The Gifts Jesus Gives at Christmas
Matthew 2:10-11
The whole meaning of the Advent season prior to Christmas is this: a gift from God is on the way. The basic reason we offer Christmas gifts to each other is to honor and reflect the only perfect gift ever offered—the gift of God through a Bethlehem baby named Jesus.
Gerald Horton Bath tells about a missionary in Africa who was teaching his students about gift giving at Christmas. On Christmas morning one of the Africans brought the missionary a seashell of lustrous beauty. When asked where he had discovered such an extraordinary shell, he said he had walked many miles to a certain bay, the only spot where such shells could be found. The teacher thanked him and said, “It was wonderful of you to travel so far to get this lovely gift for me.” The African’s eyes brightened and he responded: “Long walk, part of gift.”
So, in an effort to give the perfect gift, God did not send a general or a politician or a preacher. God sent himself. In the words of that late great preacher, Wallace Hamilton; “God came walking down the stairway of heaven with a baby in his arms.”
#When Annette (my daughter) was in elementary school I took her to a watch repair shop to get her Mickey Mouse watch repaired. The repairman looked at the watch and after close examination said he couldn’t fix the watch because it was too cheap. When Annette heard that, her lip dropped and she almost burst into tears.
On our way home I tried to cheer her up and told her to add a watch to her Christmas list. She was silent for most of the way home.
At the evening meal Annette blurted out: “I’m going to get a watch for Christmas.” I said, “Now wait a minute, I said you should add a watch to your list.” She said, “I will but I know you’ll get it for me.”
God gave us the perfect Gift of His Son. Because of who God is we have the assurance he will continue to bless us with his gifts. There are several gifts God gives us that I want to remind you about this Christmas Eve.
First, there is the gift of forgiveness.
Sin separated us from our Creator. Jesus came with the good news of salvation. Jesus provided forgiveness of sin. When you repent and confess your sin Jesus is faithful and just to forgive you and cleans you from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9
A second gift offered by Christ is eternal life.
When we step out in faith and claim Jesus as Savior and Lord we don’t have to wonder where we will spend eternity. Our heavenly reservations were made that first moment when we repented of our sins and genuinely believed in Jesus as Lord. When we die and reach heaven’s gates, no one will pull our records for judgment. The mark of Christ will be visible upon us. His righteousness will cover us and therefore the gates of heaven will be wide open for us. I John 5:111-12
A third Gift Christ offers is a heart transplant.
Not the surgical variety. What we need is a spiritual heart transplant. In Christ we experience a change of values, attitudes, desires, and will. Jesus takes up residence in the depths of our subconscious and transforms us from the inside out.
An education is wonderful, but it will not necessarily touch the heart, the will, or the values of a person’s life. You can take all of the Dale Carnegie courses but still not touch the heart, the will, or your values. When Christ is enthroned as Lord of your life, he creates a fruit-basket turnover of everything in the heart, the will, and what you value. As the Bible declares, “If a person be in Christ, he is a new creation old things pass away and all has become new.” (II Cor. 5:17)
A fourth gift offered by Christ is inner peace.
Luke 2:13, 14
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
If we could give a significant gift to others it would be peace. If we could give the world a gift, it would be peace. Not just the absence of war, but personal, inner peace.
People who do not have inner peace have inner war, a war between their selfish desires and the ways of God. When a person becomes a Christian, the war ends, because self surrenders to Christ. In the wake of the surrender, Christ sends an inner tranquility that no tranquilizer on earth can touch. “My peace I give unto you,” said Jesus, “not as the world gives do I give unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)
God’s greatest gift—the gift of God through a Bethlehem baby named Jesus.
Today many of us chase after all sorts of things to calm the turmoil. What do you want this Christmas? What gift is it that would really benefit you? Is it winning the lottery, or receiving a special gift from somebody, or restoring some relationship, or getting that job promotion, or getting a big bonus? While those things may be helpful, what many have discovered is these things never settle us. They are never enough to bring peace to our hearts. The angels announced that God had given his gift to us to bring peace.
Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that in me you might have peace. In the world, we’re going to have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” Jesus didn’t come to give us a holiday. He didn’t come so we could have a festive celebration. He came to reconcile the world to himself. If we know God, we can know peace.
The Fifth Gift Jesus Gives is Wonder
Luke 2:18, 19
And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
It’s an interesting word, “ponder.” Mary certainly had a lot of things to ponder, didn’t she? A young teen age woman wasn’t ready to give birth. She gives birth in a stable or a cave area. Angels showed up. Magi, Shepherds, lots of singing and celebration. Here she is holding in her hands the Messiah. Certainly, Mary had many things to think about.
