1. When did God send forth His Son? (verse 4a).
2. How did God send forth His Son? (verse 4b).
3. Why did God send forth His Son? (verse 5).

Last Sunday evening, we enjoyed our first children’s Christmas program here at Rock Valley Bible Church. We had a wonderful time as the children dressed up in their costumes. Some of these children were angels, some were shepherds, and some were the magi. We had one child dressed as Joseph, another as Mary, and we also had a baby who was Jesus. The children performed wonderfully as they sang several familiar Christmas carols for us. As we drove home after the program, I asked my son, who was a shepherd in the program, "Did you like being in the Christmas program?" He said, "Yeah, dad, I really liked it. It was fun. But I wish we could have kept going." His comment slightly puzzled me. I thought that perhaps he wanted it to last longer. So I asked him, "What do you mean, by ‘kept going’?" He answered, "I wanted to keep acting out the story until Jesus grew up and died on the cross." Bless his heart! My son had made a very keen observation. In his mind, the story was only half told. It was not quite finished, and he felt the need to see the story finished. He wanted to see Jesus accomplish His purpose for which He came to the earth.

Indeed, the Christmas story in itself is somewhat incomplete. The story needs to be finished with the Easter story. In fact, I believe that you cannot understand the Christmas story unless you understand the Easter story. It is that simple! The birth of Jesus Christ makes no sense apart from His death. The cradle makes no sense apart from the cross. This morning, my intention is to finish the story that we began last week with the Christmas program.

I have chosen two verses from Galatians 4 as our text this morning because it brings together the Christmas story and the Easter story. It connects Christ's birth with His death. It causes us to see both the cradle and the cross. So please turn with me in your Bibles to Galatians 4:4-5. These verses are literally packed with truth about Jesus. James Montgomery Boice once wrote, "It is striking how much of the important Christian teaching about Jesus is revealed in these two verses" (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, p. 273). These two verses speak of Jesus’ birth, life, death, deity, humanity, and purpose for living.

Galatians 4:4-5
(4) But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, (5) in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

My message this morning is entitled, "God Sent Forth His Son." This title comes from the main sentence in these verses. Everything else that appears in these two verses describes when, how, and why God sent forth His Son into the world. Notice that the sending of the Son was an active, purposeful choice on the part of God. The Greek work for "sent forth" is exapostellw (exapostello), from which we get the word "apostle." When we think of apostles, we often think of the twelve that Jesus sent out to proclaim His name. Matthew 10:2-4 says, "Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax gatherer; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him." Paul calls himself "an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)" (Gal. 1:1). An apostle is a "sent one." He is someone who is sent with the authority of the one sending. When Paul here describes the Father as "sending forth" His Son, it tells us that Jesus came to earth backed with the authority of the One who sent Him with a purpose in mind.

The life of Jesus Christ did not just simply happen. Jesus was not simply fortunate. In the business world, being "fortunate" can play a major part in a person's success. It is not uncommon to hear of people who rose to prominence and attributed their rise to being fortunate that they were the right person, with the right idea, in the right place, at the right time. That is how countless millionaires have made their fortune. In many ways, Jesus was the right person, in the right place, at the right time. But this was no accident. The Father knew exactly when the right time was. He knew exactly where the right place was. And He sent forth His Son, whom He knew to be exactly the right person. This is what we have in our text, "God sent forth His Son."

Our text answers three questions that I would like to place before us this morning. Here is the first question:
1. When did God send forth His Son? (verse 4a).

On the one hand, we might easily say that God sent forth Jesus some 2000 years ago. Yet, our text this morning answers the question a little bit differently. It has a different perspective. Rather than focusing on the dates, Paul focuses on the circumstances in the world that were ripe for the coming of the Son. Paul writes, "When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son" (verse 4a). Many circumstances came together when Jesus was born. I want to focus on three of those circumstances.

