JESUS WAS A PERSONAL GIFT
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God s Christmas gift is perfectly fitted for everyone. This gift was to the whole world. No one who ever receives Jesus will ever say He doesn’t fit or will ever seek to exchange Him for someone or something else. He is perfectly designed to meet our most important need of everyone in the whole wide world. Even though God s Christmas gift is to all the world, He is also a personal gift to every individual of the human race!
Pastor Clifford Stewart of Louisville, Kentucky, sent his parents a microwave oven one Christmas. They were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the instant generation. When dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frowns! Even after reading the directions, they couldn’t make it work.
Two days later Stewart’s mother was talking with a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave oven even to boil water. ’To get this dumb thing to work,’ she exclaimed, ’I really don’t need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!’"
When God gave the gift of salvation, He didn’t send a booklet of complicated instructions for us to figure out; He sent his Son. But He did more than show us how to live, He bought for us our salvation on the cross. He comes to us in a personal way and this gift tag has our name on it.
Have you received the best gift of all?
The Good News of this day, the Good News of Advent is that Christ HAS come. That's the message of Advent and the promise of Christmas. God came into the world as the infant Christ. And God continues to enter our lives through the risen Christ by means of the Holy Spirit.. God comes into our lives because God loves us.
Before that very first imperfect Christmas, only a few knew God personally. Many knew about Him and worshipped in the Temple or synagogues. But God loved the world so much that He came to show us by coming for us. God took off his celestial robes, wrapped himself in the swaddling clothes of flesh and blood. And perfected that first imperfect Christmas.
Nobody expected a baby. Not God in an infant sized package. It was just too unbelievable. And while nobody expected it, it's everything we ever expected and more. If you have not received God’s Christmas gift, now is the time. "Yes, I accept Jesus as my Christ, my Lord. Right now. Right here. Thank you, God for the gift of Yourself! Forgive me of my sin and give me the desire to obey You and Your word,".
If you have, then this day is a time for worship, adoration, praise and prayer, Let’s thank God for his indescribable gift.
What does God desire – what gift can we give the One who has everything? I think regardless of what else you may be able to give, God’s first desire is our hearts.
