Christmas Calls For Our Obedience to God – December 16, 2008

This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a volunteer gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission - in the United States.

All Scripture quotes are normally taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today's culture.

ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.

Even though it's different today, originally Christmas was a uniquely Christian celebration. True believers celebrated God's entry into human history as a human being. The Child born in Bethlehem's stable was God through and through.

In theological terms, when believers in Christ celebrate Christmas they celebrate God's incarnation. They celebrate the amazing historical condescension, when God, the Son - laid aside His outward glory and took another form, a human form.

Though He was still God, He then became totally human as well. You need to teach inmates and residents this truth. They need to hear and understand it.

Listen to the Holy Spirit's chosen words in Philippians 2:5-7, 5 ... Christ Jesus

6 who, being (always existing) in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (more literally - 'did not regard equality with God as a thing to be held on to tightly')

7 but MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION (He literally, 'emptied Himself' of His outward glory) TAKING THE FORM OF A BONDSERVANT (a slave) and coming in the likeness of men.

But this is not the only reason Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. We must ask the question, "WHY DID HE COME THIS WAY?" The answer to that question is even a greater cause of wonderment, and joy, and gratitude. The answer is in Philippians 2:8

8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and BECAME OBEDIENT to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

God became a Man so that He could die as a substitionary sacrifice for human sinners. This was the eternal plan of God the Father for His Son who became Jesus. But in fulfilling that plan, He had to be willing to be OBEDIENT to death.

So, in a very real sense, for Jesus, Christmas meant being obedient to God. Another passage that reflects Christ's obedience in coming to this world is in Hebrews 5:5-9. Here, He undertook His High Priestly role of offering Himself as the Sacrifice to which all other sacrifices pointed. It reads:

5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You."

6 As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek"; (This refers to an eternal priest that offers an eternal sacrifice)

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, (compare Luke 22:41-44 where an angel was dispatched to strengthen Him physically)

8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

9 And having been perfected (this means His task was COMPLETED at the cross), He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, In coming to earth and suffering the kind of death He died, He was OBEDIENT. In receiving the eternal salvation He purchased for us, we must also be obedient. That's what the end of verse 9 says "He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." Of course, it means to all those that are obedient to the faith God commands us to place in Christ.

1 John 3:23 says -

"And this is His (God's from v. 21) commandment: that we believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment."

So BELIEVING on who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for sinners - is being OBEDIENT to God's commandment. Jesus is the Author or more literally, "the Cause" of eternal salvation to all who BELIEVE in Him.

"Eternal salvation," that's what obedient believers rejoice over. Christmas led to the fulfillment of the purpose of Christ's first coming - His sacrificial death which brought them ETERNAL SALVATION.

Christ came, Christmas happened so that God would save His people from their sins. The human name Jesus means "Jehova Saves" or simply, Savior. In naming Mary's human Baby the angel told Joseph, "... you shall call His name JESUS for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21).

Christmas calls the unsaved to repentance and the obedience of faith. It's altogether right to evangelize with the Christmas message.

But there should be more from those that believe and then rejoice in their salvation from their sins. A proper response by Christians to what Jesus began to do at Christmas Calls For their ongoing Obedience to God.

True thankfulness and love for our Benefactor is shown by obedient living. The gospel that saves also calls believers to an obedient holy life. 1 Peter 1:13 talks about what Christians are to do as they wait for the grace of full deliverance from sin at the return and unveiling of Jesus Christ. In that context, 1 Peter 1:14-16 says:

14 ... as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts (before salvation) as in your ignorance (your unsaved state);

15 but as He who called you (to salvation) is holy, you also be holy ("be holy" is a command) in all your conduct,

16 because it is written (in Leviticus 11:44) "Be holy, for I am holy."

Remember and teach what Jesus, who is the Cause of eternal salvation, said:

John 14: 21,23

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he WHO LOVES ME. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
...

23 If anyone loves Me, HE WILL KEEP MY WORD; and My father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with Him.

We live in a time when many professing Christians in our society, including the correctional facilities do not generally live a separated, holy life. From the Scripture we've just looked at, I want to charge you to make obedient holy living an issue at Christmas. That is the only reasonable response to God's great Gift.

How does the unsaved world celebrate Christmas? With self-indulgence, and in many settings debauchery. Those that have truly responded to what God has done in human history, ushered in by Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, ought not to be like them at all. They ought to live holy lives.

1 Peter 4:1-4 says -

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered FOR US in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

2 THAT HE NO LONGER SHOULD LIVE THE REST OF HIS TIME IN THE FLESH FOR THE LUSTS OF MEN, BUT FOR THE WILL OF GOD.

3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles (the pagan idol worshippers) - when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.