1. Politically
The first circumstance is that the time was right politically. It is remarkable to note that Jesus indeed came at the right time politically. Jesus came during the period of time known as the Pax Romana, when the Roman empire experienced peace like the world had never experienced before. Some have dated this as the 200 year period that began in 27 B.C. (when Octavian had fully conquered Brutus, Cassius, Lepidus, Marc Antony, and Cleopatra) and ended in 180 A.D. In 27 B.C., Octavian made a brilliant political move. He announced that he had accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished. Since there was nothing more to accomplish, he said he would step down. He wanted peace. But when the people heard this, they refused to let him step down! They pleaded with him that he would become their peaceful ruler. Octavian willingly accepted. In a day, his political image was changed from a conquering ruler to that of a peaceful ruler.

During this time of peace, Rome became a united empire ruled by a single emperor with one set of laws. The roads were improved to enable easy travel around the empire. The Greek culture had permeated society to the point that Greek became the universal language at this time. Politically, everything was in place for the reception and spread of the gospel. The time was ready for Christ and the apostles.

2. Spiritually
It was not just the political environment that was ready. We also see that God's chosen nation, the nation of Israel, was spiritually ready for the coming of Christ. In Chapter 3 of Galatians, Paul tells us a little bit of the history of the people of Israel. In verse 8, Paul speaks of God’s promise to Abraham, which came approximately 2000 years before Jesus came. God first preached "the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying ‘All the nations shall be blessed in you’" (verse 8). That was God's promise. Then, some 430 years later, God gave the law to Moses. Paul is careful to point out that this law did not invalidate God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations through him. Paul writes in verse 17: "the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise." The law was not given to replace the promise to Abraham. It had another purpose. The law was to lead the people of Israel to Christ. Look at verse 24: "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith." Paul pictured the law as the school-master who teaches the child. But when the child comes of age, the school-master is no longer needed. This is a picture of the law, and is the thrust of verse 25: "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." God had first given a promise to Abraham. Then, He provided the law to teach the people of Israel in order to lead them to the fulfillment of the promise which would come in Jesus Christ. When the nation "came of age," it would be time to remove the law from them. As we see in verse 4, this happened "in the fulness of time."

3. Prophetically
God determined beforehand exactly when His Son would live on earth. It was not as if God was looking down throughout the history of mankind, discerning when would be the best time to send Jesus. It is not as if God were playing the role of a stockbroker, looking for just the right opportunity when the stock hits its lowest point, so that he can invest his money and earn the most profit. It is not as if God were playing the manager of a baseball team, watching his pitcher carefully, attempting to discern when would be the most effective time to replace him with his star reliever. God had planned it all out. Pax Romana was no accident. In Acts 17:26, we are told that God "made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation." It is no accident that you are living in Rockford or Belvidere or Winnebago or Oregon or wherever you may be living right now in December of 2002 A.D. God has determined the appointed times and boundaries of every person who walks on the face of the planet. God determined exactly when His Son would live on earth. God determined exactly what political events would be happening during that time. And if we look at the prophets, we see that God had already determined exactly how long the nation of Israel would be under the tutoring of the law. This is why we can look at the fulness of time prophetically.

Daniel had prophesied the time of the coming of the Messiah. This is shown in Daniel 9:25. "From the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (444 B.C.) until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty two weeks (483 years); it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing (circa 30 A.D.)." (Mathematically, the dates do not exactly line up to 483 years in our calendar, because our calendar today is slightly different than the Jewish calendar of 360 days per year. But if you use the Jewish calendar, they would).

Micah had prophesied of the place of the coming of the Messiah. "But as for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2).

Isaiah had prophesied of the manner of the coming of the Messiah. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Is. 7:14).

Isaiah also had prophesied of the titles of the coming of the Messiah. "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6).

God had prophesied that all these things would take place. Indeed, they happened exactly as He had told us they would. When did God send forth His Son? Verse 4 tells us it was "in the fulness of time." It happened at the time when the world was ready politically. It happened when Israel was ready spiritually. And it happened at the time God’s word prophetically declared it would. Two-thousand years ago, all these things converged.

Let us now turn to the next question that the text answers for us:
2. How did God send forth His Son? (verse 4b).

