Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY

Week 4 | The Love Of Advent

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What if the most familiar verse in the Bible is the Christmas passage we’ve been missing? We dive into John 3:16–21 to show why the incarnation is not a reward for the righteous, but a gift for the unworthy—an act of love that meets us in darkness and brings us into life. The message is direct and freeing: God loved, so He gave. And that gift, unlike every gadget and sweater that loses its shine, never fades.

We walk through the difference between gifts and rewards, drawing on Titus 3 and lived stories to expose how grace dismantles the naughty-versus-nice myth. From there, we unpack what “believe” really means in John—receiving Christ, repenting, and being born of the Spirit, not merely agreeing with facts. We clarify condemnation as a condition we remain in by rejecting the Son, and we face the hard reasons people refuse the light: pride, self-reliance, and a love for what hides. The hope is better than sentiment. Eternal life is adoption, renewal, and the Spirit’s power to change us from the inside out.

We also make it practical. A changed life validates a professed faith. Love for God’s people, a growing hunger for light, and a turning from entrenched sin are signs of new birth. And because grace is overflow by design, we end with a call to share the gift—through truthful words, generous deeds, and everyday hospitality that points beyond itself. God’s greatest gift doesn’t shrink when given away; it multiplies joy and opens doors for weary neighbors to step into hope.

If this spoke to you, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a clear word of grace today.

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SPEAKER_00:

