1. EXTREME MAKEOVER – REDEMPTION

This Christmas, I would like to remind you Jesus came to redeem us.

What is redemption?  Redemption is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.

The reason we need to be redeemed is that we have sold ourselves into sin and have been alienated from a holy God.

Galatians 4:4–5 says, “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Redemption frees us to be a part of God’s family. We had run away and sold ourselves into slavery. But God redeems us out of slavery into the Father’s house.

Redemption is the remedy.

 

2. EXTREME MAKEOVER – REPENTANCE

Repentance means to make a change of mind–a change of the intention from wanting to sin to not wanting to sin–that results in a change in action. It involves the decision to make a change of behavior and/or attitude about something. Biblically, repentance means to turn from sin with a heartfelt desire to change and not do it again.

Luke 5:31–32, “Jesus said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'”

Jesus came to call sinners to repentance.

Acts 3:19 says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

Acts 17:30 says, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

This Christmas, remember Jesus is calling us to repentance.

3. EXTREME MAKEOVER – RESTORATION OF NEW SIGHT

Restoration is the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.

John 9:39, “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see.'”

And John 12:46, “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me might not remain in darkness.”

Jesus did not merely come to redeem and to call us to repentance; he also came to open our eyes so that we can see the light and walk in it.

The human problem is not just slavery needing a redemption, and lostness needing repentance; the human problem is also moral blindness, needing the gift of sight.

Luke 4:18 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”

This Christmas, let us remember that Jesus came to give us sight.

4. EXTREME MAKEOVER – REVOLUTION .

Revolution is a very important and dynamic change in the way that people do things:

Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s foes will be those of his own household.”

Jesus is not saying that God loves division and strife.

Jesus is saying that strife and division caused by true allegiance to Jesus are better than no strife and division with no allegiance to Jesus.

When you are really redeemed, have repented and given sight, something really radical happens to you.  A revolution.

You begin to see and think differently and feel things differently and act differently.

This Christmas, remember that Jesus came to cause a revolution in your life & family.

5. EXTREME MAKEOVER – RECONCILIATION

Reconciliation is an act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amicable truce.  It is the process of making consistent or compatible.

Romans 5:10 says, “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!”

Colossians 1:19-20 says, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

We often try to avoid these unpleasant experiences: separation, rejection, and alienation.

Without Christ, our lives are in crisis.

Without Christ, we live lives of separation, rejection, and alienation from God.

Sin caused us to be hostile to God.  Sin makes us enemies with God.  Sin severs our relationship with God.

But our loving Father solved the dilemma by sending His Son to pay our penalty.

This Christmas, remember that you are reconciled to God.

6. EXTREME MAKEOVER – REBIRTH – ETERNAL LIFE

Rebirth is the process of being born again. It is revival

John 3:5 says, “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

WHY???

Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

This Christmas remember that God sent His Son so that we could believe and have eternal life.  Are you saved?  Do you have eternal life?