And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins – Matthew 1:21
A gift is something you give to another person to show your love for them. We as humans are born into sin meaning we sin and will always sin because we are not made perfect. Sins are what keep us from living our best lives and getting into heaven. So God, being a loving God, made a way for us to be forgiven. He robed himself in flesh and came to this earth in the form of a baby. 1 Timothy 3:16 says, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Knowing his fate, bearing the cross, he chose to live a life on this earth and endure every single thing we endure because he wanted to understand what we face. He wanted to UNDERSTAND US. This fact alone is powerful to me. That the God of all creation WANTED to know us! He wanted to walk where we walk. Live in a world of sin and be tempted just as we are. So he was born as a baby, in a stable.
The greatest love story ever written, starts with a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. We were given the greatest gift that day. To show his love for us, to show he cares about us. Not just me, not just you, but each and every person living today. That is who this beautiful gift is for. 1 Corinthians 13:13 – And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Gifts are given to show your love for someone right? We see here that God states that love is the most important thing. We can have faith, we can have the gift of prophecy, we can give everything we have to feed the poor, but if we do not love, we have nothing (1 Corinthians 13). Love is the most important attribute and standard to live by and with. Without love we are nothing. So isn’t it just like God to give the greatest gift, the gift of forgiveness, in order to show his love for all of humanity?! God is so good! And He loves us with a never ending, unfailing, powerful love!
This season is all about showing those around you how much you care for them, we will give gifts, we will give hugs, visit family, smile, laugh, and make memories. But let us not forget that we ourselves have a gift. We received a gift, the greatest gift from a great God; the gift of forgiveness for our sins so that we may see salvation. God is the greatest example of a gift-giver. So as we meet with one another and celebrate life and another year coming to an end, thanks to a God of many blessings, let us remember the greatest gift ever given and the giver of that gift. Let us celebrate our salvation, the gift of forgiveness, and the life we can have through that forgiveness. We cannot out give God.
