Thanks Be To God

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Introduction

About one year ago the transmission went out in the van we had purchased only three months before. The van was older and the cost to repair or replace the transmission was more than the van was worth. We started saving and about eight months ago we got word that the transmission in our car was on its way out. With the little bit of money the Lord allowed us to set aside, we started to look at vehicles. It didn’t take us long to realized we didn’t have nearly enough. It is at this point that God stepped in. Through the generosity of others, we were given quite a lot of money and were able to purchase the van we have now had for about six months. Our thankfulness for our van is huge because we never would have been able to get it ourselves!
Thanksgiving is in just over two weeks. As I consider thanksgiving, there is nothing I am more thankful for than Jesus Christ. For seven months this year we have spent the first Sunday of the month looking at . Taking this familiar and powerful verse phrase by phrase we have soaked ourselves in the joy and glory of our salvation. Anytime we do that it ought to lift our hearts with thanksgiving. In writing his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul closes out a discussion on financial giving with the following words. (S).
2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
These words bring some questions to mind.
As we consider the approaching holiday of thanksgiving and our response of thankfulness to God for salvation through Christ, we will be asking and answering three questions this morning.
Our goal is to be ever more thankful for Jesus Christ, and to express our thanksgiving appropriately.
As we are thankful for Christ and express that thankfulness our faith grows and our testimony in the world is strengthened.
The first question that this verse brings up is…

1. Why Do We Give Thanks?

Thankfulness is expressed when someone does something for us. We ask someone to please pass the salt, when they do we say thank you. But how much more grateful are we when someone does something for us that we are unable to do for ourselves? Please open this jar. Thank you! When we are unable to do something for ourselves there is a sense of frustration, inadequacy, and failure. These feelings are compounded when what needs to be done is of vital importance. explains our inability perfectly. Turn there please.
When we are unable to do something for ourselves there is a sense of frustration, inadequacy, and failure. These feelings are compounded when the thing that needs to be done is of vital importance. explains our inability perfectly (S).
According to this verse, we give thanks because we were given a gift. This gift is declared to be “indescribable”. This is the Greek word ἀνεκδιήγητος (anekdiēgētos) indescribable. Indescribable adj. — defying expression or description.
Romans 5:6–8 NKJV
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Without strength, ungodly, sinners. That is how we are described! We needed salvation! This is the most important need that has ever existed! Yet we were unable to provide it for ourselves. Our inability to save ourselves is difficult to swallow! Yet the thanksgiving that comes when we realize everything has already been done is overwhelming! Everything necessary for us to be saved has already been accomplished by Christ! God gave a gift! Something we couldn’t do for ourselves was done by Christ!
God gave a gift! Something we couldn’t do for ourselves was done by Christ!
According to this verse, we give thanks because we were given a gift. This gift is declared to be “indescribable”. This is the Greek word ἀνεκδιήγητος (anekdiēgētos) meaning indescribable. Defying expression or description.
Indescribable – ἀνεκδιήγητος (anekdiēgētos)
When we look at the root words we recognize that this gift defies human ability to fully comprehend, much less explain in complete detail. That is why it is “indescribable”.
Thankfulness is expressed when someone does something for us. Pass the salt, thank you. But how much more grateful are we when someone does something for us that we are unable to do for ourselves? Open this jar, thank you.
We are thankful because God did something that we couldn’t do!
When we are unable to do something for ourselves there is a sense of frustration, inadequacy, and failure. These feelings are compounded when the thing that needs to be done is of vital importance.
Picture thanksgiving like a well (S). If you draw from that well and draw from that well and never replenish it, your thankfulness disappears (S). What fills up the well of our thanksgiving is being continually reminded of what God has done for us! That is part of the value of a regular observance of the Lord’s Supper or communion. We are thankful people when we continually acknowledge that we are recipients of the grace of God! We are given His unmerited favor when all we deserve is wrath! This is why we give thanks.
#175 “Hallelujah, What A Savior” (verses 1-2)
Our inability to save ourselves is difficult to swallow! Yet the thanksgiving that comes when we realize everything has already been done is overwhelming! Everything necessary for us to be saved has already been accomplished by Christ!
As we examine this verse a second question arises.
God gave a gift! Something we couldn’t do for ourselves was done by Christ!

2. What Are We Thankful For?

Though we have alluded to it already, the verse reads “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”. We are thankful for the indescribable gift of God. What is that gift? Well, it has two parts. The first part is what we have examined in (S).
John 3:16 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus is God’s gift. Next month we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We celebrate the reality that the God of all eternity - Yahweh, Jehovah, God revealed in the Old Testament - became a man and was born of a virgin. This reality is presented in . Please turn there.
Romans 8:3 NKJV
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
God sent His Son! This is part of the indescribable gift we have been given. Jesus Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Yet He came with purpose. The giving of Christ was not God’s end game. The person of Christ cannot be divorced from His work. His work is seen in Romans 8:4 (S).
Romans 8:4 NKJV
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Christ condemned sin in the flesh! He met the requirements of the law! The purpose of giving us Jesus was for us to receive His righteousness resulting in Salvation. That is God’s gift. Look at how describes it.
Romans 6:23 NKJV
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are thankful because God knew that we were helpless. He knew that we were unable to do anything to change our lost condition. Because of our inability, He sent us Jesus. God became a man. He took on flesh, faced temptation, unbelievable suffering, and endured an agonizing death, all so He could pay the penalty for sin. The requirement to receive this payment for sin and be given the righteousness of Christ is simple faith. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! This is what we are thankful for! Though there are countless blessings given to the believer throughout their life with Christ, the greatest blessing is the first.
We are thankful for the blessing of forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life.
God did what we could never do. Therefore we give thanks to Him for what we have been given in Jesus Christ.
#106 “Praise Him! Praise Him! (verse 2)
The third question that arises from this verse is this,

