God's Christmas Gift: Part I (The gift of Salvation and Eternal Life)
Luke
2:11-12 Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be
a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
None of us were
deserving of God’s special Christmas gift. In the World, we give gifts to those
that we feel deserve them. The gifts go to the people around us who have shown
us kindness, or maybe someone we think we might want to do us a favor. We would
never think about giving a gift to someone unkind or hostile to us. However,
that is precisely what God has done, given us the unique gift of eternal life
with Him, even though we were at enmity with Him (Romans 5:8).
God did this because He loved us even though we did not love Him, and we were utterly undeserving of His gift. This love of God is a clear indication that there are no good works that we can do that might make us worthy or deserving of His love and gift, or that would bring us eternal life.
Although the World views sin in a gauge from not so bad to extremely bad to even worse, in God’s eyes, sin is sin, no matter how big or small humanity wants to view it. God is perfect, holy, and just; thus, all sin must be accounted for, judged, and paid in full. Sins penalty is not determined by a gauge either; the retribution is swift, just, and permanent, an eternity apart from God in an awful place called hell. To the World, this might seem harsh or severe, but sin is a rejection of Christ Jesus and what He did for us through His substitutionary work on the Cross of Calvary. God will never force anyone to accept Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior; all people have the freedom to accept or deny Christ Jesus (Romans 10:13). God judges us not only on our deeds but also on our thoughts, yearnings, along with the motives that drive our works and actions.
If one were foolish enough to try to make it into heaven on their performances or accomplishments, they would have to live a perfect life from the cradle to the grave. Because of the sin nature that we are born with, this would be an impossible task. If we could somehow earn our way to heaven, then Christ Jesus would not have had to go to the Cross of Calvary. Our good works are what God expects of us every day of our lives; we do these good deeds because we love God, not because they earn us anything in His sight.
This Christmas season and beyond, let us focus more on God’s Special Christmas Gift to the World, that is, eternal life with our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, than on the temporary worldly gifts that we give or receive.
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