WEDNESDAY 12/25/13 Daily Readings for Advent...Advent is for adoring Jesus
THREE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the
one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as
He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the
devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy
the works of the devil. —1 John 3:7–8
Ponder this remarkable situation with me. If the Son of
God came to help you stop sinning—to destroy the works
of the devil—and if he also came to die so that, when you
do sin, there is a propitiation, a removal of God’s wrath,
then what does this imply for living your life?
Three things. And they are wonderful to have. I give
them to you briefly as Christmas presents.
1. A Clear Purpose for Living
It implies that you have a clear purpose for living. Nega
tively, it is simply this: don’t sin. “I write these things to
you so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1). “The Son of God
appeared to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
If you ask, “Can you give us that positively, instead
of negatively?” the answer is: Yes, it’s all summed up in 1
John 3:23. It’s a great summary of what John’s whole let
ter requires. Notice the singular “commandment”—“This
is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His
Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He com
manded us.” These two things are so closely connected for
John he calls them one commandment: believe Jesus and
love others. That is your purpose. That is the sum of the
Christian life. Trusting Jesus, loving people. Trust Jesus,
love people. There’s the first gift: a purpose to live.
2. Hope That Our Failures Will Be Forgiven
Now consider the second implication of the twofold truth
that Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive
our sins. It’s this: We make progress in overcoming our
sin when we have hope that our failures will be forgiven.
If you don’t have hope that God will forgive your failures,
when you start fighting sin, you give up.
Many of you are pondering some changes in the new
year, because you have fallen into sinful patterns and want
out. You want some new patterns of eating. New patterns
for entertainment. New patterns of giving. New patterns
of relating to your spouse. New patterns of family devo
tions. New patterns of sleep and exercise. New patterns
of courage in witness. But you are struggling, wondering
whether it’s any use. Well here’s your second Christmas
present: Christ not only came to destroy the works of the
devil—our sinning— he also came to be an advocate for
us when we fail in our fight.
So I plead with you, let the freedom to fail give you the
hope to fight. But beware! If you turn the grace of God
into license, and say, “Well, if I can fail, and it doesn’t mat
ter, then why bother fighting?”—if you say that, and mean
it, and go on acting on it, you are probably not born again
and should tremble.
But that is not where most of you are. Most of you want
to fight sinful patterns in your life. And what God is say
ing to you is this: Let the freedom to fail give you hope to
fight. I write this to you that you might not sin, but if you
sin you have an advocate, Jesus Christ.
3. Christ Will Help Us
Finally, the third implication of the double truth that
Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins,
is this: Christ will really help us in our fight. He really will
help you. He is on your side. He didn’t come to destroy
sin because sin is fun. He came to destroy sin because it is
fatal. It is a deceptive work of the devil and will destroy us
if we don’t fight it. He came to help us, not hurt us.
So here’s your third Christmas gift: Christ will help
overcome sin in you. 1 John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is
greater than he that is in the world.” Jesus is alive, Jesus is
almighty, Jesus lives in us by faith. And Jesus is for us, not
against us. He will help you. Trust him.
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