3. How Is Thanksgiving Expressed?

I recall seeing a child given a gift. A somewhat expensive gift. The child said thank you and was even really excited to have it. Yet in a few weeks that gift was broken and discarded. When a gift is treated poorly, when it is abused and cast aside, it causes us to question the thankfulness of the recipient. If you can’t be bother to take care of the gift, maybe it was never that appreciated in the first place! The point is that saying you are thankful can either be affirmed or denied through your actions. We say that we are thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That we are grateful for His death, burial, and resurrection. Yet if we do not affirm that thankfulness through our actions, we demonstrate that we really aren’t that thankful. I believe thanksgiving must be expressed in two ways. First, Thanksgiving is expressed vocally. demonstrates this truth (S).
Thanksgiving is expressed vocally.
demonstrates this truth (S).
Hebrews 13:15 NKJV
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
The thanksgiving expressed in is a written, verbal expression of thanks. Our thankfulness must be expressed. When it comes to Spiritual things, this means we tell God and others how thankful we are as well as demonstrate that through service. One of the best ways we can demonstrate our thankfulness for the person and work of Christ is to tell others about Him!
This is a both-and scenario. We need to demonstrate thanksgiving with our actions and with our words. Our words express the reality of our thankfulness while our actions demonstrate it and affirm it to be true. When we are truly thankful it should be both seen and heard in our lives. That brings us to the second way thanksgiving is expressed. Thanksgiving is expressed through obedience.
Thanksgiving is expressed through obedience.
Thanksgiving is expressed through obedience.
In this context, Paul is calling for the Corinthians to affirm their thankfulness through financial giving. In the first nine verses of this chapter Paul lays down some guidelines for giving. In the final few verses he attaches that giving to the glory of God, obedience, growth, and thanksgiving. At the heart of this lies the thought that true thanksgiving motivates us to do something for others.
Thanksgiving is expressed through obedience.
If we could tabulate all the information and distill it I believe we would come up with something like this.
The heart that is truly thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ expresses that thankfulness through praise and submissive service.
This means that we do whatever is required of us by our savior! We praise Him with our lips and with our service.
#175 Hallelujah, What A Savior” (verses 3-4)
Thanksgiving is expressed vocally.
demonstrates this truth (S).
Hebrews 13:15 NKJV
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
This is a both-and scenario. We need to demonstrate thanksgiving with our actions and with our words. Our words express the reality of our thankfulness while our actions demonstrate it and affirm it to be true. When we are truly thankful it should be both seen and heard in our lives.
When it comes to Spiritual things, this means we tell God and others how thankful we are as well as demonstrate that through service. One of the best ways we can demonstrate our thankfulness for the person and work of Christ is to tell others about Him!
#175 Hallelujah, What A Savior” (verses 3-4)
Turn with me to . This is a time for believers to remember the price that was paid. To be reminded of the penalty of sin. Taking part of communion does not save you. This is simply a way for us to be reminded of what Christ has done. If you know the Lord as savior this morning, please join us in bread and juice as we remember Jesus Christ. These are only symbols, they represent the body and blood of our Savior. Examination – verses 26-32

OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION

The Bread (His Body) vv. 23-24 #188 “At The Cross” (Chorus Only)
The Cup (His Blood) v. 25 #189 “Calvary Covers It All” (Chorus Only)

Conclusion

We are thankful because God, through Jesus Christ, did for us what we could never do for ourselves. Jesus came and paid the penalty for sin! I am so thankful that Christ died in my place! He took the stripes, the nails, the crown of thorns. He took the blame, the shame, the reproach, the agony, and the death. All of these should have been mine! They should have been yours! But God in His mercy and grace sent His Son to take our place! All one need do to be forgiven is believe in Jesus Christ! Believe that He died, was buried, and rose again all to pay for my sin and your sin. Once we have believed, we live for Him. We praise and thank Him with our lips proclaiming His goodness and grace to all. We walk in obedience to Him. Submissive service is the mark of a transformed life! Not service that is self exalting, but service that promotes Christ!
We give thanks because we have a need that has been met by Christ.
We give thanks because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin!
Salvation is possible because of Him!
We must demonstrate thanksgiving through a life of dedicated service.
May our lives and lips express thanksgiving to God for His indescribable gift!
#175 “Hallelujah, What A Savior! (verse 5)
Hebrews 1:1–8 NKJV
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.” But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
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