Lessons from God's Christmas Gift

 LESSONS FROM GOD’S CHRISTMAS GIFT Spring Valley Mennonite; December 22, 2019; 2 Corinthians 9:15 There are many gifts given and received during the Christmas season, the majority of these gifts are beautifully wrapped, as is this one I hold in my hand. Yet we all realize that while the wrapping is attractive, it is the gift inside that is important. A tradition in my family is that when we exchange gifts, we hand out the gifts one at a time and watch one another open the presents. You may have a different tradition in your home. But again, the procedure on how the gifts are given is secondary to the gift itself. We are reminded that as fascinating and beautiful as are the events of Jesus’ birth, those events are like the beautiful wrapping paper on a gift—it really is the gift itself that is most significant. And unlike the emotional let-down that often happens after all the other Christmas presents are opened, for us God’s gift of His Son grows better and better as time passes and we learn to appreciate the amazing gift that God gave. In the C.S. Lewis’ story of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” the land of Narnia is gripped in perpetual winter, but it is a winter where Christmas never comes. How dreary a thought! I look forward to Christmas all year long! Yet often in the way we celebrate Christmas, there is a great build-up of excitement that soon passes. God has given a Gift that completely surpasses all gifts. It is a Gift that truly “Keeps on giving.” Gift giving is a time-honored tradition at Christmastime. I was thinking of this tradition and if it has any spiritual significance. I thought of this illustration: on the shelf above the coatrack in the foyer there is a rack of envelopes from the Gideons for the purpose of giving a Bible in memory of a loved one. The gifts we give at this time of year are in memory of the greatest gift God has given to us. If someone informed you that you had been selected to receive a billion dollars—tax free—such a gift would be like a handful of dirt compared to the gift God gave to us that first Christmas. If you were awarded the privilege of being the king of the entire world, such an honor would pale by comparison with the gift God makes available to every person. God gave His Son to be the Savior of the world. What can possibly be more valuable than the welfare of our immortal soul? In Matthew we read Jesus’ response to that question: “For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” This morning consider with me this wonderful and amazing gift—God’s Christmas gift. Let’s rejoice this morning as we affirm Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” When Jesus was given to mankind as a gift, it signaled a seismic shift in God’s relationship to man. This extreme change can be seen in the way the Holy Spirit as the Divine Author of Scripture presented the principle of “gifts and giving”, first in the Old Testament before Jesus came, then in the New Testament after His first Advent. I. GIFTS AND GIVING IN THE BIBLE God has always been a giving God. All good things come from Him, and always have, even from the beginning of time. However, when we look at the concept of gifts, we see the words translated “gifts” used sparingly in the Old Testament in relation to God giving to man. There are two Hebrew words which primarily express the meaning of gifts in the Old Testament. Both these words basically mean the same: a gift in the sense of an offering or tribute. In common use it is a present or gift. Such gifts were typically expressions of submission to a powerful person, or an attempt to gain that person’s favor. This is the word used in Leviticus to describe the offerings given to God in recognition of His greatness. Both these words reveal a pattern in Hebrew society in the Old Testament. Gift giving was regarded as an act with definite social significance, for gifts were viewed as an appropriate way for an inferior to express submission to or to seek to win the favor of a superior. We remember how Jacob, when meeting his estranged brother Esau and hoping to pacify Esau’s anger, sent large herds of sheep, goats, cattle, camels and donkeys ahead as gifts. The superior may deal generously with an inferior, but such behavior is seldom described in terms of giving gifts. Inferiors gave gifts to their superiors; in another example, the Queen of Sheba gave gifts to King Solomon. It is also in this ancient Middle Eastern cultural context that the Magi brought gifts to the newborn King of the Jews. These gifts reveal that the Magi regarded the newborn King of the Jews as superior to themselves. But as we enter the period of the New Testament, we observe soon that a new pattern begins to emerge whereby GOD BECOMES THE GIVER. Understand the significance of this shift: instead of man giving gifts to God (sacrifices and such), God through Christ becomes the One handing out the gifts! This is a jolting reversal of the flow, with gifts now coming from God. We see His gifts beginning to flow freely and spontaneously, without any reference to the worthiness of the one receiving them. This change began on the first Christmas when God the Son was given to mankind. The dawn of the age of Grace corresponded to the first cry of the infant in the Bethlehem manger. The Savior was born bringing salvation by grace through faith, not of works. God the Father is the Giver; God the Son was the gift of Bethlehem; at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit is given to all those who believe. God’s gift was freely given, without any strings attached. God’s gift of grace is unmerited and undeserved. We do absolutely nothing to earn this gift. The gift of His Son flowed out of God’s heart of love. “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son…” This gift was of a most extraordinary nature. Consider with me this wondrous gift, wrapped with infinite care. II. A GIFT, WRAPPED WITH INFINITE CARE This year, we ordered many of our gifts over the internet. Most of those gifts came padded with bubble wrap. The more fragile the gift, the more extensive was the bubble wrap. Now think about how this precious gift of God was packaged. The first thing to notice is that God wrapped His gift in human