Rick Warren - God's Great Christmas Gift To You
Merry Christmas everybody. By now, you’ve probably opened all your Christmas gifts, but this Christmas morning, I want to talk to you about the greatest Christmas gift you’ll ever receive and you may not have opened that particular gift. Now the greatest Christmas gift is God’s gift to you. It’s the whole reason we celebrate Christmas and it’s talked about in the greatest verse in the Bible. It’s the most famous verse in the Bible, the book of John, chapter three, verse 16. Now throughout history literally billions of people have memorized this verse, John chapter three, verse 16. Why is John 3:16 so important? Well it explains the reason for Christmas. It summarizes the Bible in a single sentence.
You get this verse, you got it. It shows you how to settle your eternal destiny, how to build a friendship with God, how to get in his family. John 3:16 says this, there on your outline. If you have it pulled out your message notes, pull 'em out and let’s go through this together this Christmas morning. John 3:16 says, «For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life». Now I want you to notice, circle these words in that verse. Circle the word «God». Circle the word «only». Circle the word «Son». Circle the word «perish». And then circle «everlasting» or «eternal» and «life».
Circle the word «life». G-O-S-P-E-L. That spells gospel. This is the gospel in a single sentence. It is the good news in a single sentence. It’s why every church in the world exists because of John 3:16. Now what is God’s great gift at Christmas to you entail? Well it entails four things. First, you might write this down, it involves the greatest passion. The greatest passion. Notice the first phrase says, «God so loved the world». «So» there in the Greek, in the original Greek where the Bible’s written in the New Testament, is an adverb of intensity. When a guy tells a girl, «I love you,» that’s one thing. But when a guy says, «I so love you,» now he really means it. He’s sayin' it with passion, «I so love you». You don’t walk up to people and say, «Oh, I so love you,» but «God so loved the world». He loves you intensely. He loves you passionately.
That is God’s passion. God’s love for you is extravagant, it is lavish, it is beyond comprehension. No one will ever love you with the intensity that God does. No man will ever love you, no woman will ever love you the way God, who created you, loves you. This is the first part of the greatest Christmas gift. God so loved you. Let’s look at a few verses about God’s love. There’s a book in the Bible called Ephesians and in Ephesians 1:4 it says this, «Long before he,» that’s God, «Long before he laid down the earth’s foundation God had us in mind, and He settled on us as the focus of his love». Before God created anything else, God thought of you. Did you know that? God created the universe because he wanted a family to love.
Now what does this mean? It means that God has always loved you. Before God created the world to sustain human life, he planned your life. Architects know that long before you lay any foundation you have to decide the purpose of a building. All the plans have to be drawn up first. God built the universe because he wanted to love you. The Bible tells us that God shows his love for you every single minute of the day. Psalm 145:9-10 says this, «The Lord is good to everyone». That includes you. «He showers compassion on all his creation». God has never made a person he doesn’t love. Everything in life is a gift of God’s love. Air is a gift of God’s love. Water is a gift of God’s love. Sun, food, these are all gifts of God’s love. God gave his love to you whether you loved him or not.
The third thing we learn in the Bible is that God’s love for you is unconditional. There is no situation in which God will ever stop loving you. Think about that. There’s no situation in which God will ever stop loving you. You know human love wears out. That’s why we have divorce. But God’s love never wears out. Human love doesn’t always work out. God’s love never ends. You can’t make God stop loving you. You can try, but you’ll fail. The Bible says in Romans 8:39, «Nothing in all creation, is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus». He loves you on your good days and your bad days, when you feel it, when you don’t. God will never love you any more than he does right now. He will never love you any less than he does right now.
In fact, God wanted you here on Christmas morning to hear this message whenever you’re hearing it so he could say this to you. «I love you. I love you. I love you». God’s love, this kind of love that is constant, continual, everlasting, unconditional, that love is the first part of God’s great gifts to you. It’s his passion for you. And God’s love can handle every need you have. Ephesians, in the Bible, 3:18–19 says this, this is my prayer for you at Christmas, «May you be able to feel and to understand». I don’t want you just to understand it, I want you to feel and understand. «How long, how wide, how deep, and how high God’s love really is, and experience this love for yourself».
