What’s the best Christmas gift you have received?
Have you ever received a gift that has changed your life?
Or a gift that has inspired you and affected your future?
When the actor Nicolas Cage, was a young boy his father gave him a little Pinocchio for Christmas.
Being a boy, he was a little rough with it, and broke its head off.
His father suggested they bury Pinocchio.
The next morning on the very place where they had buried Pinocchio was a large wooden sculpture of Pinocchio.
The next day he then went about burying his match box cars, toy planes, a castle, even his GI Jo doll hoping they too would transform into something larger.
Although they didn’t to this day Nicolas Cage says that his little Pinocchio gift was one of the best gifts he had received because it gave him the gifts of imagination, hope and inspiration.
And these continue to help him through life and in his career as an actor.
So what about you?
Are there gifts that have had an influence on your life?
Are there gifts that have changed your life?
I love it when people take time to buy a gift,
to give a gift that they have put some thought behind
that will be useful and helpful.
Because such gifts remind me of the Christmas gift of Jesus.
It is easy to hear the Christmas story and think what a wonderful story.
However the Christmas story is far more than just a lovely story that happened in the past.
The Christmas story is a turning point in your life and my life.
When we see it like that we begin to understand that at Christmas God is announcing to the world
that here is a gift that will change your life.
The gift of Jesus changes our future,
and as a result it impacts our lives now.
Listen again to Titus 3, verse 4 and 5
But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us,
not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
Jesus didn’t come into the world for us because we deserved Him
or because we were friends with him or part of his family.
Many of the gifts we give at Christmas are to repay people,
or because we feel they deserve something
or it is expected because they are family or friends.
But this is not why God gives us the gift of Jesus.
It was because we need Jesus.
Each of us has a major problem.
Without Jesus, we would have no hope of a future.
Some of you may know of the criminal character, Chopper Read.
He is dieing, and the only thing that will give him some extra years on this earth is a liver transplant.
Without that gift he will be dead within a few years.
However he refuses to take a transplant because he says he does not deserve it.
Likewise none of us deserve the gift of Jesus.
As God tells us through Romans 3, we all fail to meet God’s expectations.
Yet we need Jesus and Jesus encourages us to grab hold and use him and the gifts that come along with him.,
God is so generous He is still willing to give us Jesus the gift.
And Jesus the gift from God,
actually fixes up the problems that hinder us
having a relationship with God and with others.
Without the gift of Jesus, we would have no hope of a future with God.
A future that the bible says is a place where nothing will perish, spoil or fade.
A future that the bible says is place where there will be no tears and no pain.
There is no way of obtaining such a future without Jesus.
And God’s generous approach means that he freely gives us this precious gift of Jesus, without us needing to earn it.
And the gift of Jesus is not just limited to Jesus himself.
When we trust Jesus, the gifts for life now and in the future continue to come our way.
When judgement day comes,
Jesus will be standing by each person who says I trust Jesus to get me into heaven,
And he will be saying no matter what you have done,
or when you have let me down,
I came to earth for you to pay for your sins
As John 3:16-17 says
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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
And so with the gift of Jesus there comes ongoing benefits.
In the Gospel of John chapter 9
When a blind man encounters Jesus
He receives the gift of sight.
It also meant he was no longer a beggar
Imagine for a moment what that would have been like.
Being blind, then being able to see.
No longer needing to beg
because Jesus came to you.
And the gift Jesus gave him that day continued throughout his life.
And the gift God gave us in Jesus affects everyday of our life.
The gift of Jesus also changes how many people live today.
One of my friends shares the story
that although they went to church for most of their life
it was only later in life that they really saw Jesus as a gift for them.
A gift that accepts them as they are
and a gift that opens up the doors to heaven for them,
without them having to do anything but trust and believe.
As a result their entire perspective of life changed.
For many years their life evolved around them,
their goals,
what they had done,
the problems they were experiencing
and what they believed they deserved.
As a result they would squeeze God into their lives when it suited them.
And they would only be interested in helping others
if it didn’t disrupt their lives and they could get some advantage from it.
However after seeing Jesus as a gift their outlook on life changed.
They are no longer living only for themselves or their family.
They realise they don’t have to earn God’s favour.
They realise they already have it.
Through Jesus God has already accepted them,
something that was personally stated when they were baptised.
Now they have grab hold of the gift of Jesus.
They rely daily on God’s forgiveness and His guidance and help to shake off sins and change their ways which are not consistent with God’s perspective on life.
Why?
Because they are so thankful for what God has given them,
That everyday they use Jesus the gift.
Their purpose of living is not about earning respect with God or anyone else.
Instead it is about listening to God everyday and His will for their lives.
As a result they are now more contented,
because they see how much they are loved by God.
And they are constantly looking for opportunities and ways to generously share Jesus the gift,
because as they say “God is so generous to us in giving us the gift of Jesus.”
Everyday they continue experiencing the benefits of Jesus as they read the bible, pray and interact with other Christians.
And they continue sharing His gifts with others.
Meaning that others are also experiencing this wonderful gift.
So as you share gifts today,
as you eat the Christmas lunch or dinner
remember that Jesus gives you a gift that continues forever,
a lifetime with God.
Jesus is the gift that you need and the gift that changes your life.
Amen
