For many of us, Christmas is a favorite holiday that we look forward to with much joy. In fact, some even celebrate Christmas in July because waiting an entire 12 months for the next Christmas is just way too long. It stands to reason that this is the case with all of the gift giving and holiday decorating that goes on, not to mention all of the sweet treats that are readily available. Those are all good reasons to get excited but there is so much more to the season.
For Christians, it is a time of reflecting on the best gift we could ever receive and that gift is eternal life. It’s not just living forever that is so awesome but it’s living forever in the presence of God where everything is perfect. There’ll be no more tears, no more sickness, no more violence, anger or hate. We will live in harmony with God as He created us to be. If it was just a continuation of living in the world as it is, it wouldn’t be nearly as special. The world is corrupt and full of evil because of sin and this brings many tears.
The most humbling part of being offered this gift is that none of us deserve it. Everyone has sinned and can’t be counted worthy, on our own, to live in the presence of an all Holy God. That’s why God came up with a plan to make it possible for us to live forever with Him.
Because sin in the world needed to be dealt with, someone had to take the punishment for all of our sins. To be a sacrifice for everyone required a sinless person. Well, no one in the world was qualified for that! All who have ever lived have sinned. So God sent His son, Jesus, into the world to live among us. Even though Jesus is God, He was also fully human while he lived in the world. He was tempted just like us but lived a perfect sinless life. He could be our perfect sacrifice.
The fact that God loved us so much to be willing to send Jesus as our sacrifice AND the fact that Jesus was willing to obey His Father is so amazing. That should never be glossed over or taken lightly. When a person really takes that in and understands God’s great mercy and grace toward us, the response can only be intense gratitude.
With gratitude comes love back to God and a desire to follow Him in obedience. That’s all that God wants from us is to accept His free gift and then follow Him in obedience. We inherit eternal life at the moment we believe God and accept His gift. Even though this doesn’t make us suddenly perfect, it does change the course of our life. We begin to hate the sins we do and have a desire to live like Jesus.
So, as Christmas draws near, let your hearts be filled with an abundance of joy, because of God’s gift, and share that gospel with someone else!