“Celebrate the Sacrifice of Jesus”

Series: Celebrate the Joy of Jesus [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

December 22, 2019

Introductory Comments:

I’ll never forget the first time I watched Disney’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Mickey Mouse plays the character of Bob Cratchit and he has his little family gathered for a Christmas meal. Mickey gives up his chicken leg so that Tiny Tim can eat it and Tiny Tim offers it back to him. Mickey just eats a little green pea, which he cuts with a knife. It touched me as a child to see such sacrifice on display. 

Today, we’re going to talk about sacrifice. 

Before we do, let’s pray together.

(prayer)

Many times Christmas involves sacrifice. Parents and grandparents, and others, will often sacrifice to be generous towards their children, grandchildren, or others. 

Christmas involves a lot of sacrifice. 

In fact, Christmas was built on the idea of sacrifice: that God would send His Son to the world, to be a sacrifice for our sins. 

As we continue to celebrate the joy of Jesus this Christmas, today, we will celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus. 

As we do so, we will celebrate three particular outworking of the sacrifice of Jesus. 

First, . . .

I. Celebrate the obedience the sacrifice highlights. [on screen]

Those of us who have children or work with children, or employees, or whomever we lead, we know that it’s desirable that they be obedient. 

Yet, even though God created us in His image and loved us we did not obey Him or His ways. We were not obedient. 

But Jesus was perfectly obedient. He was even obedient to the point of sacrificing His life. 

Philippians 2:8 says, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.” [on screen]

The humility of Jesus drove Him to think of obedient to the Father above and beyond His own desires; even above and beyond His own life. 

That obedience and that sacrifice made it possible for us to be redeemed. 

Sometimes we may even forget how difficult it was for Jesus to be obedient. It wasn’t easy for Him to lay down His life!

Before He laid down His life on the cross, Jesus even prayed that the Father might provide another way rather than the crucifixion. Listen to Luke 22:41-42: “41 Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” [on screen]

Jesus was more concerned with the will of the Father than He was with His own life. His sacrificial obedience was on full display as He prayed to the Father before His crucifixion. 

The obedience of Jesus was not just a display of good character. It was a factor that would change the history of the world. 

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:19, “For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” [on screen]

The disobedience of Adam brought sin and disobedience to all of us. All of us have gone our own way. All of us have disobeyed our Creator God.

But praise God that the obedience of Jesus could undo what the disobedience of Adam did. Through Jesus, any and all can be made righteous. He can switch our disobedience to obedience!

At Christmas, we can celebrate the joy of Jesus. We can celebrate His sacrifice. We can celebrate the obedience highlighted by His sacrifice. 

Also, we can . . . 

II. Celebrate the freedom the sacrifice provides. [on screen]

The obedient sacrifice of Christ brings freedom for you and me. 

Christmas brings freedom!

Romans 8:1-2 boldly reveals to us, “1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” [on screen]

The sacrifice of Jesus has set us free from sin and death! Praise God!

We are no longer condemned for our disobedience. We are no longer condemned for our sin! We