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In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. (Ephesians 1:7–9)

On Christmas morning, the greatest gift we celebrate is the coming of God's abundant grace in Jesus Christ—grace upon grace, freely given so we might freely give.

Merry Christmas in the Midst of the Craziness

Merry Christmas. If you're tuning in on the day this message goes live, it is Christmas morning, and there's no better way to begin. I hope this has been a joyful season for you. I know the holidays can be stress-inducing—guests to prepare for, events to attend, purchases to make, crazier traffic, busier stores, and people who seem to have a little less patience this time of year. There are also many year-end deadlines for people who call Cross Connection Church home. But I pray that in the midst of all of it, you might enjoy and rejoice in what this holiday is truly all about.

That's what we've been aiming to do this Advent season. Jesus is the reason for the season. I hope you know that, and I hope you realize that when Christ came, He came to bring far more than just salvation—and even to say "just salvation" is hard, because salvation is such an awesome gift. Christ brings to our lives exceedingly great and precious promises in abundance, great riches of His grace. In Him we have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, and by Him we have all things that pertain to life and godliness. As Peter writes, God has given us in Christ Jesus everything we need to live this life in a godly manner.

A God Who Loves to Give Good Gifts

Over the last several weeks we've talked about some of the gifts we've received in, through, and by Jesus Christ. The advent of Jesus is the advent of all the things associated with Him. In Him is the fullness of God, so when Jesus comes into the world, He brings that fullness with Him—fullness of joy, peace, and love.

Our study has shown us that our God loves to give good gifts. Every good and perfect thing in our lives is ultimately a gift from our heavenly Father, and it is His good pleasure to give us these great things. God gives us good gifts to enjoy. As Paul wrote to Timothy, "God gives us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17). I have found in the Scriptures, in my own life, and in observing others, that our enjoyment of God's good gifts brings Him glory and praise—much as a child's enjoyment of a gift reflects back on the one who gave it. All the blessings God has poured out are to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1).

Blessed to Be a Blessing

God's good gifts are intended to be shared with others. We don't receive His grace and blessings for ourselves only, to hoard or to be proud of or to trust in. They have been given to us to be a blessing to others. Going all the way back to Abraham, the first follower of God by faith, God said, "I'm going to bless you, and you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12). That is God's desire in your life and mine—He pours out His gifts for our joy, for His praise, and so we can be a blessing to others. And this is good, because we learn from Christ that "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). If you've ever given someone something you knew they needed and seen their enjoyment of it, you know what a wonderful reward that is.

So it's worth asking: How are you ministering and sharing the good gifts God has given you? Are you being a good steward of the manifold grace of God? If you're a follower of Jesus, you have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, along with practical gifts, talents, and abilities. How are you using them? We learn from Jesus' teaching that there will be a day when we give an account for how we used what God has given us. As we step into 2023, I encourage you to take account of how God has blessed you—spiritually and practically—and consider how you are stewarding and sharing those things for His kingdom.

Grace: The Root of Every Gift

As we wrap up this series, I want to talk about one more great gift God has poured out upon us—a gift for our joy, for the praise of His glory, and to be shared with others. If you've been around the Bible and the church for any length of time, this won't surprise you. In fact, this gift is the very root Greek word translated "gift" throughout the New Testament, and it is the root from which all other gifts flow.

We read in Ephesians 1:7–9 that in Jesus we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, "according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us." It has pleased God, according to the good pleasure of His will, to make the riches of His grace abound to us. One of the greatest gifts of our great God—which we rejoice in, which brings Him glory, and which we must share—is God's great grace. Here is the awesome thing: He is rich in grace. There is no lack of grace with God. He has poured it out lavishly and in abundance upon you and me, and He wants us to pour it out lavishly upon others as well.

What Grace Is

What exactly is grace? The Greek word translated "grace" here is charis, and it carries the sense of goodwill, favor, blessing, care, and kindness. It is often said that grace is unmerited and undeserved favor—an undeserved blessing and gift that bestows kind favor upon the recipient. And it does more than bestow favor; it gives the recipient a new, favored status, a new position because of the gift.

You and I, who were dead in trespasses and sins, have been given blessing and favor in Jesus Christ—and that favor gives us a new status before God. Not just as His servants, not just as His friends, but as His children. By grace we have been saved, made alive, granted access to come before God, redeemed, adopted, justified, and sanctified—and ultimately, by His grace, we will one day be glorified with new bodies to be with Him for eternity.

