IF YOU KNEW
THE GIFT OF GOD
John 4:10
Once in a while, giving Christmas presents poses some unusual challenges. Have you ever given someone a gift that you had to explain? In other words, the gift was valuable to you but you knew it would not be to the person receiving it unless you went to great lengths to explain why.
Recently I was
shown a framed picture that had been received as a valuable treasure. Frankly, neither the picture nor the frame
were that great and I was not sure why it was supposed to be worth so much to
the person showing me their prize. He
then explained that the picture had belonged to his mother when she was a
little girl around 1910…it had been a gift from her grandmother who had owned
it as a little girl herself back in the mid-1800’s. Had I seen the picture at a garage sale, I would not have given
it a second glance, but as they say, “If you only knew…” you would appreciate
its value as a family treasure.
Every Christmas
we have been trained to say that the greatest gift of all is Jesus Christ. But you have to wonder if the Lord does not
want to say, “Oh if you only knew!”
Jesus engaged a
Samaritan woman in conversation at the well in Sychar asking her for assistance
in drawing some water from the well.
When she questioned Him, he responded with those words: “If
you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink, you
would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
The dialogue
that followed indicated that she had no idea who she was talking to…nor what
the gift of God was. What did become
obvious is that she had a common misconception about the nature of worship and
how to approach God. She saw a
relationship with God in terms of duties and obligations, what we do for Him
and give to Him.
THESIS: What we give to the Lord cannot be compared
to what He has given us in His Son, Jesus Christ.
On this Sunday
before Christmas, I want you to think with me about God’s gift to us instead of
our gifts to Him. We make much of the
gifts of the wise men, but not nearly enough of the gift of God!
I. GIVING TO
GOD IS THE ESSSENCE OF RELIGION.
--A basic instinctive approach to spiritual issues becomes
apparent in the discussion Jesus had with the Samaritan woman in this passage.
--The idea of true worship consisting of receiving from God
and then responding to God is incompatible with our ideas about the value God
should place in what we do for Him.
--For most religious people, their religion means coming up
with something to give God, instead of looking to Him and receiving something
from God!
A. PEOPLE DO
NOT KNOW OR RECOGNIZE GOD’S GIFTS
John 4:10
…If you knew the gift of God…
1. What We
Give Seems to Us Most Important
Samaritan
Woman – For her, the most
important aspect of a discussion of religious things had to do with what she
brought to the table.
--Religion consisted of where you worship, who you worship
with, what you do to give something of yourself or your possessions to God.
For many modern worshipers, the idea of having their worship depend
upon what God has done, what He has given, makes them uncomfortable because
they think that worshipping and serving consists of our what we bring to Him,
not what He has done for us!
--Jesus says, “If you only knew the gift of God…”
2. What We
Know Seems to Us All That’s Necessary
Disciples – For them, all that was necessary to be known about Jesus
was what they already knew.
--Sorting out why He would talk to a woman, to a Samaritan,
where He could have gotten food while they were away—these things confused them
because they did not fit into their understanding of the way things were
supposed to be.
When Jesus does not remain in the mold we have cast for Him, the image
we have of Him, we resist any adjustment to our thinking preferring to hold
onto our prejudices, cling to what we thought we knew about Him (even when the
Bible tells us otherwise).
B. PEOPLE DO NOT APPRECIATE OR ENJOY GOD’S GIFTS
--Because they are more concerned about what they have to do,
they miss what God has already done!
--Someone once said that the difference between man-made
religion and God-given faith is the difference between the words “Do” and
“Done.”
--Religion is about what we must do, while genuine faith is
about what God has already done through Christ!
1. Lack of
Perspective
--We cannot see the gift of God clearly because…
Our Eyes are Too Clouded…by our assumptions about what we think we should be looking
for
Our Observations are Too Restricted…by our previous experiences and limited range of exposure
to the things of God
Our Prejudices are Too Dominant…and color the way we process even the observations we do
make and the conclusions we draw (example:
anti-supernatural bias precludes an honest evaluation of miracles,
creation, resurrection, inspiration, etc.)
2. Lack of
Contentment
--What He offers does not seem good enough for those who
find no contentment in anything, but keep holding out for the possibility that
something in this world will eventually be satisfying to them.
--Therefore, when God offers them His gifts, they either
turn away and reject it as worthless because it is free, or take it without any
sense of appreciation because it brings them no contentment.
II. THE GIFT
OF GOD IS THE FOUNtain OF ETERNAL LIFE.
--What is the ‘gift of God’ of which Jesus speaks in John
4:10?
--All kinds of things appear in the Scriptures as “gifts”
from the Lord:
The Gift of Good Labor – God tells us that there is value in a good day’s work,
that it is “a gift of God.”
Eccl. 3:12-13 I
know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in
one’s lifetime; 13moreover,
that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor — it is the gift
of God.
The Gift of Children – Children are never to be taken for granted or viewed as
intrusions in our lives, but as “gifts from God.
Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; The
fruit of the womb is a reward.
The Gift of Ministry – Instead of viewing ministry as an obligation, or duty, or
even a responsibility, God’s Word speaks of our ministries as the gift of God.
2 Tim 1:6 And for this reason
I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the
laying on of my hands.
