Introduction:
1. We have just passed the time of year where people are scurrying about trying to find just the right gift for someone else.
a. That desire is often motivated by love, and other times it is driven by a duty.
b. In some instances people are foolishly adding to their debt in order to purchase one more present.
c. Hanging over all the shopping and purchasing is a hard-driving ad campaign to encourage people to buy more and find the right gift for that special person.
2. All this gift-buying and gift-giving reminds me of a much more important gift that was given centuries ago.
a. It isn’t hard to see all the good gifts God has given man.
b. He gives sun and rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).
c. Life and breath and everything to all living creatures (Acts 17:25).
d. God has given and continues to give all manner of wonderful gifts to people all over the world.
3. But there is one gift, above all others, that God has given to the world.
I. God Gave His Only Son.
A. John 3:16
1. Of all the gifts people have received none is greater than the gift of God’s Son.
2. Of all the gifts God has given to mankind, none is greater than the gift of His Son.
3. In Jesus, God gave mankind a way out of sin.
4. In Jesus, God gave everyone a path back to Him.
5. In Jesus, God demonstrated His love for people by giving the greatest gift of all.
B. God gave this marvelous gift because He loves people and wants to save us from sin.
1. God doesn’t want any to perish (II Peter 3:9), and gives us the chance to come back to Him through His Son.
2. God gave His Son and asks us to give in return (our obedience).
II. The Gift Is Free.
A. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”
1. During this season, gifts are exchanged because it is expected.
a. Family members buy for each other (Employees, friends, etc.)
B. God’s gift is not like that.
1. We cannot earn it and we do not deserve it.
2. We received this gift “while we were yet sinners.” (Rom. 5:8)
3. We had no relationship with God because we were sinners, yet God gives us the free gift of eternal life through the gift of His Son.
4. Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,”
a. God reached out to us even when we were undeserving and unworthy
b. We give gifts to those who treat us a certain way or who are related to us.
c. God freely gave in order to save people who were undeserving.
III. The Gift is Expensive.
A. II Cor. 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
B. I Peter 2:24, “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”
1. He died for us and became sin for us. He took our guilt and accepted it as His own.
2. When God gave His Son to die for us He paid an enormous price.
C. We think it odd or strange that people would spend so much for presents.
1. Some unwisely charge and spend years, and much interest, paying off those gifts.
2. To careful people, that kind of spending seems silly and unwarranted.
D. But God paid like that for us.
1. He sent His Son, not only to teach us, but to die for us.
2. He not only died for us, He took our sins as His own, forever removing the guilt of our wickedness so that we could become right with God.
3. This was, and is, a huge price to pay in order to save souls.
4. God paid for your sins and mine with the blood of His only Son.
5. Jesus died for us, paying the most expensive price ever for anything anywhere.
IV. This Gift Is Eternal.
A. “…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23).
1. The nature of God’s greatest gift makes it stand apart.
2. It’s not an ordinary gift, but one that will allow us to be saved for eternity
B. Can you recall the gifts you have received over the years?
1. Can you even remember what your loved ones gave you last year?
2. The gifts we give and receive may be special for a time, but after awhile we forget.
C. God’s gift is not like that.
1. It will never fail, it will never wear out, it will always be new.
2. It has power to save souls and to keep souls saved.
3. That is why the words of Jesus are so important: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;” (Matthew 6:19-20)
a. Every gift you will be given will break, wear out, or be stolen.
b. But the grace of God, given freely by Jesus, will never decay, will never wear out, and cannot be stolen.
c. This makes God’s gift the most precious gift of all, since it is eternal.
V. The Gift Will Surprise You.
A. One reason why kids love to get presents is that they enjoy surprises.
1. They tear into boxes to discover what their present is.
2. Gifts can be fun for many reasons, but the surprise can be the most fun of all.
B. God is full of surprises when it comes to His greatest gift.
1. I Timothy 1:15, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”
a. Paul knew how horrible his sins were.
b. He didn’t deserve to be forgiven but SURPRISE God forgave Him through Jesus Christ.
2. No matter how bad your life has been God is willing to forgive you in Jesus Christ.
a. This may surprise you, but sometimes the best part of a gift is the surprise.
C. Jesus lived His life demonstrating that God is full of surprises when it comes to mercy and His love.
1. Jesus ate with sinners (Zaccheus, Luke 19:1-10)
2. Jesus touched unclean lepers (Mark 1:40-42).
3. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman who had been with 5 husbands (John 4).
4. In each case Jesus surprised people by His willingness to love, to reach out and to forgive.
a. God’s greatest gift will surprise you in how powerful it can save, in who it can save, and in who it is willing to save.
D. Another surprising thing about this gift is how simple and easy it is to receive it.
1. A child who is given a present can never enjoy that gift until he/she opens it. Then the joy and the fun can truly begin.
2. The same is true with God’s gift. We must access that gift for our lives to be changed.
a. We must believe (John 3:16).
b. We must repent (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30)
c. We must confess Christ as the Son of God (Matt. 10:32; 16:16; Acts 8:37).
d. We must be buried in the waters of baptism for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38; 8:36-38; Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:12-13)
3. When we open God’s present through our response to Him, we can enjoy His gift and truly live life to the fullest.
Conclusion:
1. Some might complain that it cannot be a gift if we have to do something.
2. What we do does not earn us the gift.
3. It is merely the process by which we open the present God has given us.
4. We can avoid opening God’s gift, but then it would just sit there unused.
5. Or, we can open God’s present of salvation, and use the free, invaluable and eternal gift of God.
6. Will you receive this gift today?
