The Greatest Gift

If your family is anything like my family, there was great anticipation for Christmas. As a young child, it seemed like Christmas could not come soon enough. It seemed like it took forever for Dec 25 to come.

  1. Days without school, no homework or tests to study for.
  2. Plenty of good food (turkey or ham, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, jello, and pies).
  3. It was also a time to see extended family and play with my cousins.
  4. And most important… presents. I could not wait to see what I would receive under the Christmas tree from my parents and siblings.

Then as I grew older and more mature, as I would like to think of myself.

  • I still love getting together with family and enjoying the good food.
  • The fun has changed though, from receiving the perfect gift from my parents, to now one of giving. Instead of receiving gifts, my main thought process has turned to giving gifts that my kids would really like.


December 28, 2014
Ephesians 2:8-10, The Greatest Gift
Pastor David Pranga, Brewster Baptist Church

Audio only[powerpress]

Our deep desire as a parent is for our kids to be surprised, to be excited when they open their gifts, and then to be thankful for the gifts they received. I have found just by watching their face and body language, before they say anything to you, you can know if you hit a home run or if you struck out miserably.

The problem is that now we are past Christmas day and I never do New Year’s resolutions, so I cannot speak on that.

As I was thinking of what I could share with you, I thought it would be cool to remember that God has some great incredible presents for you today. So I decided to unwrap three presents to remind us of three great things he has given each of us.

Just as we love giving presents to our kids. God loves to give His children presents as well.

Let’s begin in prayer…. Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for being present here today. We have come to worship you. You are worthy to be praised. There is no one like you. You are our rock, our refuge, our salvation, and our joy. I ask that your Holy Spirit be part of this message. Lead us today. May we have open hearts to receiving your word today. We all pray all this in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

If you have brought your Bible with you this morning, please turn to the book of Ephesians 2:8-9.

This is one of my favorite passages in all of the Bible. When I was 18 years old and away at college is when I first remember reading these verses and they still touch me today.

Let me Read Ephesians 2:8-10….

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

DavidPranga5Many of us sitting here today come from a variety of backgrounds. Some of us were born having our parents bringing us to church and we have continued on today. In fact, some of you sitting right here have been going to BBC since you were a little child.

Then there are some of us that started to attend church later in life. Something happened that drew us to church and to God. Maybe it was a friend that invited us and then we decided to go. For others we were going through a difficult time in life. We were struggling with a relationship, family, finances, or marriage. We started coming because we were looking for answers to life.

I am a firm believer it is not by accident that you are here today. It does not matter how you started attending church. What I do know is that the God of the universe will continue to draw you to himself. Whether you are 8 years old, 40 years old, or 80 years old, God wants a relationship with each of us.

I was a person that grew up with a good Christian family and attended a good Bible believing church. However it was in college that I truly sought out God for myself. It was in college that I started making decisions about my spiritual life.

In fact, it was in college that I started reading the Bible on my own. When I think back on it I realize how strange that was. When college professors were telling me to read this book for this class and that book, which I read by the way, for some reason, I started to turn to the Bible looking for answers to life.

I really believe that throughout our life, we are searching for answers to the universe we live in. I believe it is just the way God has created us. So some of the questions we might be asking could be:

  • Is there really a God?
  • Is there really Heaven and Hell?
  • How do I get to heaven?
  • What is my purpose in life?

As a college freshman, I struggled with my Christian faith. I knew what my Sunday school teachers told me. I knew what my parents taught me. I also knew what school taught me on evolution vs. creation. I could tell you what my philosophy teacher thought of God.

As a young college student, I was still trying to make sense of life and what is right. What was fact and what was fiction…

I really believe that most of us here at one time or another really struggle with the thought of heaven and hell. We all want to go to heaven. But how do we really get there? How do we know for sure?

If you ask most Americans or even the people here on Cape Cod “How do you get to heaven” you would get a variety of responses… When I was in college & youth pastor, we would ask people this same question and the answers would be very similar…

“How do you get to heaven?”

  • If you have more good deeds than bad deeds at the end of your life
  • If you have faith in God
  • As long as you believe in something spiritual, you will go to heaven
  • You must be a good person

I think if you would ask 10 random people on the streets of Cape Cod, you would get many similar responses.

And in our struggle to find answers, we typically try to rationalize things to what we think is best and what the world says to be true. As human beings in the western world, we are often told that we have to earn our way to heaven.

When we look at the American dream, how many of us were told that if we work hard; good things will happen? Some examples of this…

  • If we study for a test, then we will get a good grade.
  • If we practice really hard, then we will get better at playing football or a musical instrument.
  • If we work hard at work, then we will get paid more and have a better life.

