Mar 22, 2013
Good and Perfect Gifts
A sermon from James 1:16-18
by Pastor Rod Henry
Editor’s note: Here is Pastor Rod Henry’s sermon that he preached earlier this year on February 2. How this message was inspired and crafted is explained in his previous article here. To hear the sermon, go to the church’s website at nextstepchurch.org
Introduction
The Apostle James sees life, and especially our spiritual lives, as a process. He began by saying that the trials of life set off a process that goes from trials, to perseverance, to Godly maturity. We can judge the trials of life to be “pure joy” because they produce the finished product of Christian maturity.
Then James wrote of the process of temptation that begins with our evil desires, giving birth to sin, which finally gives birth to death. We are responsible for how we deal with our evil desires so we don’t yield to them, producing death.
Last Sabbath, Pastor Dusty told us that Satan, our sinful natures, and our stupidity dig holes of trials and temptations. When we fall into the holes of trials and sin, God did not dig the hole and God did not throw us in the hole. So don’t blame God!
In fact, in the “holes” of life, Pastor Dusty says, “You can trust God. He never tempts, tricks, or traps you into failure.” Life can be full of trials and temptations but God is always there to give us good and perfect gifts—especially the gift of the new birth.
Our text for today gives us a helpful perspective on dealing with both the process of trials and the process of temptation. God encourages and strengthens us by giving us “good and perfect gifts,” because that is His unchangeable nature. Listen to James 1:16-18—
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
“Don’t be deceived!”
The deception that James spoke of is a distortion of the very nature of God.
The first distortion was that God brings trials our way because He does not care for us. There’s a distortion that it is God who is responsible for temptation.
There was another distortion of God that has existed from the first sin of Adam and Eve. It is the distortion that God is holding back from us what we need and desire. Therefore, God can’t really be trusted. To this, James said, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.”
We are family
Before James got to the resolution of the deception, he reminded his readers of his personal love for them, calling them “My dear brothers.” James’ correction and teaching is given in the context of love.
He once again reminded the readers of this letter that as Christians, we are family. We are in trials together. We are suffering temptations together. We are being deceived together.
Our relationship with fellow Christians must be characterized by love. All people who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord are part of Christ’s universal body, the Church—the family of God. And as such, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here’s the truth
Now, we get to the point of the deception of these brethren in Christ. No deception is worse than a deception about the nature of God. The deception that God causes trials and temptations is a lie. The truth is that God gives good and perfect gifts because God is good and perfect, all the time.
James demanded that the goodness of God shows that God has provided good and perfect gifts to face trials with joy, and to face temptations with holy living.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God’s gifts are all good and perfect.
God is the perfect gift giver who gives good and perfect gifts.
We just finished Christmas. Let’s be honest. The only perfect gifts we received are the ones we bought for ourselves! I admit that it is impossible to buy me gifts. Most things I don’t even want. The few things I want, I just buy for myself.
But when it comes to God giving gifts, it is a completely different story. God’s gifts are always good and perfect because He knows what we need and when we need it, before we do. God is good and perfect, and He only gives good and perfect gifts.
God’s gifts have no limitations, because they are heavenly by nature.
God’s gifts are from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. The gifts of God are tailor-made for each of us. God creates them “on the fly” so that they specifically meet our needs. Each gift of goodness is specially crafted for each individual.
James is saying that God is the Father of the heavenly lights, meaning God created the sun, moon, and stars. Since God is the creator of the universe, He can create good and perfect gifts for each one of us. This reminds us of the potential for the personalization of gifts that God creates for us.
God’s gifts are perfectly delivered at just the right time.
God does not use FedEx or UPS to deliver His good and perfect gifts. God delivers them directly “from above.” God’s timing is not our timing, but God’s timing is always perfect.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God never changes.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. James is declaring the goodness of God. If we are in trials, we can count on the goodness of God to come to us in good and perfect gifts. If we are suffering from temptation, we can count on the goodness of God to come to us in good and perfect gifts. This means that we should never question the love and care of God, no matter what. Don’t be deceived!!!
To make sure that we grasp the goodness of God, James gives us a final and convincing argument. The most important good and perfect gift from God is within us, in the new birth.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
The new birth
James’ final appeal to help us understand God’s good and perfect gifts is to appeal to the gift of the “new birth.” The new birth is not just saying the right prayer, believing the right doctrine, and doing the right things. It is when God uses these things to work a miracle in us.
The new birth is a miracle of God in the hearts and minds of those who surrender themselves to God. In that miracle, there begins in us a transformation of our thinking and feelings. God infuses in us a love for each other and the world around us.
This transformation is so real that God calls it a “new birth.” James tells us, “He (God) chose to give us birth.”
From the Beginning
The new birth is God’s plan from the foundation of the earth. He gave His Son, Jesus, as the good and perfect gift and sacrifice, and He raised Jesus from the dead. This is the Gospel, the Word of truth.
God created the first human being by gathering the elements of the earth and breathing into his nostrils the breath and spirit of life. And man became a living soul. In the same way, God chose to breathe His life-giving spirit into those who were dead in sin.
That is the miracle of the new creation. A dead sinner is given life in Christ and eternal life as a gift. This is “the word of truth.”
Conclusion
Salvation is the creation and work of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. The good news is that God has accomplished all of this as His gift to us. God’s gift becomes our gift when we accept the gift of Jesus by faith and surrender our lives to Christ. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” and so it is with our new birth.
There is something about the anticipation of the first fruit that heightens the taste of the fruit. Believers are called the first fruits of all that God created. Every new birth in Christ is like a new plant.
As believers, we grow and mature and finally we produce fruit. The fruit we display and offer the world around us is a kind of first fruit. Every saved person is the anticipated first fruit of another generation of Christians. Every saved person is the first fruit, in the here and now, of what God intends for eternity.
Sooo… church— Don’t be deceived.
All God’s gifts are good and perfect all the time, because God is good and perfect, all the time. And, the best gift He has given us is the new birth.
