If you were to encounter somebody who had never heard of Christmas before, they had no idea, which may seem strange to us, but there are parts of the world where Christmas is not celebrated, they're not aware of really everything that you know about Christmas, and they were to ask you about Christmas, how would you explain it to them? I mean obviously we might start to focus on some of the details that we know about and start to talk about shepherds and mangers and a virgin who gave birth and gifts of frankincense, golden myrrh. There'd be all kinds of details that we'd probably be scrambling to organize and put into explaining to somebody exactly what Christmas is. But the most important question really wouldn't be about the details of Christmas. It really would be about the purpose of Christmas, not what questions, but really ultimately the why question. Why is this thing called Christmas? And what I'd like to do is just take a look at one verse of scripture that I think really, though it doesn't mention Christmas, actually helps us understand and explain that. And I'm hoping it's gonna come up on the screen for you. If not, I'll just read it. And then it says, for the wages of sin is death, But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. What this text does, and you can see right sort of in the end of the first line, there's the word but there. So what it's doing is it's setting up contrast, a significant contrast, really, in fact, three contrasts that are in this verse that really help us understand what exactly was happening when Jesus came into the world. You can see the first line is, the wages of sin is death. And then comes that word but, the free gift of God is eternal life. And those three statements sort of stand against each other. And what I'd like us to do is just think about the contrast for a moment before we come to that last phrase that tells us really the key to it. Because Jesus came into the world so that we could have a gift. from God. In fact, it was in one of the songs tonight that it was God's gift on Christmas Day for us. So there's a contrast, the wages versus the free gift. I mean, most of us know what wages are, right? It's our payment. You put in some time, do some work, and you get paid your wages for it. It's something that actually you've earned, you're entitled to. One could even say you have a right to it. If somebody doesn't give you your wages, they've acted in an unjust way towards you. So when we think about wages, we think about something we deserve, something that we've earned. The opposite of that in this verse is what's called a free gift. We all know what a gift is, right? A gift is something that somebody gives to you. And if it's genuinely a gift, then it's not something for which you pay. It's actually not something which you've earned. Right? It's a gift. It's something that they give to you. So the first contrast is really talking about something that we earn or deserve versus something which we are given actually freely. It's not something that we've earned or we deserve. And then the next comparison or contrast is really where the source of those come from, right? The wages of sin. All right, so the payment that comes comes because of sin. And the free gift that's given comes from God. So sin and God are set in opposite to each other. Because sin, sin is actually something that the Bible tells us is what we have all done. In fact, just three chapters earlier, the apostle Paul says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In the chapter right before this, the verse we'll look at in a moment, he talks about sin entering into the world. So there's a source for these wages. And then look at the last comparison. The wages of sin is death. That is, the thing that sin gives us because we deserve it is actually death. And over here it is, the free gift that comes from God is eternal life. And when you compare eternal life and death in this verse, it helps us understand that the death that this verse isn't talking about isn't just physical death. It's not just talking about us dying at the end of our life, because the contrast to the death is actually something described as eternal life. And in fact, it's a life that's given not after somebody dies, but actually something that they can possess now. I mean, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, but you who were dead in trespasses and sins, he has made alive. So they were dead in sins, but they were made alive. In fact, Jesus himself prayed in John chapter 17, and he told us what eternal life is. He says, this is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you've sent. So eternal life is not something just out in the future. It's actually something that a person can possess right now. Because it's in contrast to what this text talks about as death, which actually is also something that somebody can have right now. And this may sound odd to you, because we normally tend to think of death as something that happens at the end of our lives, but the text I just quoted a moment ago said, for we were dead in trespasses and sins. That is, it's not talking about physical death and physical life. It's actually talking about spiritual death and spiritual life. That I could be alive physically, but the Bible would describe me as being dead spiritually. Because that's what happened at the Garden of Eden, if you know the Bible's account of that. Adam and Eve were made to live with God and to worship Him and serve Him and fellowship with Him, but they were given a warning that they needed to obey the command of God, and if they disobeyed the command of God, then the consequence would be death. For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. And if you know what the Bible says about that, they actually took of the fruit and they ate of it, but they didn't physically die. What happened was there was a spiritual death that Paul talks about in Ephesians 2. