Peter Tan-Chi - Christmas, God's Grace Displayed
Blessed merry Christmas to all of you! From the bottom of my heart, from our family, from the leadership, may I greet you a blessed, blessed merry Christmas and advanced happy new year. How have you been celebrating Christmas? Can you whisper to your neighbor? How have you been celebrating Christmas? Is it about shopping? Gift giving? Family time together? Reunion? Vacation? How should we really celebrate Christmas? Well, how you celebrate Christmas depends on your understanding of the significance of Christmas. The truth is many of us are celebrating Christmas without focusing on the celebrant: Jesus Christ.
If you ask me, Christmas is an amazing event. The meaning is wonderful. In fact, God gives us the most amazing opportunity every year to tell others about the meaning and significance of Christmas. Can I share with you, in one or two sentences, if you want to know how to describe Christmas? Let me share with you Luke 2:10–11. How do you describe Christmas? Here it is. What do you notice about this verse? If you want to know the significance of Christmas, I will describe it as follows: it is God’s grace displayed. Why do I say that? Christmas is good news, notice, it says, «I bring you good news». It’s the greatest news. What kind of news? Great joy. It is good news That will bring great joy for all the people. Do you notice? Christmas is, first of all, initiated by God and it is inclusive. For all! Rich or poor. The Bible tells us «in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord».
I want you to notice something. What is Christmas? It is God’s grace displayed. What do I mean? It is centered on Jesus. Look at this verse: You have three titles of Jesus mentioned. So what is the message of Christmas? It’s good news! It’s about Jesus! Notice what it says, who is Jesus? A Savior. Next, Christ. Next title, the Lord. So what does it mean, Savior, Christ, and Lord? It is so important that you and I understand God’s grace deals with our root problem. The root problem of humanity is sin. Somebody once said our root problem is not poverty. Poverty is a byproduct of sin. For some people, they say the root problem is education. Again, that is not the root problem. God sent us a Savior. Nothing wrong with education, but you have to understand what’s our root problem: sin. And sin leads to separation. And the most important need you and I have is to address the most important problem.
What’s your problem? Until you are aware that your problem is sin, that there’s something wrong with us, there’s something wrong in our heart, and we need a Savior to change our heart. We need a Savior for the forgiveness of our sin. And that is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is God’s grace displayed in Jesus. He sent us a Savior. Next title of Jesus: Christ. What does it mean? This has to do with the anointed one, the Messiah. So Christ is not just our Savior. He is the anointed King, the chosen Messiah. That means Jesus Christ was foretold. The coming of Christ was foretold in the Old Testament. It is fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah will come, and Jesus is the promised Messiah, Christ; none other than the son of God. And what is the third title of Jesus? He is called Lord.
Now that word «Lord» is an amazing word. That is the same word used to translate the Hebrew Bible, «Yahweh», the very name of God, as Lord in the Greek translation, «Kyrios». That is the very title of Jesus describing «Yahweh». If you see your Bible, it is capitalized L-O-R-D in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, it is transcribed as Lord, «Kyrios». So Jesus is God’s grace displayed. Why? Because God knows our problem. He loves us. You cannot discuss the significance of Christmas without discussing the second coming of Jesus. Why? Because the first coming of Jesus has over 300 prophecies. However, the second coming of Jesus has more prophecies. In fact, one scholar said for every prophecy about the first coming of Jesus, you have eight prophecies about the second coming of Jesus.
So to understand the significance of Christmas, you got to connect the first Christmas with the second coming of Jesus. And the second coming of Jesus is described as the wedding feast. It’s called the marriage supper of the Lamb. Do you notice? Christmas, birthday celebration. His second coming, the wedding celebration. Is that in the Bible? Two happiest occasions for most people, birthday celebration and the wedding celebration? Look at Revelation. Revelation 19 tells us. It is the reality that God is sovereign, and history is going to head toward the culmination of the second coming of Christ. First coming, second coming.