4 In regard to these(things), they (the unsaved pagans) think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

This passage really says so much. By application at Christmas, we have God commanding His own children to not participate in worldly "Christmas Partying."

But there's more here. This Scripture reveals one reason so many professing believers live their lives just like, or close to the way unbelievers live. They don't want to be thought of as weird, and mostly they fear being spoken evil against. In the correctional setting the fear of what men might say about you and do to you is even a greater influence.

It takes courage to be obedient to God, not only as an inmate or officer in a correctional facility, but everywhere in our society today. If ever there was a time to deny self and take up our crosses daily, IT IS NOW!

It took courage for the Eternal Word to become human flesh and die on a cross for His people. And by His Spirit He will enable His people to have courage and suffer persecution when they are OBEDIENT to Him and live a different way - a way that honors Him.

In closing this message which is really about what Christmas should encourage us to do, I want to remind you, and in turn - those you teach, about an important passage we don't hear preached very often these days-

Romans 12:1,2

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (the only logical, rational, intelligent worship).

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, (so) that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Verse 1 is a call to worship and give God glory BECAUSE of His great mercy. Verse 2 is more instruction on HOW to worship.

We certainly don't hear much about offering ourselves - even our own physical bodies as a living sacrifice to God these days. The verb tense of "present" in verse 1 means at different points of time, whenever we're called to do so. This word means "to place a person or a thing at one's disposal." An Old Testament animal that was to be sacrificed was placed in a situation where their natural will to live would be over ruled.

As an act of worship and thankfulness to our Lord Jesus for His obedient coming to earth and taking our sin upon Himself, we ought to live obedient, holy lives. We ought to be constantly willing to offer up our own will to the Lord for His use. That's the sense of being a living sacrifice.

John MacArthur makes a wonderful observation on the inclusion of "our "bodies" in the phrase "a living sacrifice," in Romans 12:1.

He writes "Our BODIES, however, are more than physical shells that house our souls. They are also where our old, unredeemed humanness resides. Our BODIES incorporate our humanness, our humanness incorporates our flesh, and our flesh incorporates our sin, as Romans 6 and 7 so clearly explain."

This is therefore a call to holiness in the sense of being a call to sacrifice our flesh's best loved sins!

The call to worship in Romans 12:1 is a call to live a holy life. The terms used in both verse 1 and 2 reflect Old Testament sacrificial worship. The animals offered to God in that era, were to be spotless and perfect. They were to be the very best.



Verse 2 goes on to help us to actually offer up an acceptable sacrifice of our lives. It teaches us the battle is in the mind, for the patterns of our thinking.

2 And do not be (better: stop being) conformed to this world, but be (start being) transformed by the (constant) renewing of your mind,

(And the only way to renew the mind, the way of thinking is by being constantly, regularly in God's word.)

- (so) that you may (constantly) prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The term "this world" refers to the constant influence from the fallen, God-excluding society around each one of us. In our time of mass communication, the fallen philosophies of how to think and therefore live our lives comes as a constant barrage from every secular source of information on this planet.

In the correctional facilities one of the most common things is the "electronic babysitter," the television. Add to that the general discussion that goes on in a dorm setting - and you have even more of the world's influence.

To be conformed to this world's thinking is to be squeezed into its' mold. We are commanded to not be influenced this way. And instead, we are told to be TRANSFORMED. That too is a command. To be transformed, is to let the outward appearance rightly reflect and show the true inner change that Christ wants.

An obedient Christian looks like what he or she is truly inwardly. In that sense, they look more and more like Christ in their general behavior. His way of living as a Human Being was counter-cultural to the sinful way of life of the men of His earthly era. As individuals grow and mature in Christ they are transformed into His image.

A story is told about a Chinese Christian whose mind had been so renewed that he saw others with the compassion of Christ. That being the case, he was moved with pity when he saw many of his countrymen being taken to work as coolies in the mines of South Africa.

In order to be able to witness to his fellow Chinese, this prominent man sold himself to the mining company to work as a coolie for five years. He died there, still a slave, but not until he had won more than 200 men to Christ. His decision to be OBEDIENT to what God put on his heart is a living sacrifice in the fullest sense.

Looking back again at Philippians 2:8 we see another thing about Christ's obedience,

8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and BECAME OBEDIENT to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Notice, there is a definite connection between being obedient to God and being HUMBLE. The man from China, like His Lord, first humbled himself and then followed through with his obedience to God's plan for his life.

I think Christmas challenges us, and should challenge others to obedience as well. May the obedience of ChrisT to His Father in emptying Himself to come to earth and become our Savior encourage our obedience to Him this Christmas - and throughout 2009.

Rich Hines
Aurora Ministries - Minister To Chaplains