded of death, which will one day come for them as well.

Do you realize that every philosophy, every worldview, every faith—even faith in science—is in some way trying to address this reality of life and our desire to live on? The preciousness of life is something we all understand. There are people in the scientific community, and we hear about it all the time, who are trying to find some way to deal with, to cure, if you will, death. Whether it's a faith in a religious worldview or a faith in science, every aspect of humanity is trying to address the death problem because life is precious.

Life is precious to us because life is precious to God. This recognition comes from God, who created us. He made us in His image in this way. The preciousness of life is seen in that God gave life to all of us. As you look at the Scriptures, particularly in Genesis, this truth is evident.

In chapters 1 and 2, he is the source, the wellspring of life. Life comes from him. In John chapter 5, verse 26, it says that the Father God in him is life. Life comes from him, and he gave it to his creation. We see in Genesis chapter 2, verse 7, that he breathed into man the breath of life after he formed us from the dust of the ground. God gives life; he is the source of life. Without God, there is no life.

Sadly, many in this world do not recognize this truth. There are many people who do not understand it. For centuries, science has been trying, by their own power, to make and create life ex nihilo, out of nothing. They have never been able to do it, and they will never be able to do it because God is the source of life. When he gave us life, he gave us a recognition that this life is precious. He is life, and he gives life. He is the source, the wellspring of it.

In Genesis chapter 3, we see that humanity, by deception and through the fall, brought death into the world. God had said that this would be the case. In Genesis 2, verse 17, it states, "In the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die." Man did eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and death did come into humanity. But God is life; he gives life. God loves life so much that he explained to man through two commandments in Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2 how to bring forth life and how to keep life, how to maintain it.

In Genesis chapter 1, he told man through a command how to bring forth life when he said, in verse 27, "So God created man in his own image; in the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them." Then God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply." God loves life so much that he tells us how to perpetuate it.

God maintains life; He keeps life. That's why He gave man the commandment in Genesis chapter 2, verse 17: "Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or else you will bring death." This signifies the cessation of life. These two commandments reveal that God, the source of life and the giver of life, loves life. God is holy and completely pro-life. You need to recognize that. God is pro-life, and death is a foreign agent introduced through the fall of humanity.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul informs us in Romans chapter 5, verse 12, that this death came through Adam and spread to all humanity. Romans 5:12 states, "Through one man's sin entered the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all mankind for all sinned." Because of the failure in the Garden of Eden, we have brought this death that spreads like an infection to all humanity. The world is clearly broken, but God is life. He gives life and loves life. He is completely pro-life.

It is interesting that in the book of Genesis, specifically in Genesis chapter 2, there are two trees identified by name. One is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the one that brought death. The other tree mentioned in the same verse, Genesis chapter 2, verse 9, is called the tree of life. Apparently, this tree would extend life. It is, if you will, that elixir that people have been looking for, the fountain of youth in some way. Although the Bible does not say much about the tree of life, we are told there was this tree in the midst of the garden called the tree of life.

God is life. He gave life and loves life. If He loves life so much, here's the question: Why, when man partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and brought forth death, did God not immediately introduce the tree of life to extend man's life? If He loves life so much, why not deal with it in that way? The answer is given to us in Genesis chapter 3. Turn there, if you will, to Genesis chapter 3, verse 22.

Genesis 3:22 states, "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us.'" That's a very interesting concept, except for the "us." We can talk about that another time. He has become like one of us to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat it and live forever, the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So, He drove out the man and placed a cherubim, that is, an angel, at the east of the Garden of Eden, along with a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

I think that's probably a lightsaber. Some people believe that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin, as if God was punishing them and saying, "You can't live here any longer." It's like a dad saying, "Get out of my house. You're not going to live like this under my roof." However, that's not what's happening here. What we see is God, in His mercy and grace, removing them from the presence of the tree of life.

You may say, "Well, that doesn't make sense. This could right the wrong. This could fix the situation they were in in the first place." But the reality is that the only conclusion we can draw from this is that had man partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever in this broken world, in this broken state. His life would be extended, but he would be living here in this broken world forever.

What we see here is that it is not God's design or desire for humanity to live forever in a broken world. I agree with that. Amen. There are some people who are very interested in living forever here. Some of them have spent small fortunes and even large fortunes so that at their death, they can be cryogenically frozen. This means their entire body is frozen solid, so that when someday science finds the cure for death, they can thaw them out and bring them back to life because they want to live here forever.

Now, life is beautiful. There are many wonderful things about life, but there are also many terrible realities about this broken world. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to...

