Everybody in the world has a birthday. It doesn't make any
difference if they are rich or poor, black or white, or educated or
uneducated. Everybody has one in every age. Methuselah had 969
of them before he died, and that was the world record until Jesus
came. Jesus only had 33 birthdays before He died on the cross, but
He conquered death and rose again after 3 days, and so He has
never really missed a birthday since He was born in that manger of
Bethlehem. He has had about 2000 of them, which is over twice as
many as Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived. That makes
Jesus the record holder for birthdays.
But the birthday of Jesus is not just the greatest because it is
the oldest, but because there is no other birthday like it in history.
His is the only birthday where we all receive a gift greater than
anything we can give to Him whose birthday it is. At many
birthday parties the guests receive prizes and get small gifts, but
who ever heard of the guest getting more and greater gifts than the
one whose birthday is being celebrated? Only at Christmas does
this happen, and that is why it is such a joyous birthday.
Now what is it that we all receive from God on Christmas?
John tells us that God gave us a Word. A word doesn't sound like
much of a gift does it? If all I had to give was words it would be
cheap and easy task to do my Christmas shopping. I wouldn't have
to leave the house. I could just say great words like love, joy and
peace to each one in my family and I would be done. A word would
be a very disappointing gift. All of you would be sad this Christmas
if all you got was a word. Why then is the Word that God gave us
the greatest gift in the world? It is because the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us. The Word was the name of Jesus before He
became a child in the manger. He was with God forever in the past,
and He was just like God, for He was invisible. God had wonderful
thoughts for man back then when Jesus was the Word. God
thought, "I love man even though he is sinful. I love him and want
to save him. I want to make it possible for his sin to be forgiven so
he can enter my presence in peace, and have fellowship with me."
Now all of those great thoughts did not do man any good until
God put His thoughts into action. Parents might think of how nice
it would be to get Billy a new bike, but what Billy really wants is to
see the new bike. Good thoughts are not enough for us, and so it is
with God's good thoughts. So God sent His good thoughts into the
world wrapped in swaddling clothes. His Word became flesh where
we could see, hear and feel His love. Gifts are words we can see and
touch. In your mind you have a thought that you love your child.
It is a good word you have in your mind, but then you take action so
that your word becomes a gift that your child can see and touch,
and then they can experience the reality of your thought.
God so loved the world, but He didn't just say so, for that
would be the Word staying as a word. God so loved that He gave
His Son, and that was the Word becoming flesh. God gave us a
Person on Christmas, and there is no greater gift than that. God
gave us himself and all His love in Jesus. If we receive Jesus, we
have the best that God can give. We have His best thought, which
was His Christmas thought. It was His thought that He loves us
and will save us if we receive His Word.