I want you to look at that verse, if you’re takin' notes, I want you to circle… First circle the word «long». How long God’s love is. How long is God’s love? Well it’s long enough to last forever. Then circle the word «wide». How wide is God’s love for you? Well it’s wide enough to be everywhere you are. There’s no place you could be where God isn’t. There’s times you may feel alone, but listen friend, you will never really be totally alone because God’s love is high and wide, it’s everywhere. Then God’s love is deep, circle that. How deep is God’s love? Deep enough to handle anything you go through. 2019 was a tough year for a lot of people. Many people hit bottom, they’re in the pits. No matter how deep your problem is, no matter how deep your pain is, God’s love is deeper. It’s wide, it’s high, it’s deep.
Then circle «high». I want you to know the height of God’s love. How high is God’s love? It’s high enough to overcome any barrier in your life. There is no problem too high, no problem too big for God, you just have to give God your problem. You may have had a job loss. You may have had a foreclosure. You may have an illness, cancer. You may have had a death of a loved one. You may have had depression, but God’s love is wide and high and deep and long and that’s the first part of God’s greatest Christmas gift to you is his passion. Now the second part of this verse, the second phrase, talks about not just the greatest passion, but the greatest present.
Notice «God so loved the world,» what’s the next phrase? «That he gave,» circle the word «gave,» it’s a gift. It’s a gift to you. «He gave his only begotten Son». You’ve heard the phrase that if you want something done right, do it yourself? Well God said, «I want it done right, I’ll go myself». God came to earth in human form as Jesus Christ. God became a man. He didn’t come as an avatar. He didn’t come as an angel. He didn’t come as a prophet. He didn’t come as a good teacher. God came himself. Like the old Hallmark phrase, «When you care enough to send the very best, you go yourself». That little baby that was there in a manger that we celebrate on Christmas day, who was that baby? Really who was that baby? Who was Jesus Christ?
Colossians 1:15 says this, «Christ is the visible image of the invisible God». In other words, if you wanna know what God is like, take a long look at Jesus. Why did God become a man? 'Cause he wanted to communicate to men. He became a human because he wanted to communicate to humans. You see if God had wanted to communicate to cows, he woulda become a cow. If he wanted to communicate to ants, he woulda become an ant. But he wanted to communicate to you and me so he became a human being. In John 14:9, Jesus says this, «Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father». You’re lookin' at God. Jesus was God in human form. God didn’t meet us halfway, he came all the way. By the way, why did Jesus come as a baby? I’ll tell ya why because nobody’s afraid of a baby. There are a lotta ways God could’ve come to earth that woulda been scary, woulda scared us to death. But God didn’t come to scare us, he came to save us. The problem is many people want to keep Jesus as a baby. He didn’t stay as a baby.
I remember that movie «Talladega Nights» and Will Ferrell, Ricky Bobby, keeps talkin' about «little baby Jesus, little baby Jesus» as if Jesus had stayed a baby. If Jesus had stayed a baby, there would be no reason to celebrate Christmas. But Jesus came for a number of reasons. The first one is he came to show us what God is like, but primarily, listen, Jesus came to die. On Christmas Eve this week, I did another message called «It’s Gonna Be Different Next Time,» and I compared Jesus' first coming to His second coming. His second coming’s gonna be very different than the way he came at Christmas. At Christmas he came humbly, he came as a baby. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, «God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him».
Jesus didn’t come simply to live, he came to die. He came to die for our sins. Why did Jesus have to die? I’ll tell ya. God is a God of love, but he is also a God of justice and when he sees something wrong, he goes, «That’s not right». Justice demands that wrongs be righted, that offenses be punished, that people don’t do evil and get away scot-free. You know and you want justice, you want crimes to be paid for, you want people who’ve hurt you to be corrected for those hurts. God is a God of justice. God came to correct all the wrongs in the world and he’s gonna do that at the second coming, but at the first coming he came to die for our sins so you don’t have to die for your sins. He came to pay for your sins so you don’t have to pay for your sins. He came to give grace.
