Who wants ‘ten lords a-leaping’ or ‘six geese a-laying’ for Christmas! Would your ‘true love’ remain your true love for giving such bizarre gifts?
Has a loved one ever given you a gift that you didn’t like? Ever have to ask, “What do I want with that?”
At Christmas, a gift was given. But many people today wonder what they are supposed to do with it. The gift was the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.
If we read the Gospel of Luke (a biography of Jesus), we would see that on the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem there were some shepherds looking after their sheep, when suddenly:
…an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. The… angel said… “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day… a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:9-11)
An angel declared to a group of working men in the field a breaking news story that would change the world forever.
The Saviour was born! The gift was given: The Lord Jesus Christ.
But why? Doesn’t “Saviour” imply that we need to be saved from something?
The Bible says that Jesus came to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). We have all sinned. (Sin includes things like lying, stealing, looking with lust, hating, getting drunk, failing to love God, etc.).
It is because we have sinned that we need this gift of God. Christ Jesus in love came to this earth to forgive people like us.
How did Christ do this? He did it by taking the punishment His people deserved. We deserve to be judged because of our sins; we deserve death and hell.
But Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for sinners and three days later rose again from the dead. The Christ of the cradle had become the Christ of the cross.
Forgiveness of sins is not something we can earn, but rather it is a free gift given to us by God. To receive this free gift you must repent (turn from your sins) and trust that Jesus Christ died and rose again.
If you would do this you’d be granted eternal life. This Christmas would you receive the greatest gift ever given?