Topic: Jesus Christ

Jesus had to take the cup of God’s wrath. He didn’t come to wield the sword but to step under it for us: It was the only way! True salvation is not something we can achieve, but something we must receive.

You can tell if you are Judas or Mary by how you respond when life disappoints you. How you respond to suffering & pain is the measure of your understanding & embrace of the gospel. Judas represents a “religious” approach to God: I serve God to get things from God, & I expect to be rewarded for my behavior. Mary understood the Gospel: I deserve nothing, God has given me everything. Christ is a treasure worth losing everything for.

God’s ability to clean things up is infinitely greater than our ability to mess things up.

God staged a demonstration and documented it so the world would know. Because He knew we needed to see it to believe it. And it wasn’t enough to say it. He had to send His Son to pay the price that we owed in such a way that once we embraced the truth of the story, and once we embraced who Jesus was, we would never, ever, ever, ever doubt God’s love for us. He had to be with us so that we could know He was for us. We needed a demonstration.

On the day after Jesus’ death, it looked as if whatever small mark He left on the world would rapidly disappear. Instead, His impact on human history has been unparalleled. On the day when Alexander the Great or Caesar Augustus or Napoleon or Socrates or Mohammed died, their reputations were immense. When Jesus died, His tiny failed movement appeared clearly at an end. And yet … Jesus’ influence has swept over history.

You have a Savior. He came at Christmas so that He would fulfill Easter, which is huge. It makes a difference to have Jesus as my Savior here and now because He gives me the power to live a life of faith over fear.

The essence of Christmas is giving. For every sacrifice Mary made for God, Jesus made infinitely more for her.