Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God —which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures —concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord… (Romans 1:1-3)
Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it. Well, except shopping. I don’t like shopping at all. I do like buying, though. And giving. I love the lights, the decorations, the music, the movies, the TV specials. I love being with family. Most of all, I love the fact that for a brief moment each year, people around the world are talking about Jesus.
Who is this baby Jesus we celebrate? Why does his birth matter so much to the world?
In the first three verses of his letter to the Romans, Paul says some profound things about Jesus. He’s both the Son of God and the Lord of people. He’s the Son in that he’s the descendant of David, the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:12-16), and he’s the eternal God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, who has always existed as Son. He’s both God and man.
God the Son chose to come to earth as a man. He was a real person who actually lived in history. He was born, he lived, and he died. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and taught us how to live. He taught with such authority that, after spending so much time with him, the disciples said, “We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69).
When he died, he forgave those who killed him (Luke 23:34). Three days later, his tomb was empty. One of his closest followers later wrote, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
That’s the Jesus whose birth changes everything at Christmas.
But what is the “gospel of God” that Paul refers to in Romans 1?
It’s what Peter was talking about in that passage above: Jesus bore our sins on the cross so that we can live. It’s what Paul summarized in his letter to the Corinthians:
For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
The Greek word for gospel means “message,” and in this case, it refers to the good news about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s the message of what God did for people to be in a right relationship with him. It isn’t just good news, it’s the greatest news the world has ever known.
Several years ago, two young sisters disappeared from their home in a very rural area, leading to a massive search effort in the deep woods surrounding their home. Their family feared the worst. That’s only natural. But two days into the ordeal, the girls’ family received the fantastic news that the girls had been found safe! They had gone for a walk and got lost, and the searchers found them by following their tracks and their discarded granola bar wrappers.
Imagine how the mother felt when she heard the good news that her daughters were safe. Looking back on a difficult time in your life, do you remember how it felt to receive the good news that your ordeal was over?
Paul begins his letter to the Romans by talking about the greatest news we could ever hear. People who are eternally separated from God by sin (that’s all of us) can be forgiven by God and made right with him. Again, this is the most amazing news the world has ever known! Despite all the bad things we’ve done, we can spend eternity with our Creator!
The truth is that every single person who has ever lived has at some point done, said, or thought something contrary to God’s will. Those acts or thoughts or words are called sin, and they have eternally separated each of us from God. There is nothing that we can do to overcome that. We are destined for eternity without God. But our story doesn’t end there, because God’s love for us doesn’t end at our sin.
Most people realize they aren’t perfect, though compared to others, their lives aren’t too bad. Some people live wonderful lives. But God is a holy and righteous and perfect God, and only holy and righteous and perfect people can have a relationship with him. In that regard, we’ve all struck out because we’ve all sinned.
A lot of people figure that their good far outweighs their bad, or at least they hope it does. Our good, though, will never outweigh our bad because just the presence of the bad is enough to separate us from God. Imagine that I invited you over to have a piece of the cake I had just baked. I told you that I had used the freshest ingredients for this amazing cake. The salt, the baking powder, the flour, the butter, even real vanilla extract, they’re all perfect. I did use four eggs, but one of my eggs was rotten. I’m talking black, leaky, smelly, rotten. But the recipe was for four eggs, and I only had those four, so I made the cake. Come on, out of all the ingredients, the only bad thing was one egg. Every other ingredient in this cake is perfect. Would you eat the cake? Of course not! The “good” can’t outweigh the “bad,” because the very presence of the bad means the cake is not perfect. It’s downright nasty. And that’s what sin does to our lives.
Just one sin leaves us separated from God. Just one sinful thought, word, or act separates us from God for all eternity. It means an eternal future of never-ending suffering. But God’s Son came to earth to provide a way to bring you and me back to God. Jesus, God the Son, came to us and died on a Roman cross to pay the penalty for our sins and end our separation from God. Jesus died on a cross, but he didn’t stay dead; he rose from the dead and lives today so that we no longer have to stay separated from God for all eternity. This is the greatest news that you’ll ever hear!
This Christmas, as you sing Christmas carols, watch shows or movies about the magic of Christmas, and give gifts to people dear to you, ask yourself whether you’ve ever acted on this good news and accepted the greatest gift of all, the one God offers you. Have you accepted his forgiveness once and for all?
If you haven’t, I urge you, right now, where you are, to talk to God. Tell him that you admit that you’ve sinned and need his forgiveness. Tell him that you know Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins. Accept what God has done for you. Ask him for his forgiveness, and receive it as a gift. Commit your life to him as a thank you for what he’s done for you.
If you sincerely had that conversation with God, you are now forgiven. You’re now saved from the eternal penalty of your sin. You’re now a brand new person, God’s child forever, and you have the presence and power of Jesus with you every minute of this life and for all eternity. Welcome to the family of God! And Merry Christmas!