The Reward of Christmas: Have Eternal Life

Christmas and the gospel are synonymous.  That is why the summary of the gospel in John 3:16 makes such a great text for a series of Christmas sermons.

Christmas and the gospel have its origins in the love of God for a sinful and disobedient world.  That love springs into action in the giving of a gift, and not just any gift but the highest and best gift, the one and only Son of the Living God being given to the world and for the world.  The reason for giving the gift is to save the world from perishing.  The world is lost, dead in sin and in imminent danger of justly perishing in eternal hell.

What a contrast we come to this morning, between perishing and eternal life, the two ultimate extremes of human destiny, two eternal realities that are infinitely separated from each other.  We turn from the most terrifying and tragic possibility, to the most glorious alternative.

The reward of Christmas and the gospel is those who believe in Christ will not die but will live forever under the saving sovereignty of God.

This morning we come to the fourth and final aspect of the meaning of Christmas in John 3:16.