Let me explain it this way. Heaven is a perfect place. There’s no sin, no sorrow, no suffering, no sadness, no sickness in heaven. Heaven is perfect and we’re not. I stopped being perfect like five breaths after I was born. How does God get imperfect people into heaven? God has to have a plan and it’s called grace. But because heaven is perfect and we’re not then we need a Savior. I remember reading about little kid who wrote to Santa Claus. He wrote, «Dear Santa, there are three boys who live at our house. There is Jeffery, he is two. There is David, he is four. And there’s Norman, he’s seven. Jeffery is good some of the time, Santa, and David is good some of the time. Norman is good all of the time. I am Norman».
Now the problem is none of us are Normans. None of us are good all the time. So somebody’s got to pay for my sins. Somebody’s got to pay for your sins. Either you have to pay 'em or somebody else. The good news of Christmas is this. Everything you’ve ever done wrong has already been paid for. Every sin you’ve ever committed has already been paid for. That’s why Jesus came to earth. That’s part of God’s great present to you at Christmas. 1 John 2:2 says this, «When Jesus served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good». In other words, «Now I can go to heaven even though I’m imperfect». «Not only our sins, but for the whole world».
When Jesus died on the cross for you and for me, that was love in the first degree. Don’t you think that if there’d been any other way for you to get into heaven, God would not have sacrificed himself, he would not have come to earth as the Son of God? There is no other way. There’s no way you’re getting into heaven without a Savior. It’s perfect and you’re not. I’m not perfect. What actually happens when I trust Jesus Christ, when I receive God’s Christmas gift? Here’s what the Bible says. 2 Corinthians 5:21, «God took the sinless Christ,» Jesus never sinned 'cause he was God. «And poured into him our sin,» in other words, he took it on himself. «Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us».
What a deal! What a deal! I call this the great gift exchange only I have no gift. My gift to God is my sin, God’s gift to me is forgiveness. What a deal! Jesus who was perfect takes all my imperfections, all my weaknesses, all my faults, all my sins. That is the greatest gift you’re ever gonna receive, you just have to accept it. The greatest passion, God so loved you. The greatest present, that he gave his only Son. Now we look at the third phrase in this sentence and it’s the greatest proposal. God has an incredible offer for you. At Christmas time you get deluged with tons of offers for weeks and weeks and weeks. A few years back, I decided to save every Christmas catalog that I got starting way back, I started gettin' 'em like at Halloween.
When Christmas was over, I had 114 catalogs. I weighed it, it was 40 pounds worth of catalogs. I was amazed at the target marketing. It didn’t take big brother to figure out the first one to send to me. I figured out that I could save thousands of dollars but I’d have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars so I couldn’t afford the savings that they were offering me. But God has an offer, God has a proposal that you can’t afford to miss and here it is. «That whoever believes in him,» Jesus Christ, «shall not perish». That’s a promise, but with every promise there’s a premise, there’s a condition. God makes this proposal to you and there is a promise with it, but notice who this offer is for. Whoever, whoever believes in him, whosoever. That means everybody and you. Titus is a book in the Bible and in 2:11 it says this, «The free gift of eternal life is offered to everyone».
Listen. Regardless of your religious background, you may be Jewish, you may be Buddhist, you may be Baptist, you may be Hindu, you may be Catholic, or Protestant, or pagan, or no religion at all. Jesus still died for you. It says to everyone. Doesn’t say, «If you’re such and such religion,» it says Jesus died for you. Acts 10, in the Bible, verse 35 says this, «It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from, if you want God and you’re ready to do as he says, the door is open». Regardless of your ethnic background, regardless of your economic background, regardless of your educational background, this offer is to you. Saddleback Church may be the most diverse church in America because we do this intentionally.