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. That is, what happened is they were separated from God now so that they could no longer walk with Him and fellowship with Him and worship Him in the way that God had made them to. Because of sin, the wages of sin was death. That was the consequence that came out of it. And so on one side of this equation is the reality for all of humanity that we have all sinned. The consequence of our sin is death. That is separation from God spiritually, which ultimately then leads to physical death. And the Bible describes actually eternal death, separation from God for all of eternity. Understanding that side of the comparison or contrast helps us understand why Jesus came. Because everything on this other side, the free gift of God, which is eternal life, you know where it's found? Look at what the text says. It's in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That is, the gift of life that God has promised to those who are in Christ is connected to Christ. I mean, the reality of it, it's because he paid for that gift. I mean, all of us really know, in a sense, there are no free gifts, right? The recipient gets a free gift, but the giver paid something for that gift to be given. And the one who gives this gift The one who paid the price for this gift was actually Jesus Christ. The wages, the wages of sin is death. And here's the problem for me. I'm a sinner. And because of my sin, those wages are going to be distributed to me. I'm going to get that paycheck unless something happens. And that's exactly what happened when Christ came into the world. that Jesus actually stepped into the place of sinners and He actually paid the wages of sin. The death that you and I deserve, Christ died on the cross. He rose again from the dead so that He could have now life that He could give to those who trust in Him. So between the consequence of my sin, the wages of my sin, and actually the gift of eternal life through Christ, it's necessary for me to recognize that Jesus is the one who paid for that gift. But not only that he paid for it, but he actually is the gift. I quoted to you already John 17, 3. This is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. You see, what's at stake here, if I could point out the contrast one step farther, because there's something implied in this verse that's not actually said, and that is that the wages of sin is death, and then there's a gap. Right? Over here it is, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. You know why there's nothing over here that says, for instance, the wages of sin is death in something? Because Paul already said it in chapter 5. He said in chapter five, verse 12, so that death came into the world, right? Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed to all men because all sinned. See, here's that one man, Adam. And really, and it could sound maybe more complex than it really is, but here's the reality of what the Bible talks about. You and I are all the descendants of Adam. We're born into this world just like Adam was after he rebelled against God. We're born as sinners. Sin entered the world through one man, and death passed upon all men because all have sinned. And here's really what this text is saying is there's only one of two choices before us tonight. We can be in Adam and receive the wages of sin, which is death, or we can be in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and have the free gift of God, which is eternal life. And that means those last two words of that verse are really, really important. I mean, look what it says. It's Christ Jesus, our Lord. See, there's one of two, if I could put it this way, rulers under which you will live. You will live under Adam, which means you live for self, to do your own thing, to rule your own life. Or you will see that God sent his son, Jesus, fully God, fully human, who came into this world so that he could live righteously and die sacrificially as a substitute for sinners, but also that he rose again victoriously and has been made both Lord and Christ. That is, he has the right to rule over all of creation. He will come back to this world to claim that right and to rule. And you and I have a question of allegiance that's put in front of us. Will we live for ourselves? Will we live for this world? Or will we actually recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord and that we need to live for him? Because here's what Paul will say four chapters later in chapter 10. If we confess with our mouths, Christ Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, that's how we're saved. We acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord. We've heard beautifully sung about the fact that he's the king, that he'll rule the nations, that he in fact will come and restore the creation that God has made. And the real question that has to be answered about Christmas really is, what will you do with it? I mean, will it just be a set of facts that you could tell me, yeah, I mean, there was a virgin, had a baby, they couldn't get a room in the inn, so they had it out in the stall, and the baby was in a manger, and then there were these guys that came from the east. I mean, you walk through all the story, and you think about the details of the story, but if you just leave it at the level of facts, without a response to it, that if all of this is true, And it is. Then the one who was born in that stable, the one who walked on this planet, was the perfect son of God, who was nailed to a cross as a sacrifice for sin, and on the third day came back to life. He has conquered sin and death and has been exalted to the right hand of God the Father because He is Lord. So, if you look at that last part of that verse again, here's the real question. Can you say tonight that Christ Jesus is your Lord? That you have trusted in Him to do for you what you cannot do for yourself? which is pay the debt of sin. Have you trusted in Him in that you've accepted from Him the gift of eternal life by receiving Him? Because that's what John 1 12 says, for as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to be called the children of God. What will you do with Jesus Christ? Will you just sort of treat him as a character of history around this Christmas story? Or will you recognize him as the Lord, the only one who has conquered death and offers to us a gift of eternal life in him? I hope and I pray tonight that you can say sincerely from your heart that you have confessed, you've owned and acknowledged Jesus Christ as your Lord so that you can take that whole first part of the verse and look at it and say, praise God, the wages of sin that are death have been removed from me. And I've received the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.