The value of a life can only be estimated by its spiritual relationship to God.

It was not the sorrow of the world that broke the heart of Christ, but its wickedness. He was equal to its sorrow ... He began by being the world's healer. But what broke him was its sin.

The only preaching which is up to date for every time is the preaching of this eternity, which is opened to us in the Bible alone — the eternal of holy love, grace and redemption, the eternal and immutable morality of saving grace for our indelible sin.

Perfect love. It means love that goes on doing until there isn't any more to be done, and that goes on suffering until it can't suffer any more. That's why, when Jesus hung on the cross, He said, 'It is finished.' There wasn't one sin left that couldn't be forgiven, not one sinner who couldn't be saved, because He had died. He had loved perfectly.

The cross is the place where we see love made perfect.

Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3

We must not offer people a system of redemption, a set of insights and principles. We offer people a Redeemer.

He never mocks your weaknesses or throws your sin in your face. He never gets tired of you or gives up on his relationship with you. He doesn't ask you to earn what you can never deserve, and he never makes you feel guilty for needing his good gifts. His love isn't conditional and his grace is never temporary.

The Christmas story is not intended to teach you a bunch of moral lessons that require no history to be helpful. It's a story that is rooted in real history, real acts of God that are intended to provide for you and me the one thing we desperately need: moral rescue. The Christmas story is about a God of glorious grace on the march, invading human history with the grace of redemption.

The entire hope of fallen humanity rests on this one thing—that there is a Savior who is eternally steadfast in redeeming, forgiving, reconciling, transforming, and delivering love.

His love for you is never a result of your character; it is a clear demonstration of his.

In the center of the kingdom of God, you do not find a gargantuan palace inhabited by an unapproachable king. No, in the center of the kingdom of God is a bloody cross, on which hung a broken King, who welcomes us as we are.