LOVE GIVES
December 15, 2021
Today, I had the privilege of speaking to our JH students in our Christmas chapel. I shared with them how LOVE is demonstrated when we sacrificially GIVE to others. A portion of this message is outlined below:
When we give to others, it requires a level of sacrifice on our part—in time, talent, or treasure—and demonstrates our love.
God demonstrates His love for us by being a GIVING God. From the beginning of creation and all throughout history, God has been giving to His people because of His love for us.
Christmas is a beautiful reminder of all that God gave up because of His unshakeable love for us.
Here are just three examples of what Jesus gave up for us as demonstrated in His birth at Christmas:
- JESUS GAVE UP HIS FORM TO BECOME A HUMAN FOREVER. He didn’t just become human while He was on the earth; Jesus became a human to stay that way for all of eternity. He became human to be our RIGHTEOUSNESS, living from His birth date to His death date with perfection so He could be the innocent sacrifice that would rescue us from the penalty of eternal death. He also became human to be our ADVOCATE. The amazing thing about Jesus' becoming human is that He can sympathize with whatever we are going through. The all-powerful, Almighty King of the Universe has felt every emotion and temptation you will ever feel.
For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:17-18, NIV) -
JESUS GAVE UP HIS THRONE AND HIS GLORY FOR US. Jesus had all power and authority as King over the entire universe, but He stepped down from His throne to become a nobody. He came to serve us and give to us rather than to be served. Jesus also gave up His glory—to live a meager, simple, humble life. He was Lord over all of heaven but abandoned His home that was glorious beyond belief and gave up more than we could ever imagine to become one of us. This required Him to humble himself, to sacrifice everything, and to keep His purpose clearly before Him.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8) -
JESUS GAVE UP HIS LIFE FOR US. Jesus gave up heaven to suffer the cross, to pursue us and give us a new life. His mission was to live with one purpose and focus in mind … THE CROSS. He came to fulfill God’s promise to rescue His people in obedience to His Father. Jesus suffered and carried the weight of perfection on His shoulders in order to live the life we were supposed to live and die the death we deserved.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8)
Jesus GAVE you the greatest LOVE you will ever know.
So what is our response?
Jesus gave up His form to become a human forever – so I can give Him all of my human “mess” ... my doubts, my fears, my struggles, my hurts, my attitude. He can sympathize with me, and He gave me His perfection in place of my imperfections.
Jesus gave up His throne and His glory for us – so I can give Him my identity and my pride. Instead of trying to strive for an identity to make myself important, valuable, or worthy in this world, I can place my value and identity in the King of the Universe.
Jesus gave up His life for us – so I can give Him my whole heart and surrender my life to Him. All of who I am can be trusted to Him because He demonstrated just how far He will go to show me His love. I don’t have to try to be good for Jesus to love me; He loved me while I was still sinning, and He doesn’t ask me to live perfectly because He knows I can’t … that is why He came and why He gave.
One of my favorite Christmas songs of all time is called “How Many Kings,” and it describes just how much God gave up to come and rescue us.
Listen to this song and marvel at what God GAVE in LOVE to us at Christmas: