It’s that time of year again. . . Christmas. How are you doing on purchasing those Christmas presents? They say that the Saturday before Christmas is the busiest shopping day of the year, but the most grueling shopping day of the year is the day after Christmas. That’s the day when we return all those presents we didn’t care for. That shirt that was too small, the dress that was popular two seasons ago, and that thing from Aunt Irene that you never could quite figure out.
That’s the tough thing about buying gifts. We want to give things that will be cherished for a lifetime, but we’re lucky if it’s not returned the next day. We want our gifts to remind friends how much we care for them, but most often, they cant’ remember what you gave them last year.
There’s a lot of gifts on the market today that have a short shelf life, but God has some priceless gifts for us that we can treasure for a lifetime.
One gift we should treasure is the give of the virgin birth. No one really knows when Jesus was born. God didn’t choose a specific day for us to celebrate His entrance into the world, but it’s an event that the Bible says is certainly worth celebrating. God appeared to a common Jewish girl and told her that he had a part for her to play in the greatest event in history. She was to give birth to the long hoped for Messiah. Mary was so overjoyed at the thought of being chosen to bring the Savior into the world that she sang a song of joy with words like, "My soul praises the Lord; my heart rejoices in God my Savior, because he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl. From now on, all people will say that I am blessed, because the Powerful One has done great things for me. His name is holy." (Luke 1:46-49 NCV). When Mary went to tell her cousin Elizabeth about the good news, who was pregnant with John the Baptist said that he jumped within her when Mary came to visit.
And when Jesus was born to this common couple in a backyard stable in Bethlehem, the angels couldn’t contain their joy and they sang out, " "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."(Luke 2:14 NIV). The shepherds who heard this chorus were frightened at first, but the God’s angel told them, "Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord.(Luke 2:10-11 NCV) It’s no wonder that our world pauses to rejoice as we remember God’s great gift--He came to visit us.
But it’s important to note that Jesus was not born in Jerusalem as a son of the ruling class. He did not attract the "movers and shakers" in Jewish society. He was born to a blue collar worker and reared across the tracks in Nazareth. It tells me that God knows the little people of this world. Few of us will ever achieve notoriety and attract the world’s attention, but we all have God’s attention. The Bible says that there’s not a sparrow that falls out of the sky that God doesn’t know about. Jesus even said that God knows how many hairs are on your head! (Matthew10:29)
Another gift we should cherish is the painful crucifixion. Jesus said that he didn’t come into the world to pass out condemnation, but to bring salvation. It was a sound bite that drew the crowds in masses, but few realized what it would take to usher in this promised salvation. Humanity’s sin had to be punished and Jesus was just the person for the job. That’s why, when the political leaders grew nervous about Jesus’ growing power and began to devise plans to have him put to death, Jesus didn’t turn from his mission. He entered Jerusalem for the last time fully anticipating his arrest. He stood quietly during his monkey trial, and he knew the verdict even before it was announced. They whipped him and punched him. They mocked him and spat on him. Then they nailed him to a wooden cross and left him to die there, stripped of all his clothes and dignity. God on a cross.
It’s a bit outlandish to think about such a humiliating event being a treasure we cherish, but Paul said that it is God’s powerful way of saving people. The execution of an innocent man paid the price I owed for my sinfulness. The shed blood of a guiltless man cleansed me of all wrong.
It was the only way to save humanity and it tells me how much God must love us. Had there been any other way, God surely would have chosen it. But, as John said, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
One final gift we should cherish is the powerful message of the good news that Jesus told his followers to spread throughout the world. It began on the day of Pentecost, when Peter and the other disciples gathered in Jerusalem. The ground began to rumble and a powerful wind whirled around them. Flames appeared above their heads and they began to speak in other world languages, so that the crowd that had gathered from around the world understood them in their native tongues.
And then Peter began to explain what was going on. He said this day was promised long ago by the prophets. It’s the day when God’s Kingdom takes up residence on earth. He told the gathered crowd that God had made Jesus, whom they crucified both Lord and Christ, and when the horrified crowd cried out, "What shall we do?" Peter shared with them the good news that God had been eagerly waiting to make known. He said, "Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away. It is for everyone the Lord our God calls to himself."(Acts 2:38-39 NCV) The Bible says that day, three thousand people turned their lives over to Jesus that day.
That same message was taken up by thousands of believers as they talked to neighbors, coworkers, family members, and friends. And hundreds of thousands of people became followers of Christ. In fact, Paul said it’s the mission of the church to, "make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 2:27).
How do I get Christ in me and participate in the hope of God’s glory?
First, I must believe. When an earthquake shook the jail in Philippi where Paul and Silas were help prisoner, the jailer thought for sure that all the prisoners had escaped. When he discovered that they were all still in their cells, he turned to Paul and asked what he had to do to be saved. Paul said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." The jailer knew Paul and his companion were in jail for teaching about Jesus and promising that hope of glory. Now was the moment of decision. . . did he believe the story. Was Jesus God’s Son? Was his death part of God’s eternal plan? Did he come back to life after three days in the grave? Paul said believing those things is vital to experiencing God’s rich blessings.
Next, I must surrender myself to Jesus. The Bible puts it this way. "If you use your mouth to say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) If Jesus was really God in flesh and blood and if he did come back to life again, then he’s the most powerful being I’ve ever witnessed and I want to know his plans for me. I want to please him.
But pleasing Him means that I must change. All my life, I’ve been committed to pleasing myself. Now, my desire should be to please God. Peter told people, "change your hearts and lives! Come back to God and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will send a time of rest." (Acts 3:19)
Finally, I must be baptized. There’s a lot of discussion in the religious world about baptism. If you start listening to everyone, you’ll probably end up rather confused. But the simple story of Christian baptism is found in the Bible. When people decided to become followers of Christ, then they were baptized, immersed in water. The Bible says it’s the moment in which God blesses us with the forgiveness he promised. That’s why when Paul became a Christian, he was told to, "get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his name." (Acts 22:16).
But it’s also the moment in which we receive the purity that God promises to all his children. No matter how bad you’ve been, no matter what you’ve done, the Bible says that all, "who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 2:27).
In a world where gifts are unwrapped one day and in the yard sale the next, isn’t it time that we start focusing on the priceless gifts God has given us? Nothing can ever surpass the gift of the baby in Bethlehem. No package can make a more lasting impact than the dying Savior on the cross. No present can ever satisfy more than the welcomed call, "Come back to God and he will forgive your sins." These are gifts you’ll never return, never out grow, never give away. They are priceless.
