The Greatest Gift Series

For all know that all of our gifts for Christmas will not be equal. We may

have one or two big gifts, which are the center of our excitement, but there are

also a number of smaller gifts that wet our appetite for the grand finale when

we get to the one that is the biggest. No child is satisfied until they reach that

biggest or best gift. That is, no child that is mature enough to know the

difference between the trivial and the tremendous. Very little children do not

have a system of values, and so they may be just as excited about the ribbon,

the colored paper, or an empty box as they are about the finest gift. We laugh

at them and excuse them, for we know they do not understand value.

We would feel bad, however, if an older child got so excited about a

59-cent plastic toy and ignored the 59-dollar gift we got for them. If they went

to their room with their trivial toy and didn't even care to open their best gift,

we would feel bad, not only because of all we paid for it, and all we did to get it

wrapped, but because they would be missing out on something tremendous that

we want them to have and enjoy. In other words, everybody loses when we

choose the trivial instead of the tremendous.

I read of a wealthy merchant who decided to do a beautiful thing for a poor

friend. He gave him some gifts and a sealed envelope. The man was so excited

about the gifts he got that he forgot to open the envelope. The wife found it the

next day in the pile of wrapping paper, and she put it in a dresser. It was a

year later when they received word that the wealthy merchant had died. She

remembered the envelope from him and got it out and gave it to her husband.

When he opened it he was shocked at what he found. It was a blank check

signed by his friend. He was free to fill in any amount he desired. He quickly

filled in the blanks for several thousand dollars and rushed to the bank, but to

his utter dejection he learned that the account had been closed, and all his

possessions had passed to his heirs. He could have been rich, but he remained

poor because he focused on the trivial rather than the tremendous gift. This

sad story is repeated over and over again when people ignore God's greatest

gift.

James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and

comes down from the Father of lights.." All gifts are gifts from God, and so we

need to be thankful for all we have received, even the trivial ones. Be thankful

even that little kids can even have so much fun with an empty box, but

remember God also has a best gift. God is like that wealthy merchant. He

gives so many things, but with the many he gives us the one that can make us

rich. II Cor. 8:9 says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that

though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through

His poverty might becomes rich." God wants all of us to be rich, but the only

way this can happen is for us to focus on the tremendous gift, and not the

trivial gifts. The entire Bible has its focus on this greatest of gifts. In the Old

Testament we see-

I. THE PROMISE OF THE GREATEST GIFT.

In Isa. 9:6 we read, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." This

was the hope of the Old Testament from the beginning to the end, that God

would send the Messiah to win for man the battles he could never win on his

own. Those are the battles to defeat sin, Satan and death. This was the gift the

people of God always longed for. This gift alone could make them rich as

children of God. This gift alone would set them free and enable them to walk

in the light and be reconciled to God. This promise of God's greatest gift was

the foundation of Old Testament faith. When we come to the New Testament

we see-

II. THE PRESENTATION OF THE GREATEST GIFT.

God had been giving good things to man all through history, but

Christmas becomes the greatest day in history for giving, for on that day God

presented to the world His greatest gift. The angels announced it was good

news to all people, for that day God presented to the world His very best. He

cared enough to give the very best, and that is why He gave His Son to be our