We are not meant to live forever in this broken state, in this broken world. That is not God's design or desire in any way. God is life; He gives life and loves life. He withheld man from the tree of life so that man would not live forever in this fallen state. Life is wonderful, and God has a design for us to live what the Scriptures call the abundant life, forever. That is God's aim and desire. He is life; He gave life and loves life. The fall brought death, but the gift-giving God, the life-loving God, had a plan to restore life for a broken and fallen world because life is precious.

Would you turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, John chapter 1? John 1, verse 1, states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He, the Word, was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, the Word, and without Him, the Word, nothing was made that was made.

Now notice this in verse 4: "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men." In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, the Word. When we read this, there is a way in which we look at this.

We say this doesn't make sense because the Scriptures reveal in other places that God is one. There is one God, says Deuteronomy chapter 6. But in Genesis, we read, "Let us make man in our image." Then in Genesis chapter 3, we read, "He has become like us," God said, "knowing good and evil." There's a plurality mentioned in Genesis chapter 1.

John chapter 1 reveals the other side of this plurality, this story. There is one God, but He exists in three persons: the Father, God; the Son, the Word of God, who we know later on to be Jesus; and ultimately, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. This is the doctrine, the teaching of the Trinity, something we're not going to delve deeply into today. We will at another time in the future. But the Bible very clearly reveals there is one God. Here we see that God exists in three persons.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him. He is the source of life. Why? Because life is in Him, verse 4 says.

Well, the story continues. Look at verse 5. John chapter 1, verse 5 states that there was a man sent from God. This is not the same individual, the Word of God, mentioned in verses 1 through 4. But there was a man sent from God whose name was John. We know this to be John the Baptist. This man came as a witness to bear witness of the light that was mentioned back in verses 4 and 5. He came to bear witness of the light, that through him, all would believe.

He was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of the light, that it was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. He, this light, the Word, was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as did receive Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now notice this, verse 14. Put a star next to this verse: "And the Word became flesh."

And he dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word became flesh.

In Genesis, we found that the gift-giving God, who is life, loves life, and gives life, created all things seen and unseen. Here in John chapter 1, we see that the Word of God, this other person of the Trinity, is also involved in creation. In Him is life. He gives life. He loves life also. He is the essence of God. He is in person, God incarnate. John chapter 1, verse 14 tells us that the Word, this one who was there, active in creation at the very beginning, became flesh and dwelt among us. He brought glory. This is the very life of God incarnate, in the flesh among us.

Why? What is the purpose of this? This is the fulfillment of what we looked at last week. All of those hints that we considered last week, the prophetic utterances of God about this gift that would come in the future, were promised in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, when God said there would be a man who would come, the offspring of a woman, and he would destroy the dominion of the serpent.

Then in Genesis chapter 12, we were told that this man, the offspring of the woman, would come through the family of Abraham. In Genesis chapter 17, we learned that he would come from Abraham's son Isaac. In Genesis 25, he would come from Isaac's son Jacob. In Genesis 49, he would come from Jacob's son Judah.

In 2 Samuel chapter 7, we found that not only would he come from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, but he would also come from the royal line of King David. In Micah chapter 5, verse 2, we considered that he would be born in Bethlehem. In Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, we noted that he would be born of a virgin.

Finally, in Isaiah chapter 9, we saw last week those wonderful words that are sometimes written on Christmas cards this time of year: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." He will come.

The Prince of Peace will come. Life incarnate will come. Why? Because God is life, and He gives life, and He loves life. The fall brought death, but to God, life is precious. Life is so precious that we are told in Ezekiel chapter 33 that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. He does not take pleasure in the death of anyone.

The Apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 9, that God is not willing that any should perish. Death is a foreign agent; it wasn't as God intended. It wasn't what God created to be. But death came through sin, the fall of Genesis chapter 3, and Christmas is God's address of that. He is addressing that problem because He is the gift-giving God, and to Him, life is precious. Life is so precious that God Himself would come to be a man among us to bring forth life.

He came in the man, Jesus Christ. God became a man as that son born in Bethlehem, that child born to the virgin. We read again in John's Gospel, John chapter 1, verse 15. John continues there, saying that John the Baptist bore witness of Him, the Word, the light, the life of God. He bore witness of Him when he cried, saying, "This is he of whom I spoke. He who comes after me is preferred before me because he was before me." He is eternal.

Of His fullness, we have all received grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Those things that were spoken of by the prophets have been fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, which we celebrate every single year on December 25th here in the West. Even though we recognize that this is very likely not the day that He was born in Bethlehem, we celebrate that He, God, became a man.