When we look at what success looks like in our schools, in our sports, or even in our work place. We see a common theme. That we have to work hard or earn our way. The better prepared, the more you practice, or the harder you work, the better off you will be in school, sports, and work.

The reality is that we carry these ideas and values over to beliefs about God. We begin to think that we have to earn our way to God….

  • If we do more good things than bad things, then God will say I am a good person.
  • If we attend enough church services, then God will love me.
  • If we attend Sunday School, then surely God will see I am one step more spiritual.
  • If we serve more around the church, then surely God will see how caring I am.
  • If we give money to the poor and the widow, then God will surely see how generous I am.

The problem with this philosophy is that it is false theology. It is our western world that has imposed their values and beliefs into the Bible.

God really does not care how good you are. Because in God’s eyes you will never be good enough.   God does not care how many services you attend. (Your pastor may care.) You cannot earn your way to him. God does not care how much you give to the poor.   Because you cannot buy your way to heaven.

When I read Ephesians 2:8-9, as an 18 year old, I quickly learned an important lesson or shall we say gift from God from this passage…. Let me read it again….

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves,

it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.”

The real truth is that there is nothing you can do for God to love you more than what he does already. This verse lets me know that it was by God’s grace and my faith in Him that I have been saved.

  1. The first present that God wants to give us is SALVATION….

Paul realized that people (whether it is the 1st century or the 21st century) people will struggle with their faith and how one is truly saved through Christ. Paul is emphasizing that salvation is based entirely on the merit of Christ’s work on the cross, not anything we can do or have done for God.

Rom. 5:8 says, “God demonstrated His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.)   When Jesus died on the cross, Jesus was our atonement. Jesus was our sacrifice. Jesus is the one who took our place. In reality, we deserved death. (Rom 3:26). Jesus was not sinful. We deserved death because of the sins we have committed towards God. But Jesus took our sins and paid the price for our salvation.

If we look back to verse 4 in Chapter 2 of Ephesians, we see that even though we are dead in our sins and transgressions, God is rich in mercy and He has this great love for us.

There are many examples of God’s love for us in the Bible are:

  • Jeremiah 31:3 says, God said that I have loved you with an everlasting love
  • Romans 8:39 says, this is God speaking, neither height nor depth, now anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

In these verses we see both; God’s love for us and God’s mercy for us. We are saved by God’s grace for his people.

Going back to the verse Ephesians 2:8… For it is by grace you have been saved… What is grace referring too?

Grace is God giving you something you don’t deserve. It is a gift from God. When Jesus died on the cross, God gave each person grace. But that is not enough. God does not allow everyone in heaven. We are to have faith. What is faith?

Faith is to have accepted and trusted in Christ alone for salvation. We need to believe in His name, we need to turn from our sinful ways and to change our actions. We need to trust in Him. It is not by works that we are saved. It is by having faith in Jesus Christ.

A pastor friend of mine said this best….

Grace (by God) + Faith (in Jesus) = Salvation… (Slide)

You need God’s Grace. You also need to have faith in Jesus, for salvation.

Paul clearly states and rightly so… that salvation is a gift from God, not by works so that no one can boast. Paul wants every listeners to understand it is not by anyone works they are saved. It does not matter to God how much you do for him. There is no way you can earn your place in heaven.

God is giving each person a gift. That gift is salvation. All that we have to do is to accept it in faith. We need to believe that Jesus Christ has paid the price of our sins, he died on the cross for our sins. Our faith is one that believes in him and wants to follow him.

It is only through Christ Jesus that we have salvation. It is made up of God’s grace and our faith in Him that we can receive salvation.

As I mentioned earlier, as an 18 year old college student, I first began to realize God’s present and gift of salvation. That it was all done by God giving us grace and mercy. That God loved me. But I needed to have faith in him. I needed to put my foolish ways behind and follow him; then I could receive salvation. As 18 year old kid, I finally figured it out that there was nothing I could do to earn God’s love for me.

Ok, let’s take a deep breath. I promise you the next two gifts are easier to understand and we can go through it faster….

The second present that God gives to us is His “forgiveness”…

As a pastor, I get the opportunity to talk with many people about their spiritual life. They often share with me the good things that God is doing in their life. People will also share with me things they are struggling with in their life or the things they need prayer about as well.

As a pastor, I get the opportunity to dig a little deeper into people’s spiritual life as well. The more I have talked with people, there is one thing that people struggle with that comes up more than others.

Many, many people really have a difficult problem with one major topic.….God’s Forgiveness.

