The Gifts of

If Christmas is a season for giving, it seems this year that many Long Islanders have lost touch with the spirit of Christmas. Newspaper article (read exerpts)

It’s easy to see the human logic behind this: people think that when times get hard, it’s time to hoard. Don’t give away anything that you might need yourself. Giving is only a good thing to do when it doesn’t really cost you anything. That’s the way the world approaches giving.

But on Christmas Eve, 1989, I’d like you to consider that, when it came to Christmas, God didn’t think this way. I’d like you to reflect on what He gave us that first Christmas, and I’d like you to think about what it cost Him to do it. When God sent His only Son to earth to be the Savior of the world, He sent the most valuable gift possible. And He did it for our benefit. He didn’t do it because He had to. He didn’t do it for what He was going to get out of it. He did it simply for our good.

Tomorrow, a familiar scene will take place in many of our homes. The morning will begin earlier than usual. Like about 5:30 a.m.! The kids will burst out of bed with excitement, and tear open the gifts in their stockings. Then they’ll drag Mom and Dad out of bed, and wait impatiently while breakfast is prepared. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the family will gather around the Christmas tree and begin the delightful process of opening presents.

Today, on the day before Christmas, let’s imagine that we’re sitting around heaven’s Christmas tree. There are beautiful gifts under that tree for us. Each one is lovingly wrapped and has our name on it. When Jesus Christ came to earth that first Christmas, God sent with Him five precious gifts for us that I’d like us to think about today.

The first gift He sent us is the gift of LOVE. It’s wrapped in a beautiful package; a package that has no strings attached. The Bible says…

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…”

I was reading recently of a father who gave a very unusual gift to his children on their birthday. He gave them a day of his time, to do whatever they wanted to do with him. His son wanted to go fishing with his Dad. His daughter took him to the mall and they went shopping all day. That was a wise father. Instead of giving his kids expensive trinkets or toys, he gave them himself. When you want to show someone that you really love them, you give them yourself. That is how God gave us the gift of LOVE. He wrapped Himself in human flesh and came here in person, as Jesus Christ. And He gave himself up for us when He died on the cross.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The first and brightest fact about Christmas is that has given us the gift of His great LOVE. If He didn’t, there wouldn’t have been a Christmas at all, nor would there have been an Easter…

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

That love is what made possible all the other gifts under the tree. Let’s look at the next one.

The second gift that’s under heaven’s Christmas tree for us is placed right beside the first. It’s the gift of FORGIVENESS. This gift is the most expensive gift under heaven’s Christmas tree. It’s a gift that is stained bright red with the blood of Calvary. If you look closely at it, you’ll see the fingerprints of the nail-pierced hands of the man from Galilee. You might even notice some tear stains on the wrapping paper.

You see, God in wanting to communicate His love to us, first had to do something about the terrible problem of sin that afflicted us. Sin is that desire that we have deep inside of us to go our own way without regard for God.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death

We were created to have fellowship with God, but because of our own self will, we’ve all chosen to go our own way - independent from God. Which one of us can say that we have never sinned against God, or never done something that we know to be wrong? We’re all sinners, and without forgiveness, we can never regain that fellowship with God that we were created for.

God, in His great love, provided forgiveness for us in the person of Jesus Christ dying on the cross in our place. He payed the penalty for our sin.

Colossians 2:13-14 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins

There is a third gift under heaven’s Christmas tree waiting for us. It is the gift of PEACE, and it’s right beside the gift of FORGIVENESS. When you come to know the Christ of Christmas by receiving Him as your Savior, He gives you peace.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

There are many troubled people in the world who have no peace. Many folk right now have heavy hearts. It seems that the Christmas season brings about an increase in depression and suicide. These people have no peace in their hearts because they do not know about the gifts of God’s LOVE and FORGIVENESS that are available for them.

The peace of God that comes from knowing Christ is a peace that doesn’t depend on circumstances. You can find yourself in the midst of disaster, yet have a peace that passes all understanding, because you know that all is right between you and God. What a wonderful gift!

But there are more gifts for us under heaven’s Christmas tree waiting to be opened. There’s the gift of FREEDOM. It is right next to the gift of PEACE.

John 8:31 Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

You know there’s an interesting contrast between people who are religious and people who are Christians. People who are religious are people who may be going to a Christian church, but who are trying to reach God through their own efforts. They try to do good deeds, and live a good life, so as to be acceptable to God. And they’re not free.

They are bound by a set of rules and regulations. They are always wondering if they’ve measured up - if they’ve done enough good deeds to make it to heaven. Have they kept the rules? Are they covered? They’re always looking over their shoulder. They begin to think of God as a big slavedriver in the sky. Their life is not happy. They’ve got lots of hang-ups and inhibitions. They’re not free, they’re really in chains - slaves to their religion.

This is not what God wanted to give us for Christmas - He didn’t want to make our lives miserable. When He sent us the gifts of LOVE and FORGIVENESS and PEACE, He also gave us the gift of FREEDOM.

Because God has forgiven us simply because of what Jesus did on the Cross, we are free from having to live by a set of rules and regulations. We’re also set free from the penalty of sin, and from bondage to Satan.

Well, there’s one more gift waiting for us under the tree. It’s the gift of LIFE. It’s a gift that has two parts - abundant life and eternal life.

John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The Lord wants our lives here on this earth to be full and meaningful. He didn’t promise that we would be rich in money, but he did promise that we would be rich in spiritual terms if we follow Him. And when life on this earth is over, we have the promise of eternal life.

John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Five wonderful gifts under heaven’s Christmas tree for you:

• the gift of LOVE

• the gift of FORGIVENESS

• the gift of PEACE

• the gift of FREEDOM

• the gift of LIFE

How do you get them? Well, how are you going to get your Christmas gifts tomorrow? You’re simply going to receive them aren’t you? Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if someone handed you a Christmas gift and you pulled out your wallet and offered to pay for it? That would actually be insulting to the one who gave it to you!

In the same way, the Bible says that God doesn’t expect us to pay for these gifts that He wants to give us. (They are so precious that there’s no way we could afford to pay for them, even if He did.) No, He offers them to us freely

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Christmas is a family time, isn’t it? Who is going to be gathering with you around the Christmas tree tomorrow? Your family of course. But who’s going to gather around heaven’s Christmas tree? God’s family, of course. All His children.

If you want to receive these gifts from God, you need to be part of His family. And to do that, you need to simply receive the One who wrapped all these gifts up in His own self and brought them to us that first Christmas so long ago.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

Will you become a part of God’s family this Christmas by receiving Jesus as your Savior? Remember, these gifts are free, and His salvation is free. It’s free because God loves you.