How did God send forth His son? Paul writes, "born of a woman, born under the Law" (verse 4b). God send forth His Son into the world as a man, just like us. This is the Christmas story, is it not? The Son of God, who is in essence God Himself, was born into this world just like any other baby. He came to be a man, just like us. Certainly, the birth of Jesus was special in many ways. We have learned the story of Joseph and Mary coming to Bethlehem. We are told how the shepherds in the fields were visited by angels. We have read about the magi who followed the star because they wanted to worship Jesus. All of these point to the fact that this baby Jesus was special. But they also point to the fact that Jesus was born just like any other child in this world, that is, he was born of a woman. In this case the woman is Mary.

When Paul writes, "born of a woman," his emphasis is that Jesus took on flesh and blood. Jesus hungered. He thirsted. He laughed. He cried. He was happy. He was sad. He felt the pain in the death of a loved one. He felt the joy in the energy of children. He enjoyed the pleasant things of life such as eating and drinking. He suffered the pains of life such as being whipped and scourged. He was tempted. He was ridiculed. He was loved. He was helped by others. He was hated. He was a man in every sense of the word. Jesus was not a ghost. He did not just look like a man; he was a man. If you would have hugged Jesus, you would have felt the warmth of His flesh.

It was important for Jesus to become like us. The Scripture says,

"Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:14-17).

The truth that we must understand is that Jesus came into the flesh to atone for our sins. It could not be any other way. In order to help us, He had to be made like us. He could not come as an animal to offer up his life for ours because "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). Likewise, He could not come as an angel to be an atoning sacrifice because an angel's death could not atone for sins. The only way that Jesus could help us is to be made a man, just like us, with all of the temptations and desires and passions that we experience.

Not only was Jesus born of a woman, but He was also born under the law. This simply means that He was born during the time when the law was in effect. When Jesus was born, the people of God were required to follow the legislation given in the Mosaic law. Jesus and His family followed the law very carefully. He was circumcised the eighth day, according to the law (Luke 2:21). He was presented to the Lord, after the days for purification were completed (Luke 2:22), according to the law (Luke 2:23). It was at this time that His parents sacrificed "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:24), according to the law. His family made yearly trips to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41), where many sacrifices were offered to the Lord, according to the law. This is what it means that Jesus was "born under the law."

We have seen that it was important for Jesus to be born as a man to redeem us. It was equally important for Jesus to be in subjection to the law in all things. This is partly what it means when the Scriptures say that Jesus "had to be made like His brethren in all things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17). Since the people of Israel were under the law, it was necessary for Jesus to come to them under the law.

Yet, Jesus rose above it all. This week I read a quote about Tiger Woods, the great golfer of our day, which illustrates this concept very well. The quote was from a man named Rudy Duran who had the opportunity to teach Tiger for six years when Tiger was a child. He said,

"I had no idea what was in store for me. I'd been teaching nine years when Tiger’s mom brought him to me. They came into the pro shop, and she asked if I would help him with his golf game and let him play there. ... Tiger was only 4 years old. I didn’t know how long he’d gotten out of diapers, but he was not very big. He could barely see over the counter. I had no experience teaching 4-year-olds. But I said, ‘Okay, fine, let’s go to the driving range.’ I teed up four balls, and Tiger gets out this little wood that’s cut to fit him. He steps up to the first ball and smacks it probably 70 or 80 yards in the air. Absolutely perfect. ... Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! He hits four perfect shots. It was mind-boggling. I couldn’t find very may golf pros who could hit four perfect shots in a row on the fly -- let alone a 4-year-old! ... Prior to that day, I thought golf was a learned skill. In the golf world, we tend to think we teach people to play. That it’s the sum of hard work, proper teaching and technique. To a certain extent, that’s true. But when you see a 4-year-old hit perfect shots with basically no lessons ever, you realize you’re looking at Einstein in terms of intelligence, or Mozart in terms of music" (Rudy Duran, ESPN Magazine, December 30, 2002, p. 110).