flesh. John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” The Son of God was born just like every other baby is born. Jesus experienced life just as we do. He had to learn to walk and talk. When He stubbed His toe, it hurt. When His stomach was empty, He experienced hunger pangs. When His friends and family died, He grieved. He grew weary. When it was hot, He perspired. He needed to take baths just as we do. He was tempted in all way that we are, with a big difference: He did not sin. God’s gift was wrapped in Human flesh. Jesus was all human; He was also all God. As Jesus told Philip in John 14, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” The gift was also wrapped in the context of a family. Of course, His conception was unique resulting in the virgin birth, but God considered it crucial that Jesus have a mom and dad who provided for His needs, to protect Him from harm, and to give Him the necessary training for life. He had brothers and sisters with whom He lived, and from whom He learned about human nature within a family. Figuratively speaking, God’s gift was wrapped in paper covered with the six-sided Star of David. Jesus was born of a Jewish mother; He was born of the royal lineage of King David, being of the Tribe of Judah. The gift conformed to the blueprint and specifications laid down in the Old Testament prophesies: Jesus was born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, born of the family of David, raised in Nazareth of Galilee, just to mention a few of the more than 300 specific prophesies He fulfilled. Yet while the Gift was given to the whole world, it also was… III. A PERSONAL, INDIVIDUALIZED AND CUSTOM-MADE GIFT God’s Christmas gift is perfectly fitted for each individual person. No one who ever truly receives Jesus as God’s gift will ever say “It doesn’t fit” or will ever seek to exchange Him for someone or something else. He is perfectly designed to meet every need of every single person in the whole world. There is an amazing diversity among humanity. I may have before used the people of King Island as an illustration of this diversity. King Island is 40 miles off the coast of Nome, Alaska. It is an extremely inhospitable chunk of rock, about a mile square in size, where a small number of Inupiat Indian people subsist by hunting seals, whales and polar bears. The village is built on the southern side of the island that gives some protection from the extreme weather. From my viewpoint, King Island would be a dreadful place to live, but to this Inupiat community it is home. And many of the inhabitants of King Island are Christians. Jesus is as equally sufficient to them as He is to one living here in South-central Kansas. Or consider the difference between someone living in the first century or the 12th century compared to the 21st century: Jesus meets the same basic needs of all people, whenever or wherever they live. How can God’s Christmas gift perfectly fit such diverse people? It is because each person presently alive or every person who has ever lived faces the same root problem: we cannot escape our own sin nature. We all need the forgiveness of our sins. And God through Jesus Christ, the Gift of Christmas, offers the pathway of a relationship with God by solving our sin problem. As each person receives this gift, he finds that Jesus perfectly meets every need, fulfills every longing, walks with us through every problem, and provides meaning and purpose for life. In 2 Corinthians 9:15, Paul uses the world “indescribable” for this gift. This is a very interesting word: This word is found nowhere else in the Bible; moreover, it was absent in all of Greek literature before Paul used it—scholars believe that the Apostle found no word in existence that was adequate, so he invented this word which means “wonderful beyond description.” And this gift, wonderful beyond any attempt to describe it, is custom designed to fit each person’s deepest needs. IV. THE GREAT UNWRAPPING OF THE GIFT There is a special sense in which I wish to close my remarks regarding God’s Christmas gift. God wrapped His greatest gift in human flesh, and just as the wrapping on packages must be torn open to reveal the gift inside, that wrapping had to be removed before the gift could be revealed. God’s gift was not completely revealed until 33 years later (Open package—hold up a cross) Was it not at Calvary that the human wrappings were torn away to reveal the fullness of God’s gift of Salvation? Until the death of Christ on the Cross, salvation was not complete. The package had been given, but the gift was incomplete until Jesus’ body was given as a sacrifice for our sins. Let the torn Christmas wrappings of packages be a parable for each one of us. Helen Steiner Rice wrote the following poem entitled “What Christmas Means to Me.” She describes this amazing Christmas gift God gave us all. What Christmas Means to Me Christmas to me is a gift from above— A gift of salvation born of God’s love. For far beyond what my mind comprehends My eternal future completely depends. On that first Christmas night centuries ago, (When) God sent His Son to the earth below; For if the Christ Child had not been born There would be no rejoicing on Easter morn. For only because Christ was born and died, And hung on a cross to be crucified, Can worldly sinners like you and me, Be fit to live in eternity…. So Christmas is more than getting and giving, It’s the why and the wherefore of infinite living, It’s the positive proof for doubting God never For in His Kingdom life is forever. And that is the reason that on Christmas Day, I can only kneel down and prayerfully say, “Thank You, God, for sending Your Son, So when my work on earth is done, I can look at last on Your holy face, Knowing You save me--alone by Your grace.” The indescribable gifts of forgiveness of our sin, of life eternal in heaven, of peace with God and purpose in living in the here and now come through Jesus Christ. But a gift, no matter how freely given, must be received. And like a gift under the Christmas tree, it must be opened to gain any benefit. The gift of the forgiveness of our sin and life eternal must be individually opened. Have you received the gift of eternal life, or is it still sitting there with your name on it, but unwrapped?