Pastor Jonathan Smith
December 3, 2006 - W0649

It’s Christmas season!  “Yeah!” for some.  “Yikes!” for others.  In either case, we’d like to help improve your outlook of the season by remembering the reason for the season:  Jesus.  Knowing Jesus can really improve the quality of your season… the quality of your life…the quality of your eternity really.  But after Jesus, what is Christmas all about?  Presents!

Sometimes we get presents – e.g., a card and a gift – that when we open the card, we think, “Wow!  That’s great.  I don’t need anything else.  This [e.g., Starbucks] card is fine.  It’s more than I deserve.  I’m happy with just this.  I don’t need anything else.”    Then we almost don’t even want to unwrap the gift.

Sometimes we do this with God...we just open the card (become Christians) and we’re happy with that (going to Church, fellowshipping with others, and maybe even serving Him in a small way) but we really don’t unwrap His gift (the life that God intended for us).  Is that enough?  No!  The Bible tells us: 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

And it also says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17 ).

God wants us to have an abundant life but how do we fully access that life?  Today we’ll be talking about three steps to take to fully unwrapping God’s gift of an abundant life and the first thing you need to do is…

1.     CHANGE YOUR WAY OF THINKING

“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mat 4:17)

Jesus calls us to repent.  Repenting means to turn away from sin and to dedicate oneself to changing one’s life.  The act of repentance requires us to change our thinking.  We have two options in life:  the way of the world or the way of God. To follow God’s way, we need to…

·        Renew your mind daily with the Word of God.

God’s word is the key. By reading, studying and taking His word into our hearts, it’ll affect everything that we do.  It’ll affect how we treat others.  It’ll affect how we respond when things aren’t going our way.  It’ll affect what we do when things get really hard (do we trust God or do we freak out).  It’ll affect how we treat our boyfriends and girlfriends.  And it’ll affect our marriages.

Knowing God’s word and keeping it in our heart arms us to repel the attacks and lies of the enemy because just as light will always dispel darkness, God’s truth will always dispel the lies of the devil…which leads us to our second point:

2.     KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST!

This may sound easy but since we were born, people (e.g., our family, our friends) have been telling us who we are but here are 10 things that the Bible says about who we are:

10 things about who I am in Christ:

1.      Not matter what I have done or how people have treated me, I am totally loved and accepted by God because of Christ.  (John 17:23; Eph. 2:8-9)

2.      No matter if my parents were good or bad, absent or unknown, I have been fully adopted by God my Father as His beloved child and now I have the perfect loving Father.  (Eph. 1:5)

3.      I have direct access to the presence of God at all times.  (Eph. 2:18; Heb. 4:16)

4.      I have been redeemed and forgive in all my sins. (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14)

5.      I have been given everything I need in Christ for everything I will face in life. (2 Peter 1:2-3)

6.      God promises me to work all things that happen, good or bad, together for good. (Rom. 2:28)

7.      I am the temple of the Holy Spirit of God, and He lives in me wherever I go. (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20)

8.      I am filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin and to obey what God says. (Rom. 6:14; Acts 1:8)

9.      I am a servant of God, created by Him and I am useful and valuable to Him. (Eph. 2:10; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 4:10)

10.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Phil. 4:13)

That’s just a random sampling of who we are in Christ.  Pretty good, huh?  This is just a sampling of all the truths, blessings and treasures that we have in Christ.  That’s why it’s so important that we know His word…so we can know what we have and we can know what we’re worth, and we can walk in the place that He’s called us to live.  We’re just beginning to get a glimpse of the gifts of God.

One huge thing this will do for you is it will change the way you look at yourself, and that’s good.  Many of us don’t feel pretty worthless, mostly because of the way people have treated us, the things they’ve said to us, and because of the things the devil has whispered in our ears.  But what does God’s truth say about us?  That is the reality…

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Eph. 1:4 NIV)

This passage tells us that “before the creation of the world” He chose us in Him!  Do you want to know your value?  Just look here…He chose us!  The literal translation of that word “chose” is like the master chef picking tomatoes for his masterpiece, or when you (if you’re anything like my wife) go to pick a Christmas tree. He doesn’t just settle.  He combs through the masses, closes examines each one, and then purposefully selects the very one that He wants. 

