Midweek Advent 1 – Dec. 4, 2014 – 1 Cor. 1:3-9 “The Richness Of God’s Grace”

Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from 1 Cor. 1. We begin with prayer.

Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:

What is Christmas and Advent all about? Well, it is about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the thing about God is that nothing is simple or held back or modest when it comes to the blessings that He seeks to give to us. And so our text highlights “THE RICHNESS OF GOD’S GRACE.”
Christmas is principally about God’s giving, but it is also about our giving. I know that the young people especially are interested in what they are going to get for Christmas. As we get older, what we give others for Christmas becomes much more important to us.
But we do have limitations, a budget to keep, and so we are not always able to give the kind of lavish presents we might like to give. And I suppose that some people are still kind of stingy and miserly – and don’t really want to give that much to others, even at Christmas time.
This, however, is not how God is, nor how He gives to us. He has but one thing in mind, and that is how best to bless us and provide us with the greatest goodness. But this is one of the bigger problems that we have with life – we just struggle to truly grasp and understand how good God is to us and how lavish His gifts really are.
The apostle Paul is not shy about laying the reality out to us. He follows the example of the prophets and other biblical authors, who also highlight the greatness of God’s love and blessings bestowed upon His dear children. So this evening let us truly see “THE RICHNESS OF GOD’S GRACE!”

I. God Has Given Us Grace And Peace – A Restored Relationship Of Peace And Blessing

Text: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Text: “He will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Statement: How is it that God will hold us guiltless – we who are guilty of all manner of sin each and every day? The gift of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was the gift of forgiveness of sins, and of a restored relationship of peace with God through His forgiveness. Consider that the Scripture calls Jesus “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world,” and that “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Rom. 5:1] This being the case, the logic of Scripture is impeccable: “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” [Rom. 8:32]

Application: Scripture teaches that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” You see the lavish grace of God, that all sins have been taken away. This means, according to Scripture, that we have peace with God – there is nothing that He holds against us. And again, the Scripture is clear that since God has given us this greatest of gifts, He will surely also – along with Jesus – “graciously give us all things.” You know, “THE RICHNESS OF GOD’S GRACE” could not be presented and assured to us more clearly and powerfully. Now it is up to us to simply receive His gifts. And Paul goes on to inform us that:

II. God Gives Us Gifts Of Grace That Enrich Us – In Our Speech And Knowledge, So That As The Word Of Christ Is Confirmed In Us We Lack No Spiritual Gift

Text: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge – even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you – so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift.”

Statement: Again, our biggest problem in life is that we simply do not recognize all of the blessings of God, all the things that He has graciously given us in Christ Jesus. I think of how eagerly little children look for presents addressed to them under the Christmas Tree, and how aggressively the wrapping paper is ripped away to reveal the gifts. According to our text we do not “lack in any spiritual gift,” and yet who among us eagerly explores and searches for the spiritual gifts that God has given?

Application: So I would encourage you, just as God does, to look and find and see and celebrate “the richness of His grace.” I don’t know how it is that the devil has been so successful with our generation in blinding us to the gifts of God so that we are not even that eager to look – and we have come to assume that we are bereft of such gifts! But this also becomes a blindness to the love and nature and character of God – Who is always big and generous and thorough in giving us spiritual gifts, including forgiveness, eternal life and salvation! We do not suffer a crisis of lacking spiritual gifts today; rather, today we suffer a crisis of unbelief, convinced that God has not really given these gifts to us! It is the Word of God which enables us to grasp and seize these gifts of God, as His Word is confirmed in us! So let us get excited about grasping and utilizing God’s rich gifts, for our text assures us that:

III. God Is Faithful To Us

Text: “God is faithful.”

A. He Is Faithful To The End, As Long As His Dear Children Of Faith Are Looking Forward To Christ’s Second Coming, All The Way To The End

Text: “As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ – He will sustain you to the end.”

B. He Sustains Us As Guiltless Through His Forgiveness And Cleansing, In The Fellowship Of His Son Jesus Christ, To The End

Text: “He will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by Whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Statement: These also are rich gifts of God’s grace: He has called us to Himself, given us the gift of faith and hope; He holds us guiltless to the end, He is faithful, and He has established us in fellowship with Jesus, His Son. These are the gifts of God, the richness of His grace, which assure and guarantee to us the certainty of eternal life in the joy and bliss of His heavenly kingdom!

Application: All too often Christians think only of God’s gift of redemption and think that the rest is all left up to them, that this is the only gift that God has given to us. Obviously if He has given us the gift of faith, and so many gifts that we are not lacking in any spiritual gift, then everything that pertains to true spiritual life and genuine blessedness comes to us through “THE RICHNESS OF GOD’S GRACE.” If the truth were known, there is virtually nothing of substance that we contribute to our relationship with God and our eternal blessedness – other than receiving. He supplies everything and enriches us with His gracious gifts and blessings. So again, it is our most important task simply to look for and find the gifts of His grace which He has bestowed upon us. It is almost as if every day is Christmas in God’s kingdom, within the fellowship of His Son.

Conclusion: As we celebrate the birth of God’s Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us also commit ourselves to receiving all of the rich gifts and blessings of God that accompany the gift of Jesus. Remember, God is not limited in His ability to give gifts to us, and He is not the least bit miserly or stingy! He wants us to have it all, and He has supplied us with all spiritual gifts and blessings.

We learn of His gifts to us in His Word. We learn to appropriate and use His gifts to us through the encouragement and instruction of His Word. He actualizes and expands His gifts to us by means of His Word. They are far more and far greater than we can imagine!

So let us grow more eager – like little children on Christmas Day – to seize and utilize all of the blessings God has bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus. Then our lives will continually be growing more blessed, and we will more and more join the chorus which sings the praise and glory of “THE RICHNESS OF GOD’S GRACE.” May He grant such Christmas joy and blessedness to us all, Amen.