If you have your Bibles this morning, I'd invite you to turn to John chapter 3. When you have it, say amen. Should be pretty easy to find. Be preaching from John chapter 3 today. When a Christmas rolls around, certain gifts are as predictable as ever. Like if you're a dad, it's highly probable that this year you will either receive socks or t-shirts or mugs with the words best dad ever, or pocket tools, grilling accessories. If you're a mom, you're getting a candle, a soap, a lotion, throw blanket, a journal, or planner. Well, just as Christmas brings a set of familiar, somewhat predictable gifts, you know, Christmas sermons often are come with predictable text as well. Like we often use Matthew chapter 1, Luke chapter 1 and 2, Isaiah chapter 9. And by the way, these are powerful texts that should be preached. But today I'm going to preach from a well-known text, but from one that is not so often associated with the Christmas story, but I think it fits really well. So John 3.16 and the following verses. I was thinking back, I don't think I have ever, since I've been here at least, preached a sermon on John 3.16 before. Now I've used it for proof text, but this is my first time. So hey, here we go. Here's what I want you to see from John 3.16 through 21. The birth of Jesus, the incarnation, is an invaluable gift. And it's a gift that must be received and is meant to be shared. I'm gonna say that again. The birth of Jesus, the incarnation, is an invaluable gift from God. It is a gift that must be received and is meant to be shared. So John 3 16, for God so loved the world. Let's just quote the King James. How many learned it in the old King James? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The birth of Jesus is a gift. Do you notice what the text says? For God so loved the world that he what he gave. And here's my point Christ coming into the world, God sending Jesus as Emmanuel, it is a gift, not a reward. There's a big difference. Gifts are undeserved. Yes? Rewards are earned. In Titus 3, 3 through 5, the apostle Paul writes these words for we ourselves were foolish and disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, listen, so he appeared. This is Christmas. He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. What's interesting in this text is that the apostle Paul, who before coming to Jesus, was a devoted religious man. And he would have seen himself as one of the most upright citizens of the people of Israel. Religious, moral, a tedious keeper of the law. But Paul now, now on the other side of receiving the gospel, says this we, in other words, this isn't just you I'm preaching to, but Paul says, me as well. We together were foolish and disobedient. But then he says, Jesus appeared. He appeared in Bethlehem and he saved us not because of merit, not because of our own righteousness, but by mercy. Beloved Jesus Christ coming to this earth, it was a gift, not a reward. Think about Santa's nodding and nice list for a moment. Think about that. I I remember uh years ago when we lived in Tucson, Arizona, my kids were very small. We had a mall right down the street from us, and so we took the boys to go see Santa Claus. Well, right next to Santa's chair was this large contraption that uh was called the naughty or nice scale. And the kid before sitting in Santa's lap would stand on this scale and it was the the contraption would start uh flashing, it would go naughty, nice, naughty, nice, and then it would stop somewhere. Well, one of my kids, I won't say which one, was sweating bullets. All right, I want you to think about what the naughty and nice list communicates. Do you know what if if the naughty and nice list is real? If that's what gifts are based on, here's what it says. Santa's gifts are actually not gifts at all, they are rewards for good behavior. Now, parents, can we just be honest for a moment? If you have a child, is he or she on the naughty and nice list every year? Listen, we're all depraved, right? Apart from Christ. And uh, my children, I'll just say their whole childhoods on the naughty list. And I tell you this, but listen, they were on the naughty list, and so are your kids. I know them, all right? But here's the thing. Here's the thing. We gave them gifts every year. Why they didn't earn them by perfect behavior, we gave them to them out of grace and love as their parents. Well, I use that illustration. I'm not here to preach about Santa Claus, but I want you to know, as far as God is concerned, you and I, we are all on the naughty list. Apart from Christ, we have failed God so deeply. Rebels, I mean, these words in Titus are for us. We were foolish and disobedient and led astray, slaves to passions and so on. But here's the thing: Jesus came to us not as a reward, because oh my goodness, we didn't deserve it. But God sent Jesus as a gift, for God so loved the world that he gave. And this gift is a gift that is invaluable. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have what? Eternal life. What greater gift is there? It's an invaluable gift. I saw a uh video yesterday on social media from uh a mother posted this, and her teenage daughter was sitting in the back seat, and she asked her, turned around and put her daughter on the camera, and she said, Hey, she said, Honey, could you name three Christmas gifts that you received last year? And the girl was puzzled. Pastor Jerry, she couldn't name one gift that she received and so desperately wanted, right? Received a gift and couldn't remember a year later. Why? Because the delight and usefulness of any Christmas gift is short-lived. The novelty wears off, making these gifts easily forgotten. But the gift of Christ, it's the one gift, Dr. Busky, it never loses its value, never uses it, loses its luster. It's one that we should never grow tired of. It's invaluable. So may we today, we most of you in here have heard this story of Jesus coming as Emmanuel over and over and over, but let's make sure our hearts are not aloof to the message. I mean, imagine today if it was the first time you're hearing this, like you've been trying to make your way to God, and you hear today for the first time that God came to you in Christ. It's an invaluable gift. And you know, every gift communicates something, doesn't it? Every gift communicates something like husbands. If you get your wife a book on weight loss or an exercise bike that she didn't ask for, you are communicating criticism, and you're communicating that you really like sleeping on the sofa or in the backyard. Come on, somebody. I'm helping husbands out. If that's you, take it back. You got three or four days. Come on. If you purchase a gift that the receiver of that gift would never use, one that he or she doesn't like, you know what that communicates? Emotional distance. To say, I don't know you, I don't understand you. A gift, on the other hand, connected to the receiver's favorite author or hobby or passion communicates closeness. To say, I see you, I know you, I've purchased your gift with great intentionality. Husbands, I'll talk to you again. This is a good one. Flowers given to your spouse communicates reconciliation. What does God's gift of sending Jesus communicate? Verse 16. For God what so loved the world that he gave his only son. God sending Jesus to suffer and to die for us. He came to save his people from their sins. That gift communicates many things, the apex of which is God's love. John himself, again in one of his epistles, makes this connection. In this, the love of God was made manifest, that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. The birth of Christ, what we're celebrating this week, and hopefully always, is a manifestation, as is the cross, as is the resurrection of God's, what would you say, unimaginable, steadfast, radical love for us. There was a uh very renowned theologian named Carl Barth in the 20th century, very controversial, but renowned theologian, and he wrote, he wrote a lot uh of books on theology and church history. As a matter of fact, one of his works is called Church Dogmatics. Have you read this? Have you really? 