Notice the spirit of the second coming is also joy. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad. This imagery, this picture of the coming of Christ, about the wedding supper of the lamb, is a picture of Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. It is this amazing reunion, amazing togetherness that will happen in the end of times. You see, history will end. Earthly history will end in the marriage supper of the Lamb, in the wedding feast. And you will see a parallelism of God’s grace displayed: Christmas is God’s grace displayed, the wedding feast is also God’s grace displayed. How do you describe God’s grace displayed in Christmas and the second coming, the wedding party?
The first word I want you to remember is «initiated». It is initiated by God. The grace of God is always from Him. God initiates. Second is the word «inclusive». Why? God’s grace is for the rich and the poor, it’s for all. And thirdly, God’s grace is in Christ. That is the key to understanding God’s grace displayed. Let me read for you the Christmas story quickly. In Luke 2, let’s begin. What do you notice? Look at the first sentence of Luke 2:10. The angel said, «Do not be afraid, I bring you good news». You see Christmas is initiated by God. God was never forced to give us His Son. It is something willingly, voluntarily thought out by God. So the Bible tells us it is from the angel, it is from God, «Do not be afraid».
This Christmas message is very appropriate today because today, many of us are afraid. Today, people are fearful. Like what, what are you afraid of? For many, they are afraid of the future. What will happen? They are afraid of their work, their career. They are afraid of their financial security. What’s going to happen to my job? They’re afraid of their health. They’re afraid of their loved ones, they may die. So there’s a lot of anxiety. The secret of overcoming anxiety is to know the heart of God. You see Christmas is God’s grace displayed. What do I mean? You notice the first command? Do not be afraid. The only way to overcome fear is not to deny it. It is not to pretend it does not exist, but to replace that fear with good news. You must understand: God is under no obligation. God willingly, volitionally, He invented Christmas. God sent forth His Son.
The Bible is so clear. Galatians 4:4 and 5: Do you notice the grammar? meaning God has been planning Christmas even before the creation of the world. God thought of this a long time ago. But at the right time, «God sent forth His Son, born of a woman», that’s prophesied in the book of Genesis. «Born under the law» for what purpose? To redeem us. As somebody once said, That is the amazing truth about Christmas. Think about it. God’s grace displayed. God loves you. If you are insecure today, if you’re worried about the future, I want you to meditate on Christmas. It is God’s way of saying, «I care for you»; it’s God’s grace in action, initiated by Him. No one ever forced God to have a plan for our salvation. God thought about it. He willingly did it, and Jesus Christ willingly volunteered to come to save us.
The background of the Christmas story begins with the reality that the first announcement initiated by God through the angel were given. It was given to shepherds. Why shepherds? Shepherds are the lowest rung in the society during the time of Jesus, it’s one of the lowest rungs. It is slightly higher than the people with leprosy. In fact, shepherds are not allowed as witnesses in court. Shepherds are considered outcasts. You know why? Because they keep violating the ten commandments as far as the rabbis are concerned, you know why? Because they have to work on a Sabbath. The job of a shepherd is 24/7, and they kept moving, so they are not to be trusted. However, praise God, the first news about the coming King was given to the outcasts, shepherds.
Think about it. Why was it not given to the rich, to the powerful, to the government officials? Because God wants us to know His grace initiated by Him is inclusive, for the rich and for the poor. It is the humble people, not the self-righteous, not the self-sufficient one, but the poor, the disadvantaged, to the outcasts that the first message of Christmas was given. Do you notice the command, «do not fear»? That command, «do not fear,» is given 365 times in the Bible. As one scholar said, it is for every day so that you will not be afraid. The grammar is simply this: stop being afraid. You see, the negative, «do not fear», implies they’re already afraid. Just like what I said in the beginning: what are you afraid of?
