The Greatest Gift
Have you ever had to give a gift to someone, who has everything? It is very hard to find that just right present for my wife, when all she wants is my undying devotion and love.
I am very blessed because she also loves me unconditionally and supports God’s will in our lives. The greatest gift that my children could give me would be their love and for them to love each other and forgiving each other’s faults.
Paul tells us that we are to love our wives as Christ loved the Church. Have you ever thought about how much God really loves us? In terms of gifts, God gave us the greatest gift possible, His Son.
Let’s look at what God gave us and what we give Him in return.
John 3:16
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(NIV)
What greater gift can God give than His one and only Son? Could you give your son to someone knowing that he would die a horrible dead because of someone’s bad behavior? God loves us so much that He allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born here on this earth. God didn’t allow His Son to be born in luxurious surroundings or to parents of great wealth. But God told a young virgin girl named Mary that she would bear the Savior of the World. So Christ was born of a humble woman and in humble surroundings. Joseph and Mary even had to leave all that they had to take Jesus to Egypt so that He would not be killed. When Jesus began His ministry He had to suffer reticule and rejection, but He didn’t quit. Jesus continued to teach the Good News and to train His disciples in the will of God. Jesus could have given up and said that we weren’t worth all the bother, but He didn’t, because He loves us too much.
Jesus also gave us the greatest gift that a person could give.
John 15:13-14
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
(NIV)
Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to suffer and lay down His life for us. For parents, this is easy to understand. Which one of us wouldn’t give our life, to save the life of one of our children? This is true unconditional love. Jesus knew that He would have to suffer and die on the cross so that we might be saved, but Jesus also knew that He would be raised from the dead on the third day.
John 10:17-18
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-- only to take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
(NIV)
Think about what Jesus suffered because of us. Yes, it was our sins, yours and mine, that caused the nails to be driven through his hands. First the one hand and then the other. Think what it would feel like to have someone hammer a nail through your hand. And then to have the same thing done to the other hand. Remember all this took place after He was flogged with His back cut and bleeding. A crown of thorns forced on His head causing pain and bleeding. And then having to carry the heavy wooden cross on his back for a long distance. I can’t imagine how much pain Jesus must have been in. We complain and run to the doctor at the slightest pain, but Christ endured more pain in those few hours than any pain that any of us as experienced.
After nailing His hands to the cross bar, they then placed his feet together and hammered a nail through both feet. But Jesus endured all of this pain and never passed out. And then they began to raise the cross up so the bottom would fall into a hole that had been chiseled out of the rock and the cross would stand upright. When the cross was almost vertical, the bottom slipped into the hole with a jarring thump. Can you imagine the pain that shot throughout Jesus’ body when the bottom of the cross fell into that hole? There is no way that any of us could endure such pain. But Christ loves us so much that He endured all of this willingly. He could have come down off the cross at anytime or struck everyone dead, but He didn’t. Why? Christ knew that a perfect sacrifice had to be made for our sins. Jesus is the only one that could and did live a perfect, sinless life here on earth. He knew that for us to be saved, He had to stay on that cross. What amazes me the most is what He said while suffering on that cross.
Luke 23:34
34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." ……(NIV)
If it had been you or me, there would be no way that we would have been able to forgive the people that were crucifying us, but with Christ all things are possible. He even loved the ones nailing Him to the cross and asked His Father to forgive them. We need to learn from this, that if Christ can forgive His crucifiers, then we need to learn to forgive the ones who offends us. Some people can’t even forgive and love family members. If they can’t love their brothers and sisters, then how can they love their enemies? We must learn to love as Christ loves and to forgive as Christ forgives.
Matt 6:14-15
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
(NIV)
But the greatest gift that Christ gave us was when He took on our sins, yours and mine. It was almost 2000 years ago that Christ was crucified, but it was our sins today that crucified Him. As Paul tells us in the book of Romans, if we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and still continue to deliberately sin, then we are continuing to crucify Christ. Christ died once for our sins, and we are to repent and live a righteous life. Our flesh was crucified with Christ on the cross, and we were born again with the resurrection of Christ. So why do we continually sin?
Mark 15:34
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- Which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
(NIV)
At that ninth hour Jesus suffered something greater than any pain that He had endured thus far. Christ took my sins and your sins upon himself. The sins of the whole world past, present and future. With God being a perfectly righteous God, He could not look upon the sin that Christ had taken on. So God turned His head away from Jesus. This is why Jesus said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This is the first and only time that Jesus had been out of fellowship with His Father. This is also the first and only time that Jesus had addressed His Father as God. Sometimes we get out of fellowship with our parents and we have this emptiness feeling inside of us. Christ endured this also when God had to look away because of our sin that He had taken on. I imagine that being out of fellowship with God, even for these few minutes, was more painful for Jesus than any physical suffering that He had endure thus far.