In our church, we speak 168 languages. 168 languages, that’s more than the United Nations speaks. It’s amazing grace for every race. Why? Because Jesus is an equal opportunity Savior. This proposal is for everyone no matter your religion, your background, your ethnic, you’re welcome in God’s family if you receive his Son by faith. Notice how you accept God’s proposal, how you accept God’s offer. Romans 10:9, there on your outline says this, «If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,» that’s what Easter’s all about, «you will be saved».
I want you to be sure of your salvation this Christmas. I want you to receive the gift of God’s salvation this Christmas. I don’t care how many times you’ve been to church or never been to church, you can receive God’s gift of salvation for you this Christmas. It’s the greatest gift. How do you do it? First it says, «confess Jesus is Lord». That’s a word we don’t use much today because we’re not in a futile system where we say lords and ladies and knights and counts and vassals and kings and queens. We live in a democracy today so we don’t have lords today. The better word for that means manager, boss. God wants to be the manager of your life. Jesus wants to be the CEO of your life. He wants to be the Lord. It means he’s in control.
When you accept God’s grace, you put on a sign that says, «I’m under new management. I’m not managing my own life anymore, I’m trusting God to lead me, to guide me, to direct me». First I confess that Jesus is gonna be the manager of my life. Second, believe. Believing is more than knowing. I mean I believe in Tom Cruise, but I don’t know Tom Cruise. I believe in Shakira and Lady Gaga, but I don’t know them. But I believe in Jesus, I know him personally. The word there in the Bible is a Greek word called pisteuo. Pisteuo means believe, it’s the word translated believe. It means to trust in, to commit to, to rely on, to have a relationship with. For instance, I believe in Karl Marx, but I don’t trust him. I believe Hitler existed, but I don’t think he was a good man. He was an evil man. But I believe in Jesus Christ and I have trusted in and I have given myself to it. I let him lead me.
A lot of people say, «Well I believe in Jesus». Well so does the devil. But you’re not gonna find the devil in heaven, why? Because it means I’ve committed to. I know some famous people, but I don’t really know them. I just know 'em in my head, I don’t know 'em in my heart. Some people will miss heaven by eighteen inches because they know about God, say, «Oh, yeah. I believe Jesus existed. I believe he’s the Son of God». But they don’t know him in their heart. They don’t have a friendship, they don’t have a relationship, they’ve never committed their life to him. What did Jesus come to do? He came to die for you, but John 12:47 says this, «I did not come to judge the world,» Jesus said, «but I came to save it».
If you didn’t need a Savior, believe me, Jesus wouldn’t come. The only way you’re getting into heaven is by accepting the Savior that God sent and it’s a free gift. That’s the greatest Christmas gift, regardless of what you’ve done. It’s not what you’ve been that matters. It’s not where you’ve been. It’s the direction your feet are headed right now. At Saddleback Church, over the years, over 100,000 lives have been. Over 50,000 adults have been baptized at Saddleback Church saying, «I want everybody to know my life has been changed by Christ, Jesus is the Lord of my life». We’ve looked at the three parts of this great gift for you. The greatest passion, God so loved you. The greatest present, that he gave his Son. The greatest proposal, that whoever believes in him will not perish. Then the fourth part of the greatest present is the greatest promise.
«Will not perish, but,» look, notice, «have everlasting life». What is everlasting life? It’s far more than just heaven. It’s far more than just living forever. Yes, heaven is included, but the life that God wants to give you is a three dimensional life that includes past, present, and future. Past forgiven, purpose for livin', home in heaven. 1 Peter, in the Bible, 1:3-4 says this, «Because Jesus was raised from the dead,» after he died, he came back alive on Easter to show who he really was, split history into A.D. and B.C. Every time you write a date, you’re using Jesus' resurrection as the focal point, it’s B.C. or A.D. «Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life». That means starting over; not a new leaf, a new life. «And we have everything to live for,» that’s purpose, «Including a future in heaven and the future starts now».