Tiger Woods has risen above all of his contemporaries to become one of the greatest golfers ever. Einstein rose above all of his contemporaries to become one of the greatest physicists ever. Mozart rose above all of his contemporaries to become one of the greatest composers of all time. So, also, did Jesus Christ rise above all of us with regard to moral purity. Jesus was one of us. Yet, he rose above the law to be the purest of any man that lived. He never sinned!

Jesus was "born of a woman." And as a man, Jesus never yielded to temptation. He was "born under the Law." And while under the Law, Jesus never broke even one commandment. He was the spotless lamb of God, who became the acceptable sacrifice for God. The child who was born in the manger would become the man to die on the cross for our sins.

We have seen the answer to two important questions already. There is one final question that I would like to turn our attention to this morning. It is this:
3. Why did God send forth His Son? (verse 5).

1. Redemption
This is really the culmination of the Christmas story. This is where it all ends. This is the very message of Christianity. Jesus came in order "to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). God sent forth His Son to give us redemption. We read in verse 5, "in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law." Primarily this is talking about the Jews at the time of Jesus who were under the law in the sense that they lived according to its rules and regulations. The Jew at that time was bound to follow the ordinances of the Law. Note that Jesus was born into this same circumstance since He was born "under the Law." So being "under the Law" was not necessarily a bad thing.

When God originally gave the law, the people received it gladly. God said, "What great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?" (Deut. 4:8). Isaiah tells us that "The LORD was pleased for His righteousness’ sake to make the law great and glorious" (Is. 42:21). The Psalmist declared, "O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 119:97).

The law is good and righteous. Yet, when imperfect people live under the law, they are constantly confronted with their own sinfulness as they behold their own failures to live up to the righteous standards of the law. This is the experience that Paul described in Romans 7. Paul said, "The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Rom. 7:12). Paul confessed that the law was good (Rom. 7:16). Indeed, he proclaims that "I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man" (Rom. 7:22). It was this holy, righteous, and good law which revealed to Paul that his flesh wanted nothing to do with the law. He called the law "spiritual," but when he speaks of himself he says that he is "of flesh, sold into bondage to sin" (Rom. 7:14). Paul said, "I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. 7:22-23).

What Paul is saying is that "The law is good! I want to do the things of the law. But my flesh doesn’t want it at all." This is how the law works. It is grand and holy and good and righteous and glorious! But when we, as sinful people, seek to live in accordance with it, we are confronted by our failures. We are told in Romans 3:20 that "through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." Do you ever feel this? Are there ever things which you know you should do, but you do not do? Are there ever things which you know you should not do, but you do them anyway? The temptation of the flesh works in this manner: First, we see something that we want to have or that we want to do. Next we begin thinking about it. We begin desiring it, wanting it, and craving it. Then, like a steaming locomotive, we cannot stop the momentum and we proceed to follow our sinful lusts. This is how temptations works.

Perhaps you feel like a prisoner, or as Paul describes it, "a prisoner of the law of sin" (Rom. 7:23). Do you ever feel like this? Then the Christmas story brings good news to you this morning. Jesus Christ came to redeem those who have seen and known their sin. The Father sent His Son to rescue His imprisoned people. It was prophesied of the Messiah that He would come "to open blind eyes, and to bring out prisoners from the dungeon" (Is. 42:7). Psalm 107:14 describes it the same way -- as prisoners being set free. Christ Jesus came to set prisoners free; it was His purpose in coming. He came "in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law." We see this concept begin to unfold in Galatians 3:24 where we read, "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith." The Law was in place for a time to direct people to faith in Jesus, where their righteousness alone may be found. Continue in verse 25, "But now that faith [in Jesus] has come, we are no longer under a tutor." The time of the jurisdiction of the law has passed away. We are "no longer under a tutor." We are no longer "under the law" because Christ has redeemed us from the law. In our own lives today, we can use the law as a guideline for living so long as we understand it correctly in light of Jesus’ work on the cross. But the law itself will never justify. We are not under its bondage any longer. We have been freed!