Think of the amazing message of God’s grace, Christmas. It is God telling us, «I care for you. I love you». It’s God’s initiative. «Do not fear. I care for you». This is so important because God wants to assure you, to give you security, that our ability to experience God’s grace, God’s love, God’s care, is not because we are qualified, it’s inclusive. Not because we deserve it. It’s unmerited, it’s undeserved. That is God’s grace. It’s given to all, it’s available. And God’s grace displayed can only be understood clearly if you understand in Christ. All of God’s grace is made manifest in Christ. What do I mean? I’m reminded of the story of a man who fell in a deep pit.
Now, if you are in the pit, what do you want to do? You want to get saved! Well, the story goes: a religious leader from the east came, and the religious leader looked at the man in the pit. And the religious leader said, «I’m really sorry. It’s your karma. You deserve to go to the pit». And then another religious leader came from the east, and he said, «Sir, it’s all in your mind. Just imagine you are not in the pit. Positive thinking, and you’ll be okay»! Another religious leader from the east says, «You know why you’re in the pit? God is angry at you. He is judging you». Then Jesus came. You know what Jesus did? He went down to the pit, lifted the man up, and that my friend is God’s grace in action. He came to save us.
Who is Jesus? Our Savior. The Messiah, the Christ, and the Lord, the King of Kings. To understand God’s grace displayed, you must take this to heart: grace is not a one-time event. It’s not confined to Christmas. Grace is continuous. You and I need grace. Grace sustains us all the time. I need grace to live the Christian life. I need grace to live a life that’s pleasing to God. I need God’s grace to serve Him. I need God’s grace to finish well. And above all, I need God’s grace to preserve me to enter the kingdom of heaven. And that’s why the story of the parable of Jesus regarding the wedding feast is so crucial. Remember, I’ll give you two stories: the Christmas story and the parable of the wedding feast. Understand the parallelism of the Christmas story and the parable of the wedding feast, Matthew 22:1 to 3.
Remember last week? Our brother Mike discussed the parable found in Matthew 21. After the parable of the vineyard, Jesus talks about this parable. This is the last week of Jesus on earth, and He’s now telling his disciples, «How do you get ready to enter the kingdom of heaven»? And here’s the story. Matthew 22. Here I want you to observe the same principles: it is the king who initiated the wedding feast. It is the king who initiated the invitation. Remember, God’s grace displayed. God initiates. He sent out invitations, invited many people to come. What’s so amazing, some were unwilling to come!
Now you’ve got to understand the culture in the time of Christ. Invitations are usually repeated. You have the first invitation for headcount. You have the second invitation. Between the first and the second, it is because you have to prepare, they don’t have refrigerators, you have to kill the goats, the sheep, the chicken, and the cow. Lots of preparation! However, one thing is sure: there will be a second invitation to say, «It’s now ready; come». and that’s exactly what happened. «'Come to the wedding feast. My oxen and my fattened livestocks are all butchered. It’s all prepared.'» That’s the grace of God displayed, initiated by him, inclusive. God wants to invite people to come.
Now you have to understand, Jesus is a master teacher. What was happening here is totally unthinkable. First of all, who will not attend the invitation of a king? Who will not attend the most privileged occasion: to be invited by the king to the wedding of his son? So this story is the amazing, shocking style of Jesus to let them know why will people do such a thing, especially, why will you mistreat the messengers of the king and kill them? It’s totally impractical, it’s totally unthinkable. But you know what’s the truth? The truth is today, there are people so busy. We pay no attention to the invitation of the King of Kings. Today, people are preoccupied with their own activities. They fail to take seriously, the invitation, the good news of God’s grace.
Today, there are God’s messengers being killed, being mistreated. They’re hostile. They kill the messengers of the Lord, just like what Jesus is talking about. The wedding feast of the king’s son is so important. It’s a joyous occasion. It’s most honorable. Therefore the response is laughable, unreal, stupid, unthinkable to turn down the king’s invitation. But Jesus is a master teacher. He wanted them to think. Is it possible that you may be one of those people, so preoccupied with your own agenda? Do you see now why it is unthinkable for people to reject the Gospel? This is God’s grace displayed. Notice the verb: «Go, invite as many people as you find». Notice, even the undeserving, even those who are not entitled, invite them. You see, God’s grace is not only His initiative. It is inclusive, for the rich and the poor.