Later knowing that all was now complete, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty"
John 19:30
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(NIV)
The Greek word for "it is finished" is Teleo (tel-eh-o) which is an accounting term meaning "paid in full". At this time Christ took the list of our sins and stamped PAID IN FULL across the front. Christ made the perfect blood sacrifice, once and forever.
All of this would have been meaningless if Christ had not risen from the tomb on the third day. He now sits at the right hand of God in heaven interceding for us against our accuser the devil. Not wanting us to be alone God gave us another gift. He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, to comfort us and to lead us in all things. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, we are then in constant communion with God.
The best gift that God has given us is, knowing that we will live for eternity in the presence of God, if we believe and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. I can only imagine what it will be like in Heaven. I do know this. There will be no more pain, no more sorrow and no more tears.
Remember the gifts that God has given us. Gifts that we don’t deserve, but because of His love for us, He gave them willingly and freely.
It is customary to give a gift in return to someone who gives us one. So what do we give someone who has everything? God gave His greatest gift to us, His son. What do we give God in return? Everything in this world already belongs to God, He created everything. So what does He expect in return for His gift? He expects obedience, praise, worship and love. With all that God did to save us, why can’t we even come regularly to church to worship Him?
Heb 10:25
25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(NIV)
We are to attend church regularly, so to grow in the faith and to encourage one another.
This is more important today than any other time in history. With the signs of the time, I believe that the Day of our Lord’s return is approaching and is near. I pray that I would be preaching His Gospel when He does return for His church.
As Christian we are to obey God’s commandments.
Matt 22:36-39
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’
(NIV)
God must come first in our lives and we must love Him more than anything in our lives, even more than our spouse and children. God must come before our work or our pleasure. If we really love God then He is constantly in our thoughts and all people should be able to see the light of Christ in us. We are also told that we must love our neighbors. Our neighbors are everyone in the world. All other commandments and teachings are base on these. We are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. When people see us, they should be able to see the light of Christ in us. To be the salt of the earth is to uplift all that is good in the world and to be against all that is sin. This is where most Christians fall short. We are afraid to speak out against anything that is sin because it may offend someone or may be politically incorrect. On September 11th, terrorist killed over 4000 people. Americans were outraged. But everyday over 4000 unborn babies are murdered by abortionist. Where is the outcry and rage over this? The Bible and prayer has been taken out of our schools and replaced with books on witchcraft, pornography, discussion on tolerance of other lifestyles and religions and the handing out of condoms. Where is the outcry? We must put God first in our lives and the hardest of all, follow the will that God has for you. God has a will and purpose for every baby that is conceived. That will is to accept Jesus Christ has their Lord and Savior. Then God has a will for each Believer that accepts Christ. God has called each of us for a purpose and He will let you know what that calling is. But because He created us with a free will, we have the choice of whether we will follow His will or not. I will tell you if you follow God’s calling for you, life will never be dull and you will experience a peace that you have never experience before. I regret not accepting God’s calling to the ministry 40 years ago, but I am glad I finally did. What is God calling you to do? Teach Sunday school, drive the church van, help with the youth, tell your neighbor about Christ, feed the hungry, give to the poor, enter the mission fields or something else? Are you ready to commit to it today? God is calling you to serve, are you willing to accept. Will you make that commitment today?
If you have never accepted Christ has your personal Savior, then the gift that God wants from you is to accept Jesus Christ has your Savior. Admit that you are a sinner; tell God that you are sorry for those sins and with His help you will turn away from those sins. Admit that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He lives today and sits at the right hand of the Father.
Ask Jesus to come and live in your heart and to fill you with His Holy Spirit. If you really mean this with all of your heart, you will have eternal life in Heaven. If you don’t pray this prayer and don’t accept Jesus has your Savior before you die, then you will spend eternality in constant torment in Hell. The Bible tells us that when we hear the gospel message and we are old enough to understand it’s meaning, then we have to make a decision. Some churches try place an age on when a child should accept Christ. There is no age limit. When that child understands the salvation message and the Holy Spirit calls that child, then it is time. Parents don’t hinder that child from making that choice. We don’t know when we will die. Most of us would like to think that we will live to a ripe old age, but the truth is that we could die in the next 5 minutes. So if you have never accepted Christ as your savior, please do it before you walk out the door today. You might not have another chance.
Jesus is waiting. He doesn’t care how bad you have been or whether you are involved in drugs, pornography or if you are an alcoholic. There is nothing that is so bad that Jesus will not forgive. He will even help you to turn your life around. We can’t do it by ourselves. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord. He loves you and He is waiting for you. Come forward now and give your life to Jesus, who endured the pain and suffering and even death for you. But remember on the third day Christ arose from the dead and now lives and sits at the right hand of the Father waiting for you to accept Him.
With your heads bowed and eyes close, while the invitation is being sung, be in prayer for those that may be here today that doesn’t know Christ has their Savior. If you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior, come now. If God is calling you to make a commitment to serve, you come now and let Pastor Shawn know. All that needs Christ come now.
