The Greatest Gift of the Season
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
We can expect a few different patterns to occur as we approach the Christmas season.
First, we know that once December 1st arrives, any store or place of business that held off on playing Christmas music will commit to playing it full blast until the ball drops on New Year's Day. Yes, stores will even play Christmas music after Christmas.
Second, we know that ABC Family will play classic Christmas movies every day until December 26th arrives, and families will watch those movies, trying to either make memories or rekindle them.
Lastly, we can expect last-minute Christmas shoppers to storm the store in search of out-of-stock gifts that they should have bought months ago but kept putting off for one reason or another.
The culture around Christmas is frantic and exhausting when presented in the media as a time of love, sacrifice, and joy. However, when people think of Christmas, while family, snow, and hot chocolate might be high on the list, the part that excites most people is the idea of receiving gifts. Getting or giving that perfect gift feels like a hole-in-one because the perfect gift at the ideal time could change someone's whole world.
I believe the concept of gift-giving is a spiritual mark on creation. While humanity has made entire holidays around the idea, even animals will give gifts to potential mates, friends, or even strangers. It seems our Creator imbued creation with the desire to give and receive. After all, Proverbs 18:16 says,
A person’s gift opens doors for him
and brings him before the great.
Giving a gift grants access to great people. As one commentary says, "[a gift] introduces another, and makes him welcome in high places." We are even called to give ourselves and our possessions to God: Romans 12:1
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
So, in this season, we are surrounded by the giving and receiving of gifts, but that can distract us from the greatest gift ever given. A gift so good that it changed history, and yet a gift so good, it is given away for free. If giving gifts is good to us, then God giving a gift would be better than anything we could imagine.
The Gift We Receive
The Gift We Receive
The most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16: "For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." So many sermons have preached over this verse, and for good reason. It’s one of the most straightforward verses in the Bible to communicate the Gospel and the importance of Jesus. We see the love of God, the work Christ came to do, and the outcome of that work in eternal life. Even after two thousand years, the magnitude of this verse continues to weigh heavy.
I want you guys to think back to all the Christmases that you’ve experienced in your life. My assumption is that most, if not all, of you have celebrated Christmas and received a gift. Which of all the presents you received stands out to you the most? Why did that present stand out?
For me, that present was either my Nintendo DS or my Nintendo Wii. The memories that I made on those consoles will last all my life. I made friends through those devices. I beat friends in Mario Kart on those devices. The hours I spent on them are irreplaceable. But in my life now, I don’t even touch those anymore. I haven’t played the Wii since middle school, and I haven’t played the DS since high school. As amazing as those gifts were, they eventually lost their appeal and are now gone.
In our popular verse, we see that God gave us a gift because of His love for us. Simply because He loved us, He gave us a gift that outweighs anything else in the world. There are multiple reasons why a gift from God, and specifically this gift from God, is so amazing to think about.
This gift was given out of love, not out of compulsion, not out of obligation, not out of force. God loved us so much that He was willing to give over the most important Person to Him, His only Son. I also need to clearly state that Jesus Christ, God's Son, is Himself. When I say that God gave over His Son, it’s important to remember that Jesus Christ is God incarnate. God so loved the world that He sacrificed Himself to bring us back into fellowship. He wasn’t forced to act, and He didn’t act in order to manipulate us. He came down as one of us and did everything needed to present a free opportunity for salvation. He gave a gift that He didn’t need to give.
The gift was one-of-a-kind. The only thing better than a gift is a rare or personalized gift. Knowing the item you received makes the gift more enticing and interesting. Getting some basketball shoes signed by me would make them have less value, actually, but having some shoes signed by one of the great would make them sour in price. When God gave us Christ, the gift was for every single person, but the content of the gift is the rarest thing in the world. There is only one Son of God. There is only one Jesus Christ. His sacrifice and gift cannot be replicated or copied, and only counterfeits never hold up. This gift is unlike anything else.
This gift lasts forever. Like I said with my gifts from my childhood, even if the gifts hold a lot of memories, they eventually fade. Even if they last you your whole life, they won’t last into eternity. However, the Lord has provided a gift through His Son that never goes away. When the gift is received, then we are guaranteed that it will last. It doesn’t grow old with time, and it doesn’t lose its luster. When God gives a gift, especially one as important as this, He ensures that nothing can beat it and overtake it. Not only does it last, but it makes us last, too. We receive eternal life that we enjoy with our God and our Creator in His dwelling place.
Rest in the Gift
Rest in the Gift
Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”
*Our walk as believers...