OCCASION: Christmas Eve Service
A Short Christmas Sermon
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Some of you no doubt snickered when you read the title to my sermon and then saw my name next to it. It seemed like a contradiction, didn’t it, for you know my addiction to expository preaching and to outlines with at least three points. Well, this is going to be an expository sermon and it’s going to have three points, but all three come out of just one verse of Scripture; in fact, just part of one verse. Listen to these words from 1 Timothy 1:15: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” Do you see the three points? (1) Jesus Christ came, (2) into the world, (3) to save sinners.
First, Jesus came. He didn’t call. He didn’t write. He didn’t send a fax. He didn’t send someone else. He Himself came. When it says He “came,” that implies He was somewhere else before, which, of course, He was. He was with His Father, creating the world and ruling the universe with Him. He was enjoying all the prerogatives of deity and all the praise the angels could offer for all of eternity past. And then He came.
Second, Jesus came into the world. He didn’t come to the moon, or to another planet, or to another galaxy; He came to the world, our earth. But He didn’t just come to the world. He came into the world, that is, He became a part of the very warp and woof of life on the earth. He became part and parcel of the human condition. He entered a society that exhibited all the liabilities known to man—ignorance, apathy, prejudice, hate, deceit, you name it. So significant was this change for Him that the Apostle Paul describes His incarnation in these simple terms: “He emptied Himself.” (Phil. 2:7) Jesus came into the world.
Third, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He didn’t come to condemn them; He didn’t even come to reform them; He came to save them. He didn’t come to save the righteous; He didn’t come to make good people better. He came to save those willing to acknowledge that their lives simply don’t measure up to God’s standards. What kind of sinners did he come to save? The worst kind. You want proof of that? Listen to the rest of our theme verse: “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”
The man who wrote that had been a blasphemer and a murderer. Are you any worse than that? No. You may be just as bad, but no worse. And if Jesus came to save someone that bad, He can save you too. But why would he do so? What do such people have to offer Him? They offer Him the opportunity to demonstrate His amazing grace to still others considering believing in Him. Let me read our theme verse once again along with the verse that follows:
“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
If you have any doubt tonight that Jesus Christ can revolutionize a person’s life, put those doubts away. I could point out dozens and dozens of lives in this very room which have been transformed from brokenness, depression, immorality, selfishness, addiction—you name it—by the saving power of Jesus Christ. You see, He didn’t come just to save sinners from Hell; He came to save their lives from wreck and ruin right now. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” No wonder that in the next verse the biblical author breaks out in a profound benediction: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
DATE: December 24, 1991