As these Jews saw their sin, they realized that they were held captive to the law and needed to be rescued. I am reminded of the popular game called "Capture the Flag". It is a game that children and adults can play anywhere there is sufficient room to run. It is often played in the dark. The rules are quite simple: There is a big open territory. An imaginary line is drawn right down the middle of the territory. If you happen to be located on your team's side of the line, you are safe. But if you cross the line, you are in danger of being captured by the other team. You can be captured if a member of the other team touches you while you are in their territory. Your object is to penetrate into enemy territory, find your opponent’s flag, and bring it back into your territory without being caught (meaning touched) by the other team. If you are caught in enemy territory, you will be escorted into their jail. You will remain in jail until another member of your team comes into enemy territory to rescue you from the jail. The person who can free you must not be touched by any of the opponents while attempting to reach the jail. But if a team member reaches the jail untouched, then he or she can free you from jail. You may be caught early in the game and end up spending most of the game waiting for another team member to come and free you from jail. This is a great picture of life. As we are born into the world, we are born into enemy territory. There are temptations all around which seek to capture you and escort you to the "sinner’s jail." When the law comes upon you and exposes your sin, it is like you have been caught by your enemy and have been escorted to jail. There, you must wait for someone to come and rescue you from your sins. The one who comes to rescue you must be on your team. He must venture into enemy territory without being caught. He cannot be touched by the law. Then, once he has rescued you, you have been set free. You have been rescued, bought back, and redeemed.

This game gives a great picture of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. When He died upon the cross, He took the punishment which our sins deserved, thereby redeeming us from the curse of the law. Look at Gal. 3:13, "Christ redeemed us (same word as in 4:5) from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’" This is where the Christmas story ends. We begin with our baby in the manger. Our baby was born of a woman, Mary. He grows up in enemy territory, that is, he was born under the law. He becomes the curse for us and removes us from enemy territory; he has redeemed those who were under the Law.

I know that you have heard this story before. In preaching this to you, I feel like the songwriter, Mel Tormé, who wrote, "I know it’s been said many times, many ways, ‘Merry Christmas to You.’" Because I know the good news of Christ coming into the world to save sinners has been said many times, and in many ways, but we must say it again. Jesus came in order to redeem those who were under the law. We must catch the significance of what Christ has done for us! We are no longer in prison awaiting the execution. We have been set free through His blood. The death we deserved has been removed. The impact of this on our lives should be huge.

I want you to think in your mind of some celebrity that you really admire. Think about someone whom you would really want to meet. If you are into football, perhaps it is Joe Montana. If you are into music, perhaps it is Pavoratti. If you are into computers, perhaps it is Bill Gates. If you are into politics, perhaps it is George Bush. If you are into reading western novels, perhaps you are thinking of Louis L’Amore. Think of someone whom you would really like to meet, just once. Then, imagine if this person came and spent the evening with you. You first went out to dinner with your hero, then you came home to your house and enjoyed listening to his first-hand perspective of the adventures which have deeply thrilled you in the past. What would you think of such an evening? Wouldn’t it be joyous? I suspect that it would thrill your heart. You would probably bring along a camera and take a lot of pictures so that you would be able to remember the evening for a long time and share it with all of your friends as they look at your photo album. Think about this: This one act of kindness done for you by a celebrity would soon fade away. Your actual time together would be but a few hours, but you would certainly treasure it for as long as you would live. Now, think about the Christmas story. This is not a merely a celebrity who has done a kind thing for you. This is GOD, who has given His life for you! He has done the ultimate good! (Gal. 1:4 - "who gave Himself for our sins"). The effects of this act of kindness last longer than an evening. Its memories are longer than a lifetime. The effects of this act last for eternity. In dying upon the cross, Jesus gave His life, that we might have life! John writes, "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent" (John 17:3).