It is always dealing with Can God really, truly forgive me. People have asked me this in a variety of ways…

  • How can God truly forgive me because of all the bad things I have done?
  • God knows the sin in my life, does he really forgive me for everything?
  • I know God forgives other people but I have done some deep sins that are embarrassing.
  • Can God really forgive me?

Why do we struggle with God’s forgiving nature? We do believe that God forgives. We believe God will forgive my friend or family member. But, why do we believe that God will not forgive me of all my sins.

There is something inside of us that just cannot let it go. We all have one that we struggle with. We think internally that God cannot and won’t forgive us. We believe that our sin is more damaging than other sin.

How many of us struggle with God’s forgiveness in our life? How many of us ask God forgiveness but then 30 minutes later, 6 hours later, maybe it is days or months later, we cannot just let go of the sin. In fact, we hang on to the sin. We carry it as a burden in our life. It stays with us because we have not surrendered it to God.

This second present God want to give you today is Forgiveness

I just want to let you know that God truly forgives you. He will forgive you of every sin you have ever done. Let’s turn to the Bible and see what it says…

Psalms 103:11-12
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

I love this Psalm because we get to see God’s heart for his people.

  • First, God loves his people.
  • Second, God is compassionate and gracious. God understands we are sinful people. He does not want to treat us as our sins deserve.
  • Instead, when we ask God for forgiveness, what does verse 12 say??

“as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us”….

I am not sure exactly how far the east is from the west, but I do know it goes a long way. God has removed our transgression or sin from us.

1 John 1:9 (NIV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

What must we do to have our sins forgiven? The Bible tells us to confess our sins…. God responds to our confession of sin…. God will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The Bible is clear… If we confess our sins, even those big sins that we like to hold on too, God will forgive us our sins. God makes us clean in His eyes. God does not see our sin anymore, we are clean in God’s eyes.

Hebrews 8:12 (NIV)

12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

How often does God remember our sins? (NO MORE)…..

How often should we remember our sin, when we ask God to forgive us? (no more)

Summary: I believe that when we go to God in prayer, when we are truly asking God for forgiveness, God truly forgive us of all our sins. God remembers them “no more”. They are removed from us as far as the east is from the west.

What God sees in us, when we ask forgiveness is a heart that is broken. In our brokenness, we are restored by God’s love for us.

The second gift that God has given each of us is “Forgiveness”.

We are almost done.

  • The first gift God gave us was SALVATION….Grace (by God) + Faith (in God) = Salvation.
  • The second gift God has given us is FORGIVENESS… God forgives all sin…

The third gift God gave us was the opportunity to SERVE and do “GOOD WORKS”.  

I want to go back to the passage in Ephesians 2:10……..

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do “good works”, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The apostle Paul, who wrote this letter to the believers, is reminding the believers and us today… that since God came into your life and marked you, your life has been eternally changed. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ into your life, the way you used to see and process things are now different.

Instead of only caring about yourself and the things that satisfy only you, you begin to care about what God cares about and what is pleasing to Him. Paul is reminding the believers that God has “good works” prepared in advance for them to do.

I think it is great that in God’s great love for us, that He has already prepared for us good works to do. God will use our gifts, talents and experience to help people.

I believe these verses are saying that in God’s advance planning – before we were saved, even before the creation of the world, God had a plan and purpose for your life. That God would use me and you to do great things in the love of Christ to make a difference

I believe that God in his infinite wisdom and knowledge has laid out opportunities for us to show our love to others.

Illustration:

  • The opportunity may be just having a conversation with someone that is hurting and needs a listening ear.
  • It may be helping someone that is need.
  • It may be providing a service to someone
  • It may be taking on leadership position at your workplace or inside the church

Sometimes we believe that in order to be used by God it has be huge. I think God uses the small things in life to change people. What God cares most about is our obedience to him and our heart. Are we willing to help and serve people?

We do these “good works” because of our love for Christ. Since Jesus Christ died on our behalf and took away our sins and forgave us, we serve others out of the love we have for Christ.

Some of you might be saying, I have no idea about what I can do to serve God? I want to invite you to a class that Doug and I will be teaching called Finding Your Niche. It is four week class starting on Jan 15. More information will be in the bulletin…

I have to close our time together because we are over time.

#3. The third present that God gives to us is the opportunity to do “good works” (Ephesians 2:10)

As we close today, I want to leave you with three presents that I believe that God has for you today…

  1. Salvation…is in Christ alone.
  2. Forgiveness… God will and can forgive all sins.
  3. God has incredible “good works” for you today.
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