“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:3-9, NIV).
The “gift of God”!
But, before we talk about His gift, may I ask those who knew the king of the “rock-n-roll” -- Elvis Presley: Did he really give Rolls Royce to his close friends?! Was it really true he found joy and satisfaction in seeing them as their eyes bulging with great delight and appreciation, when he handed the key of the car?
But how about the Richest and Most Generous Owner of all things, could you imagine the gift He gave?
Could He also give a “gift” that will greatly attract our attention and interest -- filling our hearts with great delight and overflowing appreciation?
And could we afford to reject or refuse His gift?
Just how God described His gift? What is really His gift that should fill our hearts with greater joy?
First, let us read Eccl. 3:9-14: “What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil -- this is the GIFT OF GOD. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him” (NIV).
Notice the words in verse 13: “find satisfaction…” To find satisfaction in what you do – not just what you are doing -- is the gift of God.
Also we read in Eccl. 5:18-20: “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him -- for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work -- this is a GIFT OF GOD. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart” (NIV).
Now, consider the words: “…when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work -- this is a gift of God.” We can have wealth, possessions and employment, but we can be UNhappy! God enables us to find joy and happiness in our wealth or work! That’s His gift.
This joy is not based on our material wealth or physical accomplishment, but in the Holy Spirit. We read in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT” (NIV).
Though the circumstance that surrounds you will warrant grief or fear in your hearts, the Presence of the Holy Spirit can fill “your hearts with joy" (Acts 14:17).
What happened to the believers in Acts portrayed it. “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:49-52, NIV).
They Jews “stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region,” yet “the disciples were filled with joy.”
David acknowledged it:
“You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps 16:11, NASU).
In fact, through the Holy Spirit, we will not only have joy, but also “love,… peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23, NIV). You may also see 2 Tim. 1:6-7.
Not only that. We also read in Romans 8:11, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead WILL ALSO GIVE LIFE to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (NIV). And in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NIV).
Jesus Christ told the Samaritan woman, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14, NIV). When He spoke about “the water I give him,” He referred to the Holy Spirit.
As we read in John 7:38-39, “’Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit…” (NIV.)
We may receive so many good gifts from God, but nothing will equal the “Gift of the Holy Spirit” – when He gave His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ – when He gave Himself to us – when the Great Giver Himself dwells in every believer!
Peter declared in Acts 2:38-39, "Repent and be baptized, every 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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will call" (NIV). And as James added, “…he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12, NIV).
Do we really value “the crown of life” – the gift of God – the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do we value His promise more than the prospect of having a Rolls Royce?
Are we aware of God’s Worth – that only if we are in Him that life and eternity is worth living?
He is the “Gift” – so Desirable no one can afford to reject or refuse!!
But why do we have such passage as Acts 13:46, “Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: ‘We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you REJECT IT and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles’” (NIV)?
Do you know any reason why a person will reject or refuse a gift like a Rolls Royce?
Let’s go back to the account when Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman.
Let’s pick up the story starting in verse 7 of John 4, “When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?’" (verse 7-12, NIV.)
Do you get from the passages the idea why someone will reject or will not even desire a very valuable gift?
Carefully note the words of the Lord Jesus in verse 10: “"If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
Jesus said, “IF YOU KNEW…”
IF every person KNEW the gift of God, IF everyone KNEW “who it is that asks” – Jesus – then no one will reject or refuse it – in fact, everyone “would have asked” to have it!!
The problem is: NOT everyone KNEW God intimately (John 8:19; 2 Thess. 1:8). They are not familiar with the Great Goodness, the Overwhelming Worth or the Glory of the Gift or the Giver.
They are spiritually blind. Paul wrote, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:3-4, NIV).
They are spiritually dead. They “were dead in transgressions.”
But for those who experienced the grace of God, Paul said: ”For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ MADE HIS LIGHT SHINE IN OUR HEARTS to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6, NIV) – they were able to behold how desirable the “Gift” is!
He also wrote, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, MADE US ALIVE with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…” Those who experienced the grace of God were able to become conscious of the Excellence of the “Gift.”
Those who knew the “gift of God” – “those to whom the Son chooses” to make known the Father (Matt. 11:29; John 17:6, 26) – they “would have asked him” to have it.
Finally, did He make “His light shine in our hearts” – make us “alive with Christ” -- so, we are able also to behold and comprehend the joy and satisfaction we can savor in Christ? Did He reveal to us that nothing in this world can be so interesting, so fascinating than Him?
Then, like the Samaritan woman, who said to Jesus: “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water” – let’s also pray that God will always fill us with His Spirit, so we can also rejoice in contentment by His mere Presence and we do not need to keep desiring temporal joy in this world.
And we if ask Him, He would really give us “the living water.” As our Savior said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13, NIV.)
PRAYER: Our Sovereign Heavenly Father, whose Excellence, Goodness and Glory exceeded all -- our hearts shout with great joy and gratitude for the Incomprehensible Gift You lovingly bestowed on Your children. Let others also comprehend Your Great Worth that they may treasure Your Glorious Presence! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