While the immediate context is referring to the Jews who turned down the offer of God, the application is still the same. There are people today who have heard the invitation of God but for whatever reason, they are indifferent, or worst of all, they are hostile. And God is saying you go, go, invite as many as you can. And that’s what the Bible says, «and they found both evil and good, and they invited them to the wedding feast». That is the heart of the gospel. It is initiated by God. It is inclusive, but the key: it is in Christ. What do I mean? Look at Matthew 22. What in the world does that mean? If you look at the context of this story, you will not fully appreciate this until you know the culture of the time of Jesus.
What does it mean when he saw a man that was not dressed in wedding clothes? You may be surprised how come the one that was not wearing the proper clothes was kicked out of the banquet. Why so serious? Unlike today, when you go to a wedding, you take care of your own wedding clothes. In the time of Jesus, it is the host. The host will prepare the wedding robes so that you will be dressed appropriately. Assuming you don’t have the right clothing, the host will provide the wedding clothes. Everything is provided for. There is no excuse not to receive the clothes prepared by the host. Praise God! That’s grace. Secondly, the clothes are very meaningful. It is symbolic of our righteousness in Christ. It’s a metaphor. It is symbolic of what happens when you come to Christ: you put on the righteousness of Christ, you put off your old way of life.
You see, grace is never to be treated lightly. Grace is not only undeserved. Grace is not only a gift but a responsibility. The door is open to all, but those who come in must not remain with their old clothes. They must put on the wedding clothes provided for. Those who accept God’s grace of salvation must not and cannot remain the same. The door is not open for sinners to come in and remain unrepentant sinners. That is the word picture that you and I must understand about God’s grace displayed. If you go to a wedding feast of a friend of the king, you do not go with your old, dirty clothes. Out of respect, you put on clothing appropriate for the occasion. The clothing provided by the king is what is needed and what was provided. This is called respect and honor. It’s like today, attending worship service.
What you wear is secondary. It’s the heart: do you have the right spirit on Sunday service when you worship God? The spirit is most crucial. When you enter a place of worship, are you there to worship God? Are you conscious? The Bible tells us that the grace of God is freely given, but the grace of God gives us the power to transform our life. Look at Titus 2:11–14: Notice, it brings salvation to all, The grace of God instructs us, helps us to deny ungodliness. That’s the grace of God, it gives you the power to say no to sin and worldly desires. That’s the grace of God. It gives you the power, the desire to change And it gives you, it changes your desire. It gives you the power to live righteously, We are not saved by good works. It’s by grace. But the grace that saves will transform us so that we become zealous for good works, notice what it says.
This is the mark of somebody who has experienced the grace of God. That person understood, he understands his sinfulness. He understands the grace of God, how he has been forgiven. And because he understands God’s grace, completely forgiven, he now has a desire to live sensibly, to honor God, to do good works. In fact, 1 Corinthians 3 tells us the theological foundation of this: «by His doing (by God’s doing) you are in Christ Jesus», notice, «by his doing», God’s grace is in Jesus, «who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption». If you have Christ, what do you have? Righteousness. What do you have? Sanctification.
This is clearly seen even in the Old Testament. Zachariah 3:1-3. Notice the picture: you have Joshua the high priest, and you have Satan accusing him; and you have the Lord rebuking Satan. Notice what the Bible is telling us. Look at verse three: Yes, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, symbolic of what Satan was doing, accusing Joshua of his sins. And notice the next verse. Beautiful! Here is the word picture of put off, put on. The clothing is symbolic of God’s righteousness provided for in Christ. And the truth is Joshua was wearing dirty garments. And God says, «Put on the garments I provided for, the righteousness that is found in Christ».