Jesus, the Sole Source of Grace

This grace comes by Christ Jesus alone. Jesus is the sole source of the rich and abundant grace of God. The Gospel of John opens with a beautiful prologue, and in verse 17 it says, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Here at Cross Connection we've been studying the book of Deuteronomy, looking in depth at the law of Moses—but the law came by Moses, while grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 1 says that through Jesus we have received grace, and John 1:16 says that in Him we receive "grace upon grace"—one helping of grace upon another upon another, God continually pouring out His grace in abundance. So when we celebrate Advent and Christmas, we are celebrating the coming into the world of rich and abundant grace. We're not just celebrating the birth of the Savior prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah; we're celebrating everything that comes with Him—His love, His sure and steadfast hope that does not disappoint, and grace upon grace upon grace.

Rich in Mercy, Rich in Grace

Paul describes this grace beautifully in Ephesians 2:4–9: "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)... that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Many people know verses 8 and 9, but what precedes them is also awesome. God is rich in mercy and great love. By that love and grace He has made us alive in Christ, and in the ages to come—in eternity, when God creates a new heaven and new earth—He will reveal to us the exceeding greatness of His grace and kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. God's grace in Christ is the only path to eternal life and blessing, and it has been freely and abundantly given to us. That is what we celebrate at Christmas—not merely a time to give gifts or remember Jesus' birth, but a reminder that God has freely and abundantly given us the riches of His grace.

Grace That Trains Us for Righteousness

By His grace we have everlasting comfort and a good hope. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2 that our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father "has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace." Everlasting comfort and good hope are products of God's grace. As a Christian, when you receive the grace of God, you have absolute certainty of these things.

One amazing thing about grace, which struck me in my own devotions this week reading 1 Timothy and Titus, is that God's grace transforms us and trains us unto righteousness. Titus 2:11–12 says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age." Sometimes people think the law is the teacher that makes us live righteous lives, but the law only shows us how sinful we are and how much we need grace. It is God's grace that teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. By God's grace, we become more righteous.

Made Ministers of Grace

Not only that—by God's grace we become ministers of His grace to others. In Ephesians 3, Paul writes that the Gentiles should be "fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power." God's grace enabled Paul to be a minister of that grace for others. Grace saves us, gives us a favored status, makes us accepted as His children, works in us to make us more righteous, and then enables us to minister grace to other people.

As Jesus taught His earliest disciples when He sent them out, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10). If you have received the grace of God by trusting in Jesus Christ, you have received it freely—now freely give it to others. As you exchange gifts today, may you freely and richly give the greatest gift that Christmas commemorates: the gift of God's abundant grace in Jesus Christ. God has freely blessed you with His grace so that you would freely bless others with the same.

Don't Be Like Jonah

This shouldn't be the only day we share that good news. God has commissioned us to be ministers of His grace; you are, as Paul was 2,000 years ago, an ambassador of the grace of God. Next Sunday begins a new year, and it's my hope that 2023 may be a year in which we, as a church body, more effectively bestow the grace of God upon others, freely and abundantly.

Beginning next week, we'll start a short four-week series in the Old Testament book of Jonah, where we meet a reluctant prophet. Jonah was reluctant because God called him to bring a message of divine judgment to the Assyrians—a rising power that would one day destroy the nation Jonah loved. Jonah didn't want to go, because he feared the Assyrians might heed the message, repent, turn to God, and receive the mercy and grace he wanted withheld from them.

Don't be like Jonah. Don't be a reluctant minister of the grace of God. Don't fall into thinking, "I don't want to give the grace of God to those people—they're wicked and they hate God." Those are the very people who need His grace. Remember, there was a time when you had no grace, and how desperately you needed it. Freely you have received; freely give.

A Gift to Share

On this Christmas Day, I challenge and encourage you to do just that. There are people around you every single day—maybe even today—who have not received the grace of God. And God has given it to you in abundance: the grace that saves you, that gives you access, by which you stand, by which God is transforming you into the man or woman He desires you to be. That grace He has freely given to you so that you would freely give it to others. Grace upon grace—that's the gift we need to share this Christmas Day.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would give us boldness by Your Spirit to share the good news of Your grace with someone, at least one person today. God, give us boldness. Give us that opportunity and the eyes to see that opportunity, and to share Your love, Your kindness, Your hope, Your joy, Your peace, Your rest, Your grace. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.