The Gift Of God

Alba 2-6-2023

THE GIFT OF GOD

Ephesians 2:8-10

A tired stay-at-home mom opened the front door of her home to find the preacher from the church, who said, "I’m collecting donations for the new children’s home we’re building. Just asking you to give what you can."

"Absolutely," said the tired woman. "I’ll give you two boys, two girls, or one of each." She was willing to gift the children's home with more than they were asking.

Gifts. How many gifts have you received in your lifetime? I doubt you could give an accurate count. We give gifts at Christmas, at birthdays and at other special times of the year.

I realize that some people have much less than others. Nevertheless each of us has received many good things. Even if it was just a kind word of encouragement from someone. The song says, “Count your many blessings”. If we take that seriously, it will be hard to have a complete list.

While receiving gifts is a lot of fun, the Bible tells us that it is better to give than to receive. Tell a small child that and you'll probably get a strange look. But God meant it. Because that is what He does. He gives and gives and gives again.

God is the original gift giver. Look at Ephesians 2:8-10. It says: "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Grace is God's gift to us. There is nothing in us that would make God to want to save us. But God loves us and wants to give us a gift that we haven’t earned and don’t deserve.

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The footnote explains that can be translated, the “free gift” of God.

The focus on God’s grace being given “freely” and as a “gift” declares the truth that it is given to us “without a cause.” God’s free gift of grace means that we get what we need, not what we deserve.

The clear teaching that salvation is a gift from God that He gives out of His grace is a hard concept for some people to understand. There are at least three common misconceptions about God's saving grace.

One is that people are basically good who only need a little help from God. But Romans 3:10-12 tells us, “As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (NIV)

You see, Jesus didn’t come just to be a good example for nice people to follow. He came to ransom us from our sinfulness, and to find those who are lost and restore them to the family.

A second misconception is that we have it in ourselves do enough to earn God's acceptance, as if being a law abiding citizen is enough to qualify our entrance to heaven.

Many people believe that if they are a good enough person, or if they do enough good deeds, then they deserve eternity with God. But Romans 3:20 says, “No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” (NIV) So, we can’t boast about our salvation as if we did it on our own. We can’t say “I did it my way.” That never flies, because God’s way is the only way.

And a third misconception that some people have is that their sins are so enormous, God couldn't possibly forgive them.

But Romans 3:24 says that we are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” To be justified means that what God sees is “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned.

He knew what we would do! So because of God’s gift of amazing grace, whatever we’ve done in the past, the present and will do in the future, God sent His Son Jesus to die for us on the cross, to take our punishment, so that we could stand before God and be viewed as FLAWLESS.

It doesn't matter what you have done. It doesn't matter if you are young or old. It doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl. It doesn't matter if your skin is red, brown, yellow, black, or white. It doesn't matter where you were born or who your parents are. God has a gift of grace for you.