As I write this post a few days before Christmas, some of you are running around trying to do your last-minute shopping to find the right or the perfect gift(s) for loved ones. I am happy to say that I abandoned that headache years ago.
My wife and I have six children. I admit that I no longer know how to shop for them. Then my wife and I have been married 44 years. I’m kinda tapped out on trying to find something new for her as well, though I still try. But generally speaking, I just drop some money on my children and call it a day. That always works.
Anyway, what does gift-giving have to do with the real meaning of Christmas for Christians?
On the first Christmas Day, God gave us the greatest gift we will ever receive. That gift was His only Son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 is one of the best known verses in the Bible: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I believe no other single Bible verse sums up the Christmas story better than John 3:16.
Three Components of the Christmas Story
If you read John 3:16 too fast, you may fail to fully appreciate the verse. So, let’s break down the verse in three parts.
1. God’s motivation for giving us His only Son. The verse begins with the words, “For God so loved the world.” People have different reasons for doing good toward others. Some do good toward others because of guilt. Some do good because the law requires them to do so. Others do so out of some sense of moral obligation. But God was not motivated by any of these reasons. Rather, because He so loved the world.
2. The demonstration of God’s love. On that first Christmas Day, “He gave His only begotten Son.” Now let’s think about this from God’s perspective. He is omniscient. He knows the past, the present, and the future. Hence, He knew that when He gave His Son to be our Savior that He was subjecting Him to a barbaric death on a cross. This we know because God detailed the sufferings of Christ to Isaiah the prophet some 700 years ahead of Christ’s death. But in spite of that, God gave us His only Son. This is how He demonstrated of His love for us.
3. The objective of God’s love. Finally, God gave us His only Son “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is the bottom line of the Christmas story. God gave us His Son to save us from our sins. And note the word “whosoever.” It is not God’s will for anyone to perish. Anyone who chooses to receive His gift can have everlasting life.
The One Gift Everybody Needs
Today, the Christmas story continues. The truth of John 3:16 is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. One way we celebrate Christmas today is through giving and receiving gifts. Many of these gifts will be returned or exchanged immediately after Christmas. But the gift God gave to us on the first Christmas is the perfect gift. It is the one gift everybody needs. God’s gift came to us in the person of His only begotten Son.
All of us were born lost and bound for hell. It does not matter what the color of your skin is. How much money you have or how little you have. You may be highly educated or uneducated, smart or mentally challenged, old or young. Jesus is exactly what every sinner needs to get from earth to heaven.
So, what about you? Have you received this perfect gift from God? For people of faith, He is the reason for the season.
Copyright © 2022 by Frank King. All rights reserved.