Can’t understand the story of Christmas if you don’t have a doctrine of sin. Oh, the good news may seem very warm and fuzzy and light and lots of songs to sing, but you will not understand what the angel told Mary and Joseph about His very name. You understand that in the Bible names meant something. They often told others who you were, what purpose God had for your life, so Adam was the first man; Eve was the mother of all living things; Abraham was the father of many nations; Benjamin was the son of his father’s right hand; Moses was drawn out of water; Peter was the rock; Barnabas was the son of encouragement; and Jesus, more than a great teacher, more than an enlightened man, more than a worker of miracles, more than giving us meaning in life, more than a self-help guru, more than a self-esteem builder, more than someone to make your wildest dreams come true, more than a political liberator, more than even a caring friend, more than the transformer of cultures, more than giving purpose to the purposeless, Jesus is a Savior for sinners.
Here’s the good news. I have to imagine that you and all the people around you right now happen to be sinners. Now you know the people around you are sinners… So are you. So is everyone behind this pulpit right now. If you are a sinner—it’s easy to say, well, I’m just imperfect and we all make mistakes—no, I mean, don’t push out the Bible words. We just import our own words – broken, imperfect, not all the things I wish I were, I’ve got a learning curve, growth edges, and all the things – sin, evil, transgression, iniquity.
If you and the people you love happen to be sinners, merry Christmas. Because God sent His Son in love that He might live and die and save sinners like you.
This clip is part of the sermon “From Compromise to Captivity” delivered by Dr. Kevin DeYoung at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC on December 22, 2024.