The passage says that He chose us before the creation of the world.  That means that God chose you before you did anything good or bad, and before you made any commitment to Jesus.  The fact that you are here today means that He chose you. It’s true that God loves everybody but know that He chose you and let that truth increase the perception of your value.

God made you for a purpose and God made you for Himself.  He chose you and placed you on this earth but the enemy of our souls has continually tries to beat you down. He tries to destroy everything that you are, day by day and convince you that you’re hopeless, stupid and worthless.  To some degree, he is successful.  We believe it.  We bought it and we become some of what the lies have told us but John 3:16 says that God so loved you (my wording) that He sent His only son to buy you back for Himself.  He paid for you.  What’s the value God places on you?  Jesus – the life and death of His own Son.  That’s what you’re worth to Him and what could be more valuable than that?

We have to change our way of thinking, to believe that truth because only then can we rise up to become that person that He designed us to be…by the value that He placed on us.

Then lastly, the third gift unwrapping key…

3.     LIVE GOD’S TRUTH BY FAITH!

It’s one thing to hear these things and say, “Wow, that’s great” but what happens tomorrow?  There is an enemy out there who does not what you to experience and live in the fullness of God’s gift.  So what about tomorrow and every day after that?  How are we going to live in the fullness of God’s gift?  We have to choose it.  We have to be deliberate:  I am going to take this amazing, precious gift that God has given me (that cost Him so much) and I am going to make the most of it every day – to not waste anything, to not miss anything – I am going to grab a hold of the fullness of your gift Lord. 

That’s going to take faith. Do you want to know a good definition of faith?  Faith is the unquestioning belief and complete trust in God and His word that lead to action.  You see, I can say that I believe in His word but unless I am willing to do something about it, it’s not realized.  Faith happens when I put my belief into action.  I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record but my faith is strengthened when I renew myself daily in the word of God…daily devotions, hearing the truth from God daily, and storing those treasures in your journal (and your heart).  But it’s not just about storing it there, rather it’s about coming up with a real action plan – taking the truth of God and saying that you’re going to do X, Y, and Z with it. 

Take the truths that God has given you and apply it to your daily life.  That’s how you live God’s truth by faith. 

“We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7 NIV)

“Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me.  He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.” (John 14:21 NIV)

This is Jesus saying, “Take my words and do them. When you do, I will draw you near in a very special relationship, and I will reveal to you more and more and more.”  He is our limitless gift.  God has more in store for us than we realize.  You could not make Him any happier this Christmas than if you would fully open and unwrap that gift that He gave you.

The three keys to fully unwrapping God’s gift are to…

1.      Change your way of thinking and renew your mind daily with the Word of God (i.e., daily devotions).

2.      Know who you are in Christ for He chose you (and had a purpose and plan for you) before the world was created.

3.      Live God’s truth by faith.  Live by faith, not by sight.

If we do these things, God will reveal more and more to us about the limitless gift(s) He has in store for us if we trust in Him and live by faith.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      Are you living the abundant life that God set out for you?  If so, how?  If not, why not?

2.      Describe who you are in Christ.  Who do you think He wanted you to be?  How can you move more toward that goal?

3.      Phillipians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”  What does that statement mean to you?  Share an example of when you believe Christ strengthened you to do something that you think you couldn’t have done on your own.

4.      What do you think living out your faith or living God’s truth means?  Share an example of when you think you were able to do that and how did that experience affect you?

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong with our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NLT)

 Sermon Notes Ministry: Debbie Chang, Doreen Rabaino, Leighton Loo,

                                                Jay Tsukayama & Rhonda Pang