Max Lucado describes it like this in his book, Cosmic Christmas. “Do you know who you hold, Mary? You have the author of grace in your arms. He who is ageless is now moments old. He who is limitless is now suckling your milk. He who strides upon the stars now has legs too weak to walk. The hands which held the oceans are now an infant’s fists. To him who has never asked a question, you’ll teach the name of the wind. The source of language will learn words from you. He who has never stumbled, you’ll carry. He who has never hungered, you’ll feed. The King of Creation is in your arms.”
What about you? Do we spend much time pondering and reflecting on your lives? Thinking about where you stand with God? Or do you just get so caught up in living that it becomes so daily we forget to reflect? Ponder doesn’t mean to brood or grieve or even meditate. It’s to be in wonder.
We’ve lost that today. Most of us have the “Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt” mentality. Nothing surprises us. Nothing amazes us. Nothing causes us to wonder. Even the Christmas story has become old news. No big deal. We celebrate it at Christmas time and we talk about it. We sing carols and give gifts. We even have family celebrations. But we cease to be amazed at what God has done. We cease to be in wonder at what God has provided for us. When we realize the God of the Heavens, the Creator of the universe desires to make a personal connection with each one of us, and demonstrates that through the birth of his son, Jesus Christ, that should cause us to be amazed.
Praise the Lord for the precious gifts he gives us. Gifts that last for time and eternity.
Unusual Gift for Christmas – Your Clone
The story is told of a mother given a gift of her clone.
Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping, all snug in their beds,
While visions of Nintendo and Barbie, flipped through their heads.
The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
With a half-constructed bicycle on his knee.
So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
Which made her sigh, “Now what’s the matter?”
With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs, and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug.
”Oh great,” muttered the mom, “Now I have to clean the rug.”
”Ho-ho-ho!” cried Santa, “I’m glad you’re awake.”
”Your gift was especially difficult to make.”
Thanks, Santa, but all I want is some time alone.”
”Exactly!” he chuckled, “I’ve made you a clone.”
”A clone?” she asked, “What good is that?
”Run along, Santa, I’ve no time for chitchat.”
The mother’s twin: same hair, same eyes,
Same double chin. “She’ll cook, she’ll dust,“
She’ll mop every mess. You’ll relax, take it easy,
Watch The Young & the Restless.”
”Fantastic!” the mom cheered. “My dream has come true!
”I’ll shop. I’ll read, I’ll sleep a whole night through!”
From the room above, the youngest began to fret.
”Mommy?! I’m scared . . . and I’m wet.”
The clone replied, “I’m coming, sweetheart.”
”Hey,”the mom smiled, “She knows her part.”
The clone changed the small one, and hummed a tune,
as she bundled the child, in a blanket cocoon.
”You’re the best mommy ever. “I really love you.”
The clone smiled and sighed, “I love you, too.”
The mom frowned and said, “Sorry, Santa, no deal!“
That’s my child’s love, she’s trying to steal.”
Smiling wisely, Santa said, to me it is clear,
”Only one loving mother, is needed here.”
The mom kissed her child, and tucked her into bed.
Thank you, Santa, for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won’t be very long,
When they’ll be too old, for my cradle-song. ”The clock on the mantle began to chime, “Santa whispered to the clone, “It works every time.”
With the clone by his side Santa said, “Goodnight. Merry Christmas, Mom, You’ll be all right.”
Just as a mother’s love is given to her children, even so God so loved us that He Gave His only Son; to Demonstrate God’s love incarnate in a Jesus – God in human form.
6. The greatest Gift of Jesus to us is God’s Love.
Why did God do it? The answer is clear is that most quoted verse in our Bible: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes on him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Several years ago a mother in Anderson, South Carolina, was very busy on Christmas Eve, wrapping packages and preparing to take her family to a Christmas Eve service that evening. Suddenly she realized that the shoes she planned to wear were scuffed up and badly needed a shine. She said to her eight-year-old son, who was bubbling with excited energy, “Would you take an old newspaper out on the back porch and try to shine my shoes without making a mess?”
Every child is eager to please on Christmas Eve, so off he went. In a little while he brought the shoes back nicely shined. The mother was so impressed that she reached into her pocketbook and gave him a quarter along with a hug and a thank-you. Later that evening when she was getting dressed, she started to put on a shoe but realized that something was inside it. She reached in and found a quarter wrapped in a piece of notebook paper. On the paper, written in a childish scrawl, was this message: “I done it for love.”
The Bethlehem Christ-child, born to die on Calvary’s Cross, is the ultimate expression of love. Therefore, he is the only perfect gift the world has ever known. Have you accepted that gift?
This evening you can accept the gifts of Jesus –
1. His forgiveness
2. Eternal Life
3. Heart Transplant
4. Peace
5. Wonder
6. Love