See the three dimensions? Past forgiven, purpose for living, home in heaven? How many of those dimensions are you really living? Has your past been forgiven? Do you have a purpose for living? Are you certain of your home in heaven? That’s the kind of life, three dimensional life, God offers to you as his Christmas gift to you. When do you start? Now! Why would you put it off? Why would you wait one more day to have your past forgiven, to get a purpose for living, and to get a home in heaven? Plus, not only that, you become a part of God’s family. God’s family is the Church that he’s gonna take to heaven when he comes back the second time. When he comes back the second time, he’s not comin' back as a baby, he’s comin' back in all of his glory to take his family with him to heaven. I want you to be a part of that family.
Ephesians 1:5 says this, «God’s unchanging plan has always been,» it’s always been. «To adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ». Everybody’s created by God. Everybody’s loved by God. God has a purpose for every person’s life, but not everybody is a part of God’s family. You’ve gotta be adopted into it. You’ve gotta ask God to accept you into his family. You’ve got to trust his Son. You’ve got to accept his Savior. You’ve got to put your faith in him. You’re not in his family, you’re loved by him, you’re created by him, but you’re not in his family until you accept his Christmas gift to you. What keeps people from accepting the gift of God, the Christmas gift of God? One of 'em, one reason is doubt. You go, «Well I have my doubts».
Let me tell ya a little secret. You don’t have to have all your doubts resolved to accept the Lord into your life. I wish I had learned this a long time ago, I woulda accepted the Lord much sooner. I used to think, «I have to have all my doubts figured out». There are many things I don’t understand and I doubt why did God do that and why did God do that. You enjoy a lot of things you don’t understand. I don’t understand the chemistry of digestion, it doesn’t keep me from eatin' a good steak. I don’t understand internal combustion, it doesn’t keep me from driving a car. I don’t understand how radio, TV waves can go through the air and I can turn on a button and see a picture. I don’t understand that, but it doesn’t stop me from watchin' TV or listening to the radio or using the internet.
There’re a lotta things I don’t understand. You don’t have to have it all figured out, you just in simple faith say, «God I give as much of myself as I understand to as much of you as I understand». One time there was guy who came to Jesus and he wanted Jesus to heal his daughter. The Lord said, «Do you believe»? And I love the guy’s honesty; he said, «Lord, I wanna believe, help me with my unbelief». Jesus said, «That’s good enough» and, bam, he healed his daughter. You can come to God and say, «God I wanna believe, help me with my doubts, help me with my unbelief». Doubt can cause ya to delay. Don’t make that mistake. The other thing is hurt. Everybody experiences hurts in life and when we get hurt, we often build barriers. We can build 'em even against God because «I’m mad at God for something that happened in my life».
I don’t know how you’ve been hurt. Maybe you’ve been hurt by a job, maybe you’ve been hurt by your parents or your family or by a marriage or by an ex, maybe you’ve been hurt by religion, maybe even been hurt by a church, maybe even this church. Don’t let that keep you from receiving God’s Christmas gift. Really you only need one reason to believe. You only need one reason to accept God’s Christmas gift to you and it’s this. God loves you, he so loves you. I wanna say John 3:16 and in your mind, I want you to put your name in there. Let me say it like this. «For God so loved,» put your name in there. «For God so loved Bill or Mary or Sherry or Tom». «For God so loved, that he gave his only begotten Son, that if,» put your name in there. Your name, «believes in him, will not perish, but,» put your name in there, «you will receive eternal life».
Are you ready to accept God’s Christmas gift to you? There’s not a better time than right now. 2 Corinthians is a book in the Bible, 6:2 says this, «Right now God is ready to welcome you». Right now God is ready to wel… «Today he is ready to save you». Not tomorrow, today. I’m gonna pray a prayer and here’s what I’m gonna do. First, I’m gonna pray for you and then I wanna lead you in a Christmas prayer and I wanna ask you to say this in your heart. You don’t have to say it aloud, God knows what you’re thinking. He knows every thought you’ve ever had, he knows what you’re thinkin' right now.