Eph. 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit – Even the Holy Spirit who dwells in the hearts of all who
know Jesus Christ as Savior is considered a gift of God.
Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
--Yet when Jesus spoke to the woman at the well that day in
Samaria, He had something else in mind
--The Foundation and Cornerstone of Life can be none other
than the gift of God in the person of Jesus Christ Himself.
--I would like to consider that Gift on this Sunday before
Christmas in order that we might be ready to know and recognize the infinite
value of Christ as God’s ultimate gift to the world.
A. A GIFT OF
INFINITE VALUE TO THE FATHER
--If we only knew how valuable the gift of God is, we would
understand more clearly how great a debt of love we owe to Him for the infinite
value in His Son.
1. His
Delight in Loving His Son
--The Father takes great delight in loving His Son, adoring
Him with perfect affection.
Is. 42:1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My
chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
--In His role as Creator, Christ is referred to
as the Wisdom of God in Proverbs, again the source of great delight to His
Father:
Prov. 8:27a, 30 “When He established the heavens, I was
there, …30Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily
His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,
2. His
Pleasure in Treasuring His Son
Jonathan
Edwards – “The infinite
happiness of the Father consists in the enjoyment of His Son.”
Col. 1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of
darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,[lit. ‘son of
His love’]
--God takes pleasure in His Son and is pleased with all that
He does, treasures everything about Him.
--On the day of His baptism, God testifies to His great love
and pleasure by saying,
Matt 3:17
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” [again lit. ‘son of
My love’ as in Col 1:13]
--Throughout the Scriptures, there is no way to miss the
absolute pleasure God has in His Son, the way He treasures Him and declares His
infinite worth.
3. His Love
in Giving His Son
--Therefore, knowing how much God loves His Son, treasures
Him, takes delight and pleasure in Him, how much greater value must we attach
to this “gift of God?”
--We hear Jesus again speaking to the woman at the well
saying, “If you only knew the gift of God…and realized that the Gift Himself is
speaking to you, how differently you would approach Me and appreciate Me!”
Rom. 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
--When God gave His Son for our salvation, the gift was more
costly than we can ever imagine, more of a sacrifice than any of us can ever
comprehend!
B. A GIFT OF
IMMEASURABLE WORTH TO US
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
--The gift of God beyond all other gifts is the gift of
Jesus Christ His Son!
1. A Gift Of
Surpassing Value
--Once we understand the infinite value of Jesus Christ to
His Father, our hearts and minds are better prepared to grasp what Paul calls
the “surpassing value of knowing Christ.”
--For those who understand the gift of God in Christ, there
can be no greater gift, nothing of greater value, than what God has generously
and graciously given us in the person of His Son.
Phil. 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be
loss in view of the surpassing value
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,
--In other words, He is the ultimate gift because there is
nothing more valuable in heaven or earth.
2. A Gift Of
Perpetual Joy
--Many of the gifts we receive this Christmas will be broken
or out of style or worn out or will lose their appeal in a very short time.
[One Christmas when I was a kid, my brothers and I received “slot cars”
that we ran and ran until they were burned out by the very same afternoon!]
--But when we receive the gift of God, it is a gift of
perpetual joy, endless delight.
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall
thirst again; 14but whoever
drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to
eternal life.”
3. A Gift Of
Perfect Satisfaction
--That perpetual joy leads to perfect satisfaction as we
find that this gift satisfies at a deeper level than we knew could be possible.
Psalm 107:9
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled
with what is good.
Who Can Satisfy? Dennis Jernigan
Who can
satisfy my soul like you?
Who on earth
can comfort me and
love me like you do?
Who could ever
be more faithful and true?
I will trust
in You, I will trust in You, My God!
There is a
fountain, who is a King
Victorious
Warrior and Lord of everything
My Rock my
shelter, my very own,
Blessed
Redeemer who reigns upon the throne!
--If you knew the gift of God, you would not try to find
satisfaction in anything or anyone else!
4. A Gift Of
Eternal Salvation
--When we receive the gift of God in Jesus Christ, He gives
us more than we realize!
a. The Gift
of Grace
Eph. 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God; 9not as a
result of works, that no one should boast.
--When we receive the gift of God in Christ, we must
remember that we did nothing for Him that prompted Him to give us such an
extraordinary gift.
--Much religious activity arises from a complete
misunderstanding of grace—the unmerited favor of God given to us freely and
unconditionally!
b. The Gift
of Eternal Life
Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
--Christ is the gift, and with Him we receive the free gift
of God—eternal life to be alive with Him forever!
--Because it is eternal, that life can never end and so our
joy in Christ never ends as we abide with Him forever!
Does God need to explain to you again
the value of the “gift of God” He gives you in Jesus Christ? God loves His gift more than anything
else! He wants you to take the same
delight and find as much pleasure in His Son as He does.
“If you only
knew the gift of God” and could understand and appreciate it the way He does,
you would never be dissatisfied again…because only Jesus can satisfy the true
longings and desires of our hearts. If
you knew the Gift of God, you would worship Him and give thanks!
So it is not about what we come up with to give to the Lord. It is all about what He has given us when He gave us His only begotten Son and with Him the gift of eternal life. To God be the glory this Christmas for the great things He has done in giving us Jesus Christ!
Providence
Baptist Church
December
21, 2003
© David Horner 2003
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