The Greatest Gift of All
By Jeff Cranston
Christmas is that blessed time of year when nearly everyone’s thoughts turn to gifts and giving. As we think of gifts and giving at this Christmas season, let us meditate on the fact that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The blessed Heavenly Father gave the first Christmas Gift. Romans 8:32 states: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”
Salvation is the gift of God. The Scripture says in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
As we think about God’s glorious Christmas Gift, let’s consider that it was an unsolicited gift.
An Unsolicited Gift
Many times, Christmas gifts are the result of a specific request, but not so with God’s Christmas Gift. His was an unsolicited Gift. It wasn’t man who saw his need and asked for God’s help; it was the Father who foresaw our need and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. When Adam and Eve sinned and fled from the presence of God, it wasn’t Adam who saw his need and sought the Father; but the Father who, knowing Adam’s need, sought him. It was God who asked, “Where are you, Adam?” not Adam who asked, "Where are You, God?"
Salvation is not an afterthought with God. The Bible says that Jesus is "… the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). Christ is and was the ultimate sacrificial Lamb, given for you and for me. How wonderful at this blessed Christmas season to think that the greatest Gift ever given was unsolicited; we didn’t ask for it, but "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
An Unlimited Gift
For most of us, there are limits to what we can give and spend on Christmas gifts … and that’s a good thing. But God’s Christmas Gift is unlimited. John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Jesus Christ was God’s Gift to the entire world. No one, no matter how poor, is excluded. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world," states I John 2:2. And Hebrews 2:9 plainly says: " … that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."
The Bible says that Jesus died for everyone, no matter how educated or uneducated, no matter how wealthy or poor, no matter how privileged or underprivileged, no matter how unloved or unwanted. God’s Christmas Gift is unlimited.
No one will die and go to hell and look back to heaven and say, “I wanted to be saved, but Jesus Christ didn’t die for me!” The Gift is available to one and all, and no one is excluded except he who excludes himself by refusing to trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
In the last great invitation found in the Bible, our Lord opens the door as wide as He can by saying, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).
An Unspeakable Gift
Thinking of this wonderful Gift, the Apostle Paul said, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift" (II Corinthians 9:15). Rest assured that God never gives anything but the best: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Jesus Christ is God’s unspeakable Gift! He is beyond telling! He is indescribable! He is inexpressible!
An Unchanging Gift
Hebrews 13:8 declares, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
Times change, styles change, attitudes and tastes change, history and math books change. Nearly everything we know of changes. But Jesus Christ is God’s unchanging Gift. His perfection demands His immutability. There can be no moral change in Jesus. If He got better, it would mean He was not perfect before He improved; and if He got worse, it would mean He was no longer perfect.
But not only is there no moral change in Jesus, but there is also no change within Himself. He never differs from Himself. He never changes from understanding to more understanding, from impatient to patient, from merciful to more merciful, or from willing to more willing. All that Jesus is He always has been, and all that He has been and is, He ever will be.
Christmas gifts we received several years ago have now become obsolete, but Jesus is always current. He is always new, and He never changes. He is the same today to those who trust Him as Savior as He was to those who trusted Him 2,000 years ago!
An Undeserved Gift
The very fact that salvation is a gift indicates that it is undeserved. If it is earned or deserved, it is no longer a gift. A gift is something offered with no strings attached. Salvation is wholly of grace. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Many religions teach that salvation is part of grace and part of works, but that simply cannot be. Romans 11:6 reminds us: "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."
Regarding those who work to earn heaven, Jesus said in Matthew 7:22-23: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Works offered to God in an attempt to earn salvation are described by Jesus as “works of iniquity.” If one worked to earn heaven, the motive behind the work would render it ineffective. All Christian service must be motivated by love.
There is only one other way for us to enjoy heaven: It must be a gift. And that is exactly what the Bible says. Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4:10, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."
An Unclaimed Gift
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," but the whole world has not yet received Jesus Christ as Savior! Christ tasted death for every man, but every man is not trusting Christ for salvation. To multiplied millions, Jesus Christ is still a stranger. How sad to imagine that after sacrifice and expense, some gift is unclaimed, some package is unopened! Yet the greatest gift of all, God’s Christmas Gift, Jesus Christ, is still unclaimed by millions!
Perhaps you have never trusted Christ as Savior; you have never received Him. If that be the case, let me urge you to trust Him now. Don’t wait another moment. The Bible warns, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Corinthians 6:2). The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is sufficient for all, but it is efficient only to those who believe.
The words believe and receive are used synonymously in the Scriptures. The Bible says in John 1:12, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." To believe is to receive. The Bible word believe means to trust, to depend on, to rely on. To receive God’s Christmas Gift simply means that you must admit that you are a sinner, believe the gospel story that Jesus Christ died for our sins at Calvary, and then trust Him completely. The greatest Gift is the Gift of Jesus—the greatest Gift of all.
Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, South Carolina.