Here’s a picture of how God transforms people. God’s grace, He gives us a new set of clothes, symbolic of the righteousness that comes from Him, not from us. Revelation 19:7 to 9 talks about the same thing. (that is us, the church) By the grace of God! Do you notice: the fine linen, bright and clear, «for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints». All of this is by grace! When God comes to our lives, He changes us. He gives us the grace. He not only made us righteous, He gave us the power to do righteous deeds. No wonder verse nine tells us, This truth is described by the apostle Paul in Colossians 3. Let me show you what the Bible is saying.
In Colossians 3:8 and 10: Do you notice the grammar? Here’s a command: now that you are in Christ, you «put them all aside», put aside your old ways of life, anger, wrath, malice, abusive speech, put them aside. What must you do? Put on the new self. Put on Jesus, «which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him». Put on the new self, put on Jesus Christ. Notice, notice, «as those who have been chosen», a past perfect tense. Chosen, holy, beloved. Because of God’s grace, what must you do now? Put on a heart of compassion. That word put off, put on, is a description of putting on clothes. Putting off the old clothes, putting on the new clothes. Put off, put on. The parable of Jesus ended with «many are called, few are chosen».
What does that mean? You see, many are invited. Many have heard the Gospel, but not all who hear will respond. The point is simply this: everyone has ears, but not all will listen seriously, not all will respond. To those who respond, the Bible tells us God’s grace becomes real. What do I mean? In Acts 13:48, the Bible tells us In other words, many are called, few are chosen. To those who are chosen, you will respond and believe, that’s how you know you are chosen, if you believe. And what is the evidence of believing? Your life will be transformed. How do we respond to the gospel? How do you respond to the Good News? Indifferent? Just like those invited, too busy? You don’t find it important? Hostile? You get angry? What about coming to Him not prepared? I call this the abusing of the grace of God. Licentiousness.
Thinking it doesn’t matter how you enter God’s presence, coming to Him in your own righteousness. The tragedy of life is often the neglect of what is supreme by focusing on what is second best. Sacrificing the eternal for the sake of the temporal what is unseen for what is seen. And that is what was happening to the guests. They were busy doing their own thing. You sacrifice the important one for the sake of what is urgent. They did not go and do bad things, do you notice. One of them said, «I have to go to the farm». The other one’s «I’d have to do my business». They did not go and steal. They did not get drunk. They did not murder. But what they did were good things, but they neglected the most important.
The King of Kings is inviting us today to His joy. The real tragedy is not the punishment, even though it’s a real tragedy, but the missed opportunity to enjoy the joy that the King is offering His people. Many times, I feel sad for people who don’t take seriously the Gospel, the grace of God. The focus, remember, is not the punishment but what was missed by neglect, by not accepting the invitation of God’s grace. How you respond to the first Christmas will impact how and what will happen to you in the coming of Jesus. You have to take the Good News seriously. The truth is one may pay lip service to the call of the Lord and not embrace Jesus. You may mentally think it’s okay. But even this refusal, this neglect has consequences. How should we respond? I suggest: you must respond like the shepherd. How did the shepherds respond to the first Christmas? What does it mean to believe? You will notice how they responded.
Remember, God’s grace: His initiative, it’s inclusive, it’s in Christ. But the last I’d like you to remember is it involves individual response. Individual response is required. Notice how the shepherds responded. Do you notice? Their priorities changed. When you believe, when you say yes to the Good News of God, what’s the evidence? You take action. As somebody once said, to believe and not to obey is not yet to believe. The evidence of faith, the evidence of belief, is action. «Let us go straight to Bethlehem». Your priorities are changed. Do you notice? They changed their priority from taking care of the sheep; they know it will still be there, but they changed their priority. There is the meaning of faith in action.