From the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, from the kingly line of King David, born in Bethlehem to a virgin, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, came. He came to address the problem of death. Would you turn from John chapter 1 to John chapter 3? John chapter 3. Again,

We've read this before, but we're going to back up a verse. Look at verse 15. Actually, verse 14. We just saw a few pages ago in John chapter 1 that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Look at this. In verse 14 of John chapter 3, Moses, the lawgiver, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Speaking of Numbers, the book of Numbers is where this is mentioned, chapter 21. You can look at it later. Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so must the Son of Man, Jesus, be lifted up. Why? That whoever believes in Him should not perish. God loves life. He created us to live. That's why we desire so much to live on. It's the basic desire of the soul, and God says, "I have come so that when I be lifted up, whoever believes would not perish but have everlasting life."

Why would you do this? Well, for God so loved the world that He gave. He is the gift-giving God. He loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Twice in two verses we read that God did not want man to perish. Peter tells us that God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance and experience this life, this everlasting life.

Skip on down to the last verse of the passage, verse 36. John chapter 3, verse 36 states, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. And he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him." Jesus said in John chapter 10 that the thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but He has come to give life and that more abundantly, that more fully.

Turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy is in the back of your Bible, right after 1 Timothy and just before Titus. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1. The author of the book of 2 Timothy is the Apostle Paul, and he's writing to a man whom Paul had raised up in the faith to be a pastor, a guy by the name of Timothy. Look at this. 2 Timothy chapter 1.

Verse eight. Now, a tiny bit of context: When Paul wrote this, it was the very last letter he wrote. It was in the mid to late 60s A.D., and he was in a prison in Rome, awaiting the day of his execution because of his faithful preaching of the gospel. He was being persecuted for righteousness' sake.

No one wants to be persecuted, and Timothy didn't want to be persecuted either. He was very fearful of the concept, the idea. So, Paul says this in verse eight: "Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." Paul was about to be executed because of the testimony of Jesus Christ. He says, "Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God."

God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. But look at this in verse ten: "But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death." He has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, the Word, Jesus, was there with God, active in creation, life in Himself. The gift-giving God created this great creation and gave it as a gift to humanity, but humanity fell. They failed and brought death, this foreign agent. However, God, before time began, had the answer, the perfect gift. The prophets have prophesied about the coming of this perfect gift, who came 2,000 years ago on a day we celebrate called Christmas. He came for this express purpose: to bring life to those who were dead.

One last passage, Ephesians chapter 2. Turn to the left from 2 Timothy. Ephesians, just after Galatians and right before Philippians, is sandwiched in there. Chapter 2, verse 1. Paul is writing to a church, a gathering of people.

Who have put their faith, their trust, their belief in Jesus? As many as believed in Him, to them He gave life. Look at what we read here in verse 1 of Ephesians chapter 2.

And you, speaking to Christians, believers, He, God, made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Among whom also you once conducted yourselves in the lusts of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of your flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you are saved. And He has raised us up together to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Why? That in the ages to come, recognize this, church: in the ages to come, He might reveal to us, show to us the exceeding riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For eternity, God is going to be revealing to us the wealth of His grace, the riches of His great gift-giving. This is God's intent. This is God's plan.

Death is a foreign agent, and God, because of the preciousness of life, has sought to address that through the coming of Jesus Christ. Christmas is about His coming to address these problems. There are so many wrong ideas about Christmas, and there are so many things that can distract from this reality. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season, and yes, there are many people who don't even know these truths but know that saying.

May it be that we who do know these truths are those who are taking that to other people, bringing the gospel, the good news to them, that life and immortality are found in Jesus Christ.

Would you stand with me and pray? Amen.

Father, thank You. Thank You that You are the great gift-giver, and that although the world is broken because of sin, because of the failure of humanity through deception, thank You that You love life. Life is so precious to You.

That you want us, who are dead in sin, to know life. You are not willing that any should perish. God, impress that upon our hearts, that even people we may not like, we would not want to see them experience eternal death.

Lord, help us to never delight in the death of any, but to desire that life would go forth. I pray that as we stand here, there may be some in this room who have not yet laid hold of that life by receiving freely the gift of Your grace. God, would You draw them to Yourself by Your Spirit, that they would come to know that gift and walk in that life that is abundant and eternal.

Lord, make me a conduit of the good news, the gospel, as I celebrate this holiday season with friends, family members, and people I know who do not know You. Help me to be a conduit of Your good news. In Jesus' name, Amen.