12 volumes, 10,000 plus pages long. We should give a hand to Dr. Busky if we're finishing that. Listen, his works are very extensive. So he got to travel around the many different universities and he would give lectures. So he goes to this one particular uh college and gives a lecture. And a student, a seminary student, I believe, stands up and asks him this during the QA session. Dr. Barth, you have written extensively on every aspect of theology and church history. Now listen to this question. I'm wondering if you could sum it up, sum it all up in a short sentence or two. 10,000 plus pages in one work of his. And he says, and all that you've written, and all that you've studied, and all that you've produced, could you sum it up in one or two sentences? For the first time, perhaps ever, Dr. Barth looked stunned, and he sat back and thought for a few moments, and then he said these words Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible, he tells me. So it's a book of love. This is a gift. What we celebrate this week, it's a gift of love. Some of you today, you might doubt your God, God's love for you. You might think, well, sure, he loves certain people who are pretty moral, but when I look at what I've done and the life that I've lived, there's no way that this God could love me. And you feel so undeserving of Christ and his salvation. You think I'm not worthy. Can I answer you if that's you this morning? Can I answer that question for you or respond to it? You are not worthy of it, and neither am I. None of us are worthy of what Christ has given us. It's a gift of love to be received. And that gift, by the way, must be received. You know, many people are great at giving gifts because, as Bob mentioned earlier, it is really more blessed to give than it is to receive. Jesus Himself said that. But a lot of people, because of pride or whatever other reason, they are horrible at getting gifts, receiving them. Oh no, no, no. Yeah, you know, I'm not taking anything from you. Listen, can I help some of you if that's your posture? Don't rob somebody of a blessing. If they get you a gift, just say thank you. Because you've got to understand, I I know, especially uh in this neck of the woods, I know many of you grew up that you don't ask for help for anybody, you know, you're independent, nobody outside your family, especially, is to help you. You just, you know, you you do it on your own. But you, if that's your posture, then you rob people of blessings. So if you need to see how to receive gifts better, buy me some gifts and I'll show you how to do it with humility and grace. I'm just serious. All right, John 3.16 again. This is a gift that must be received, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. There's a condition to this gift impacting you to the point where you receive eternal life. And what's the condition? What's John say here? Not a trick question to believe. All right, eternal life doesn't come to everyone, but it comes to those who believe. So you see that word believe, and a lot of people think, well, and I've heard preachers say this, well, you know, all you got to do is is believe in the facts of the gospel, basically, that Jesus came, that he lived a perfect life, died, and rose again, and you're all right. But is that really the extent of what John means by the word believe? That's a question worth asking. So, what does John believe by mean by this word? Well, he draws it out more in a couple of places, but especially if you want to go back to chapter one of his gospel, John chapter one, verses 11 through 12. He said, Jesus came to his own, this would be Israel, but his own people did not receive him. But watch this. But to all who did what? Receive him, who what believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John, you see what he does, he connects believing with receiving. That's what it is to believe in Christ in a way that leads to eternal life. So, what's it mean to receive? Well, it is to, if you look at the whole of the New Testament, it is to repent, it is to put your faith and trust fully and wholly in Jesus, and it is to submit to him as Lord. In that faith, what happens when you put that faith in Jesus? You are what um Jesus says in John chapter 3 to Nicodemus, you are born again, born of the Spirit. So it's not just intellectual faith. What did James say? Oh, you have faith. Good. Even the demons in hell have faith, and they shudder with fear. So I would say most people today who claim to believe don't even have the fear of God in them. So you don't even have demonic faith if all you do is intellectually or mentally say, Oh, yeah, I believe all that. It's worth thinking about, isn't it? What's the result? You know, if you believe, you get eternal life. What's the result of not receiving the gift? What if you don't receive Christ and the gospel? Well, verse 16, first off, says, the one who doesn't believe perishes. You don't get eternal life, you perish. Then John 3, 17 and 18, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him, whoever believes, listen, in him, is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he is not believed in the name of the only Son of God. So, what happens if you reject this gift of Jesus? You perish, don't get eternal life, and you are condemned. What's it mean to be condemned? Well, it means to be separated, to be literally to be put asunder. And it also in the New Testament is connected to God's judgment. You are under the judgment of God. So you receive Jesus, you get life. You get brought into God's family, in the God's kingdom, you inherit the earth, the new earth, the new heavens is yours. You reject Jesus. You perish and you face God's judgment, which by the way, I do not recommend. Why would a loving God send anyone to hell? Why would any loving God, if he has the ability to give us eternal life, why why would he allow people to perish? Why would God condemn anybody? Can I answer that today? From the text God doesn't condemn anybody. Look at verse 18. The one who doesn't believe is what condemned all ready. You might have why would God send anybody to hell? People send themselves to hell by rejecting the Son of God. Imagine this. Imagine you lose your job and your bills are accumulating. Someone who loves you is just as the bills are stacking higher and higher, right? Well, that doesn't go very far today. Let's say 50,000. But let's just say because of pride or whatever it is, you don't deposit the check. I can do this on my own. And you just put the check on your calendar and it just sits there. Well, when the bank eventually forecloses on your house, you don't go back to the person who wrote you that check and go like this, like, why did you let this happen? You don't say, This is all your fault. How could you do this if you loved me? No, you wouldn't do that. Why? Because the loss of your house wasn't caused by the absence of provision, but by your refusal to receive it. In the same way, God has given you and me everything we need for life and salvation in his son. Condemnation comes not from God withholding