When you understand the grace of God, that it is God’s initiative, is inclusive, is in Christ, when you understand that, you’ve got to take action because it involves individual response. And that’s what they did. What did they do next? You go about, you tell others about the Good News. The way to celebrate Christmas is to realize your priority has to change. Next, you must make Jesus your highest priority, and you have to share the Good News. Not only that, what have you noticed? I’d like you to learn from Mary also. You ponder them. You treasure this in your heart. You meditate. Our family has this practice during Christmas. We don’t open gifts on Christmas. We tell our children on Christmas day, we focus on the Lord.
You may ask me, «When do they open gifts»? It’s after Christmas, the next day or a few days later, but never on the same day. We don’t want to confuse the celebration of Christmas with just things, because that’s superficial. We want to understand the true meaning of Christmas: You need to ponder, to meditate on the significance of Christmas, God’s grace displayed. There went back, do you notice, the shepherds went back. Notice what happened, Friends, if you’ve responded properly to God’s grace, to the message of Christmas, which is Christ, what will happen to you? Your priorities will change. You will talk about Jesus. You will want to share the Gospel. And you will end up glorifying, praising God, you will end up with joy. And that’s my prayer, that this Christmas, you will do it differently. Tell others the Good News. Focus on the Lord.
I want you to hear a very inspiring video that I hope will let you think through who is this amazing child that was born 2,000 years ago. And the reality? My king is coming again. How do you respond to God’s amazing grace, to God’s invitation? There’s a term, it’s called RSVP. When you’re invited to a wedding party, it says RSVP. You know what that means? In French, it says «répondez s’il vous plaît». In simple English, please respond. Why is this so crucial? I’m reminded of the story of a singer was invited to sing in the wedding of her friend. After her singing, they were about to go to the five-star dinner reception, and as they were entering the dinner reception home, the person in charge of seating arrangement asked them, «Madame, what is your name»?
So she mentioned her name and the man looked at the list. He kept looking. He said, «I’m sorry, your name is not here». The girl said, «There must be a mistake! I was the singer. I’m a good friend of the bride. I sang. Do you not remember»? The man said, «Madame, I’m sorry. The instruction is very clear. If the name is not in the list, I cannot let them in because the seating arrangements, the tables, the chairs, everything has been counted». And the husband looked at his wife and asked her, «What happened? Did you RSVP»? And the woman said, «I am really sorry. I forgot». This couple was not able to enter the wedding feast. They left the place sad. My concern is there may be some of you today, you have not responded to the invitation of the Lord. The first Christmas is Good News. God is saying, «I bring you good news of great joy. A Savior has been born».
Have you responded to the news, to the Gospel? Have you accepted Jesus? Remember, RSVP, you must respond to Jesus. If you have not, I’d like you to respond. You need to say yes to Jesus. And that’s how you know you’re chosen, when you say yes to Jesus. Everything is by grace! Even my ability to say yes is from God. That’s why I love the reality of God’s grace displayed. He loves you. Are you saying yes to Him or not? To those of you who have responded, I’d like you to learn to copy from the examples of the shepherds. How do you respond? If you accept the Good News, change your priority, make Jesus central, tell others the Good News. Christmas is our opportunity to tell everybody about the grace of God. And the Bible tells us if you respond, the result is what? You praise God, the joy is yours. I want to give you a chance to respond to the Gospel. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, I have never fully understood Your grace. Today, I now fully understand, Your grace is not only inclusive, your grace is for all, but You want me to respond. So today, Lord Jesus, by faith, I come to You. I invite You personally as my Lord and my Savior. Come into my life. I accept Your gift of forgiveness. I accept Your gift of eternal life. Change my heart. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
If this has been very meaningful to you, I’d like you to click on the space below. Join us! And if you have any questions, feel free to chat with us. In a short while, we will have Fast Track, and we will have discussion questions for the family. And once again, may I greet all of you a blessed merry Christmas! What a joy to celebrate Christmas with all of you! God bless.