The Greatest Gift Ever!!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the night much of the world will begin the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  Commercialism continues to push the focus on Jesus less and the focus on gift giving, Santa Clause, drinking, partying, and materialism more and more.

Still you will hear people say – “Keep Christ in Christmas” and “Jesus is the reason for the season”.  When I think about the later, Jesus is the reason for the season, I wonder just how many people truly understand the reason Jesus was born.

Jesus, the Son of God, was born because God gave him to the world – us.  God gave Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind’s sin and through belief in Christ mankind’s sins could be justified.  By being justified by God’s grace through Jesus Christ, we, all of mankind, would have the opportunity of everlasting spiritual life with God, and throughout our days on earth experience a personal relationship with God through Jesus.  Now that is one whopper of a gift!

Mankind’s sin has separated him from God.  Sin has a price and the price is eternal death.  In other words, an eternity separated from God.  God does not want that separation so that is why he gave us Christ.  By giving Christ God has offered redemption.

Belief in Jesus as the Son of God, the Redeemer, and our Savior is a choice.  Therefore the gift of salvation and a spiritual eternity with God is a choice.  Many have chosen Christ and many will not.  The choice of Christ is an individual choice, not one that someone can make for you.

Jesus is a choice made by faith.  Many struggle with placing their faith in something they cannot see, especially when it comes to faith in Jesus and God.

Through my photography I try and show evidence of God all around us.  When I am taking photos I see evidence of God all the time.  Oh science will try and sell the idea that God did create such things and somehow through science they came into existence.  I say exactly!!  My God created the science to create all things and gave mankind the smarts to understand it…just a little bit.  J

Jesus was given to us to save us.  Through sin mankind is condemned.  Jesus does not condemn us; Jesus was given to us as a gift of redemption, a gift of salvation from condemnation.

Jesus was given so he might live to show evidence of God’s love, shed his blood and die so he could save us, buried so he could carry our sins far away, and rise to justify us and conquer death.

Jesus was and still is a gift from God.  The greatest gift ever and a gift no money can buy.  Jesus was the ransom, the payment made for all of mankind, prisoners of sin.

While we are alive and still in the flesh we must choose whom and what we will serve; Christ or something or someone else?  The greatest gift of all awaits each of our decisions.  It is a gift each must decide upon by us.  No one can accept it for us.   No one can deny it for us.

By choosing Jesus, your life here on earth will change.  God will begin to transform you into the person best suited for his purpose and plan for your life.  By choosing Jesus you will be redeemed, saved from condemnation and spend eternity with God the Father.

This Christmas consider the gift God has for you.  I only ask you not take too long to consider.  Once we pass on from our fleshly bodies, the choice has been made.

John 3:16-21

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Romans 3:22-23

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus

Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Luke 23: 39-43

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”  40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Prayer of Salvation – Accepting God’s Gift

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself.

Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.

Amen.