Let me pray for you and then I’ll ask you to pray with me. Let’s bow our heads. Just say somethin' like… Let me pray for you first. Father, I wanna thank you for your amazing love and for your amazing grace. There are people listening to this and watching this right now who know about you. They know, Jesus, that you exist, but they’ve never really begun a relationship with you. They’ve never experienced your power, your forgiveness, your pardon. They’ve never experienced your purpose in life. I pray that you’ll give them the greatest Christmas gift today as you promised. Now you pray. In your heart, say something like this. Just say, «Dear Jesus». Just say that in your mind:
Dear Jesus, I don’t understand everything, but I wanna thank you God for loving me. I wanna thank you, Jesus, for coming to earth for me. I wanna thank you for giving your life for me, for dying for me so that all my sins could be forgiven and so that I could go to heaven. I want to be a part of your family. I want to accept your free gift of forgiveness and salvation. I want you to be the Lord of my life, the manager of my life and I wanna learn how to trust you and love you and I wanna know your purpose for my life. I humbly ask you to give me your salvation, the free gift of your love. In your name I pray, amen.
Everybody look up here for a minute. Let’s congratulate everybody who just prayed that prayer for the very first time. Let’s congratulate. This is a big deal. Thank you, thank you. Inside your program there is the annual Christmas survey card. I want you to pull that out and look on the back. Anytime you make a major decision in life, any kind of major decision, it’s really important to tell somebody about it. Can you imagine me sayin' to my wife, «Honey, let’s get married, but let’s keep it a secret». She’d go, «Whatta ashamed of? Are you ashamed of me»?
You need to tell somebody. I’m gonna ask you to tell me! I’m a pastor, I’m a spiritual coach. I’ll help you and I’ll actually send you some material to help you get started and understanding the decision you made. This is just the first step in a wonderful new adventure in your life. Notice on the back of that card, it says, «The next step in my spiritual journey on being ready for Jesus' second coming». He’s coming back! He came the first time at Christmas, but between now and then, he’s comin' back, we need to get ready. I want you to check the boxes that apply to you. Would you do that? The first box says, «I want to become a part of God’s family by trusting in Jesus who God sent a Christmas to save me. I prayed the commitment prayer,» that we just prayed together, «and I wanna be ready when Jesus comes back for his Church. Send me the Next Steps material for growing spiritually».
Just check that box if you prayed that prayer for the very first time. If you’d say, «Rick, I’m renewing my commitment to trust Jesus, I’m returning to him after being away». You check that box. If you say, «I want to obey Jesus' command to show my faith in him by being baptized as an adult, the way Jesus showed us how to do». If you haven’t been baptized, Jesus commands every one of us to be baptized, «this is my Christmas gift to him». You can be baptized this morning. We have shirts and shorts and warm water and towels, all you have to do is go out to the baptism table and you can be baptized today. How about «I wanna become a part of this church family». We would welcome you. «Send me information on how to join Saddleback Church».
Then if you would like to get my free «Daily Hope» teaching email, it goes to over a million people every day, it’s a daily inspiration, just check that box. Then if you have a particular prayer request that you need to share with somebody else, you’re havin' to go through a tough time, our church prays for people who ask for prayer. You can check that box and write down your prayer request there. Finish filling that out and at the end of this service, we’re going to give our offerings. We put 'em in the basket.
Now if you’re a guest today, please don’t give. We ask you not to give. That’s the policy of our church. Giving is only for people who consider Saddleback to be their church family. But everybody put this card in the basket and that way I can send you some material and help you understand your decision and I can pray for you. Thank you guys. God bless you. I just wanna say, this has been an amazing year. Next year we are gonna celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Saddleback Church in January. You can see at the bottom some things we’re gonna be doin' together. We’re gonna have a great party, a great time. God bless you everybody.