God's Gifts This Christmas

God’s Gifts to Us

December 9, 2001

Here they are I know you’ve been waiting for them, the top 10 real Christmas wishes.

10) A new SUV that would fit in my stocking

9) Two words: Batteries Included

8) No Payments until 2050

7) To Get Christmas Cards out by Easter

6) To complete Christmas shopping at the dollar store

5) Gifts shipped on December 23 will arrive on time

4) To find a string of lights that work

3) No Assembly Required

2) The kids would say, “Hey, let’s sleep in.”

1) A note that says “Paid in Full”

Well it’s only a little over a couple of weeks before the big day. You already? Do you have all your gifts bought and wrapped, the tree decorated, the baking done? Hey don’t give me dirty looks, I’m just asking. More then at any other time of the year people e are thing about gifts. Either the gifts that you want for yourself or the gifts that you need to buy for the ones you love. And gifts aren’t bad, in the book of Matthew Jesus was talking to the crowds that had gathered to hear him preach and this is what he told them about gifts, Matthew 7:11 If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. And so in that one thought Jesus confirms that we are a gift giving people and that God is a gift giving God.

If we could look at your Christmas lists what you want and what you want to give we would probably see a wide range of gifts covered, from the practical to the provocative. Most of us know what would make us smile if we found it under the tree on Christmas morning. Some people will be surprised, others haven’t taken any chances and they have already taken care of their own gifts. But what about God’s gifts to you? The ones that won’t be under the tree.

The first and most important thing we need to unwrap is 1) God’s Salvation Acts 28:28 So I want you to realize that this salvation from God is also available to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.” This is probably the most important gift that you will ever receive. This is the eternal gift. The gift that not only gives you eternal life, but gives you eternal life in the presence of God. Sometimes we get the impression if you are a Christian then you are going to live forever, and if you’re not a Christian, then you’re just going to die. And yet according to the word of God everybody’s going to live forever, the good the bad and the indifferent. The only difference will be the address. You see if the Christian lives forever in the presence of God the non-believer will life forever in the absence of God. In the absence of God and In the absence good, in the absence of light and in the absence love.

And so there are two things that you need to realize today the first is that without Jesus Christ there is no salvation. Jesus said in John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Jesus is the way, not a way, but the way. If there were other ways to God other then the sacrifice that Jesus made, then he didn’t have to make it. And Jesus reiterated that time and time again John 3:3 “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.”

The second thing we need to realize about the salvation of God is that it’s a gift, it can’t be earned, it can’t be bought, it can only be received as a gift. Romans 6:23 The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. And Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

And so the first gift we receive from God is the gift of salvation. And I’ll go out on a limb here and guess that most of you folks have received that gift. And if you haven’t then I want to ask you right now, “How come?” Do you not believe? Or are you unwilling to surrender? It has to be one of the other. Now because the rest of the message is for those who have received the gift of salvation the rest of you can use this time to mull over the fact that all you have to do is tell God that you are sorry for your sins, and that you want him to forgive you and to help you to live for him. It’s that simple that is the gift of God.