Sunday, December 18, 2016 - A Gift Beyond Description!
Pastor Roger C. Marcos
December 18, 2016
Greetings:
This is the time of year when we are concerned about choosing just the right Christmas gifts to give to the special people in our lives. But let me ask you, "Have you ever received an indescribable gift?" Have you ever received a gift that is beyond description?
Text “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift“2 Cor. 9:15 NKJV
What kind of gift would it have to be called "indescribable?"
"Thanks be unto God for His indescribable gift." Why does Paul call Jesus "indescribable?" I think there are reason.
The Reason is the Nature of the Gift Itself. -Thanks be to God: This means God's indescribable gift should fill us with gratitude. If we really understand and appreciate the indescribable gift God gives us, our lives will be saturated with gratitude. His indescribable gift: How fitting for Paul to conclude these two chapters about giving with a focus on this! The best motivation for giving is always gratitude for the indescribable gift of God to us. God's indescribable gift is what inspires all true giving.
Paul Shifts His Attention From Human Gifts >>> to God’s Gift.
In the 9th chapter of 2 Corinthians Paul was writing about human gifts. The church in Corinth had taken up an offering to support the Christians in Jerusalem. Paul commended them for their generosity as he said in vs.2, “For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians... why, your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action!” He reminded them in vs.12 that their generosity itself was a blessing. “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, 14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.
Paul was appreciative of the gifts they had given.
15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
It reminds me of the generosity you have shown this year in our stewardship campaign. Even though we are having to make some deep cuts in the budget, it is not because of a lack of "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.generosity! On the contrary; I commend you for how you give to the church budget and to the building fund o f NYCC.
GOD’S GIFT” sending Jesus to earth for us! At this point, words cannot be found to describe the gift of Jesus. The statement simply says,
Still, all of these are human gifts I can describe. So could Paul. As he thought about the generous gifts of the Corinthians, Paul was pleased but not surprised. “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.” (vs.13-14) Suddenly, as he thought about God’s wonderful gifts to us - the gospel of
Christ and the surpassing grace of God - Paul found himself at a loss for words. All he could write was, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.”
First of all, I believe that Paul calls Jesus "indescribable" because of His nature.
How do you describe a baby born of a virgin? How do you describe God in flesh, walking upon our earth & reaching out to the hurting masses of humanity?
Philippians 2:6-7 NIV
who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable/UNSPEAKABLE gift."
Unspeakable means (from Strong's Concordance): Beyond description; inexpressible.
Inexpressible (from the American Heritage Dictionary) means: Impossible to express; indescribable.
Indescribable (from the American Heritage Dictionary) means: Impossible to describe; exceeding description; inexpressible
Jesus Christ, the Gift beyond description
You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for word
so wonderful for comprehension
There's nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of your love
Jesus is beautiful beyond any description. He made it all, He saves us and gave us new life to live.. No words can compare how much. He offered everything just to make us free from the bondage of sin.
Jesus Christ, the Gift Beyond Description.
1 Timothy 2:6 WHO GAVE HIMSELF A RANSOME FOR ALL.
The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
And to give his life as a ransom for many. - Mark10:45
The gift is indescribable not only because of who Jesus is, but also because of what He has done.
Jesus came to provide salvation for us by his sacrifice on the cross, and we cannot adequately describe that either. God has given us terms by which to understand it.
We have words like, sacrifice, atonement, propitiation and reconciliation. But how did Jesus achieve RECONCILIATION, BY DYING?
The nature and work of Jesus Christ are BEYOND OUR FULL UNDERSTANDING, therefore, also beyond our powers of description.
“WHILE WE STILL SINNERS (ENEMIES) Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 - But God, is not a member of the human race, in our race is in rebellion against God. We are his enemies, yet it was- Can you Imagine, that the indescribable gift is not for His friend- BUT TO HIS ENEMIES, to those who in their sins have risen up against God, and declared war against the Almighty.
To every one of us, suffering, as we and the world are under the destructive power of sin, God offer His gift of INDESCRIBABLE”- grace.
Christmas does not offer rejoicing to a selected few; and it cries out “joy to the world!”
The assurance is that “Christ Jesus came into the world” not to build big and costly places of worship, not to give his followers earthly power and rule but to “SAVE SINNERS”
For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Rom. 5:10
God offer His gift of INDESCRIBABLE”- Grace.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.“ 2 Cor. 9:15
1 John 4:8-10 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
You see this is what love is all about. God gave up something very precious to him and Jesus accepted this fate willing all in the name of love.
Conclusion:
Have You Ever Received an Indescribable Gift?"
Have you ever received a gift that Is beyond description?