grace, but from our rejection of the good gifts he offers. Begs the question of well, it sounds like a pretty good deal, right? Get Jesus, get life and life abundantly. Reject Jesus, get death and condemnation. Why would anybody reject that? Well, one reason to tie it into what I've been saying is pride. Because to admit that you need a savior is to say, I can't get to God by myself. Most of the world today, they are trying to earn, even many people who claim to be Christians, they are trying to use their own morality to get to God. If I can just be a little bit better, then I can get to God. If that is true, then why did Jesus come? So some people have no problem with the drug addict or the prostitute coming to Jesus because, oh, they can't get there. But me, the moral and upstanding citizens, I can do it. It takes great humility to say, oh, I'm as lost as any person on the earth, and I cannot climb my way to God. But thank God Jesus climbed his or descended to me. Amen? That's one reason, pride. Second is this, and we see it in our text, verses 19 and 20. This is the judgment. The light is coming to the world. Jesus, you know, is the light of the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed. You know why people reject Jesus? Because returning to Jesus, receiving Jesus is to turn away from your life of wickedness and darkness. Now, for some of you, that's really good news because you said, Oh man, I don't want that life anymore. But some people, Jesus said, John says here, they love the darkness, they love their wickedness, and they're hiding it in a sense, they're trying to deceive people. But see, when you when you receive Jesus, your deeds are exposed so that they can be cleansed. Turning to Jesus requires a change of life. It's not how we're saved, but it's it's this this is what happens when you turn to Jesus as Lord, you're saying, I'm not the God of my life anymore. You are. So I'd ask you today, have you received Jesus? And how do you know? Well, your life, your life, not just here at church, but out there, reflects the what would you say, the validity of your confession of Christ, your profession of faith. So if you've come to Jesus, and I don't care, you cried your eyes out, and oh Jesus, I love you, but you don't want to be with his people if you're watching online, or you you want to hang on to your old lifestyle if you're living in habitual sin cell, sure we all mess up, but if that's you, you know what that testifies to that you haven't really received him because you cannot come to Jesus and not be changed, it just can't happen because you are born again by faith, and he changes you from the inside out. So, this is a gift from God, what we celebrate today, this season, and it's one that must be received, but it's also one that must be shared. If you've received the gift, oh, share it with somebody. How many of you have ever received baked goods for a Christmas present? Listen, that's it's a nice gift, like I'm not knocking it, like Dina, some brownies. I'm sure a lot of people would like to receive those a gift. But if you receive baked goods in a room full of people, like if you open your gift and other people are there, that gift is no longer for you. Because the moment you open it, everybody's just standing there, like they don't say anything, they don't have to. You just know, well, this is now a we gift. You're now responsible for distributing your own present, even though you don't want to. You're like, Oh wow, thank you. I guess I'll just hand these out, right? It's the only gift where you receive it and immediately lose ownership. So if you bake brownies, give them to us in private, all right? I don't even want my family knowing this. Listen, the gift of Jesus is a gift that we should want to share. Here's the beauty of this gift when we share it with others, we not only do we not lose anything, but we gain heavenly rewards. It's the gift, truly, that keeps on giving. Way better than the Jelly of the Month Club. I know many of you were thinking of that. Listen, it's the gift that keeps on giving. There's a lost world out there. There are people hurting and broken, trying to put on smiles for Christmas, that they are lost and in despair and in hopelessness. And beloved, we have a gift in Christ that can answer every problem that they have. They can, you know, this Christmas with this gift that costs you nothing to share. This gift can move them from death to life, from darkness into light, from the kingdom of the world into the kingdom of God, from being orphans without a spiritual family to being brought in as sons and daughters into the family of God. Need to share it. Lee Strobel, you might know that name, famous author who went from years ago, what back Ron, I think in the 70s during the Jesus movement, went from being a staunch atheist who set out to disprove Christianity to being a devoted, hyper devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ when he actually looked into the claims that Jesus has risen from the dead. He said the evidence was overwhelming. He became a Christian. But before becoming a Christian, he was a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. And he tells the story of a time when he was writing about the four poorest families throughout Chicago, and he would go visit them and write about their stories to kind of expose poverty. And so he went to this one particular home that was inhabited by a lady by the name of Perfecta Delgado, who lived with her two granddaughters. And he was taken back when he arrived to find it almost a completely bare apartment, no furniture, none, almost no food, no heat. Each of the granddaughters had one outfit each, and they had one very thin jacket to share between the two of them. When they would walk to school, one would wear the jacket for five minutes. Think about Chicago. Windy, cold, snowy. She would take it off, give it to her sister who would try to warm up for five minutes. They do that back and forth to their long walk to school. Strobel was struck not only by their lack, but that they're at their peace and joy that was disproportional to what they had. He printed a story about this family, and then a few weeks later, on Christmas Eve, he decided he was he couldn't get them off the their mind, perfected in her family. And he thought, I'm gonna stop by their apartment on the way home, and he did. And on arrival, he was shocked to see their apartment now full of clothes and furniture, packed with food. He said it looked like Nordstroms in there. And come to find out, the readers of his article had responded with an outpouring of generosity. Strobel asked Perfecta what she made of all this generosity, and she was a Christian, devout Christian, and here's what she said these gifts are from God, but they're not his greatest gift. We celebrate that tomorrow on Christmas Day. Story gets even better. When Strobel arrived, Perfective and her crude and her two granddaughters were packing the lion's share of these possessions back up. He said, What in the world are you doing? Don't you like the stuff? Oh, we love it. But she said, we have neighbors around us that have nothing, and we want to share what we have. She just knew because she's a Christian that what we get, God's good blessings, they are meant to be shared. And God's greatest gift, Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus, the one who would come and die for our sins. This gift is meant to be received, it is meant to be treasured, and it is meant to be shared until the whole world hears. Say we share the good news this week.