2. Adoption
But God has given us even more than that. Not only did the Father send His Son to redeem us, but He also sent His Son to give us something. In our discussion earlier, the celebrity whom you admire could simply give to you a portion of his or her time, and perhaps some memorabilia. God has given us something much greater. God sent forth His Son to give us adoption. Look at the last half of verse 5, "that we might receive the adoption as sons." Believers in Jesus Christ are adopted children. God has taken us and loved us and cared for us and has considered us to be His sons and daughters. A little girl, who was adopted, was once asked by her fellow classmates, "What does it mean to be adopted?" The little girl responded, "It means that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy." God’s adoption of us is similar. We have grown in God’s heart. God has set His love upon us. He has set his love upon us not because of our merits or because of our goodness or because we deserve it. It was not because of our family or because we are so lovely. God has set His love upon us and died for us while we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8). His love for us is so great than nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39). This is the miraculous thing about Christmas. When Jesus came into this world, He so closely associated Himself with us, that the Scriptures say, "He is not ashamed to call us brethren" (Heb. 2:11). We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ! We are "children of God" (1 John 3:1). We can enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. We are adopted sons and daughters of God! Verses 6 and 7 explain some of the implications of our adoption: "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God." We are sons of God, so we can call God, "Abba," which means "Daddy." We are not slaves, who have no access to the Father. We are sons, who can come and enjoy fellowship with our heavenly Father. We have an inheritance waiting for us. In Romans 8:17, we are told that we are "fellow heirs with Christ." The inheritance of Jesus is our inheritance to be enjoyed with Him.

At the beginning of my sermon this morning, I mentioned how we cannot understand the Christmas story apart from understanding the Easter story. When you really grasp the Easter story, all you want to do at Christmas time is to make Jesus the focus of it all. I have been really encouraged as I have listened to my daughter pray over the last few weeks as we have approached Christmas. Unprompted, she has consistently prayed recently something to this effect: "God I thank you that you have given us a right understanding about Christmas. It is not about giving and receiving presents. It is not about Santa Claus. It is about Jesus."

At Christmas time, many of us send and receive a lot of Christmas cards. It is interesting to examine the content of the cards. The message of a Christmas card that someone sends may communicate much about the spiritual state of the person who sent it. In surveying the cards that we have received this year, I have found that many cards we have received contain no content at all about Jesus. For example, one card I received had nice silhouettes of various Christmas themes with the words, "Noël," "Love," "Joy," and "Peace" written below them. On the inside it said, "May all the Joys of this Holiday Season be yours throughout the New Year." The message is pretty generic. Another one had a cute picture of a few cartoon dogs crawling among the presents underneath a Christmas tree. On the inside it said, "Thoughts of you are special at Christmas time and always." In both of these instances, these cards were sent by non-Christian relatives. I also found that similar cards were sent by some of our strong Christian friends. However, there were some other cards that were decidedly different than these. They focussed our attention upon Jesus. For instance, one card had a manger scene with the words, "He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay." On the inside it said, "May God's Gift of Love Be Your Joy This Christmas." Another card we received had a picture of a carpenter on the outside with a son trying to imitate his father. On the inside, it said, "Born to die ... raised to give us life! Rejoicing in the reason for our Savior's birth." Each of these cards clearly focus our attention on Jesus. I found that with rare exeption, these types of cards were only sent from those who are strong Christians. It is clear that they wanted to make sure that the death of Christ be remembered along with His birth.

I would encourage you to make Jesus the focus of this Christmas season (and future Christmas seasons). I exhort you to do whatever it takes to accomplish that. There are many ways in which you can go about making Jesus the focus. You can attend a Christmas Eve service. You can take time as a family on Christmas morning to read through the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus. You can sing the Christ-centered Christmas carols and talk about the words to the songs. You can pray together with your family over these things. You can give of your time and resources to a family in need. You have great freedom and opportunities in the way in which you choose to make Jesus the focus of everything! In my family, one of our favorite customs is to bake a birthday cake for Jesus each Christmas morning. (Our kids LOVE Christmas breakfast! It is the only time throughout the year that they have permission to have cake for breakfast.)

This week I received an invitation. This invitation is open to everyone who reads it. It says...

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on December 22, 2002 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.