They usually will all come beautifully wrapped in festive paper with all the ribbons and bows, and are then strategically placed under the tree with hopeful anticipation.
Q.: What then distinguishes one from another? Are they not all gifts?
A.: As we are about to see, it is the spirit in which each one was given that makes it a gift or something else.
When something is given in order to receive something in return, it is not a gift. That is an investment. When something is given out of compulsion, it is not a gift. It is only the means through which one fulfills an obligation. When something is given that has been earned, it is not a gift. That is compensation. When something is given with strings attached, it is not a gift. It is the means of control and/or manipulation.
It is only when something is given for no other reason other than it being what the giver wanted the recipient to receive that a true gift has been given.
To qualify as a Christmas gift, it should reflect the unearned, undeserved, nonobligatory, irrevocable, no strings attached, Gift that God gave at what we have come to call Christmas.
So let's take a look at God' s gift and the spirit with which it was given at the First Advent. God did not give His Gift on the basis of any good (Gen. 6: 5/Isa 1: 6 / Romans 5: 8) that He saw in the hearts of the would-be recipients. God gave His Gift on the basis of the love that was in His own heart (John 3: 16).
God was not obligated to save the human race. He would have conducted Himself in a manner consistent with own His divine nature (Habakkuk. 1:13) and would have been justified had He chosen to destroy all forms, all sources, all promoters, and all participants in any (James 2: 10) kind of evil as soon as they
appeared on His radar screen.
For the self-righteous, holier than thou crowd, this still sounds like a good plan of action until they consider what their own end result would be (Romans 3: 23) if this was God first response to sin.
He did, in fact, reduce the world's human population to just eight individuals at the time of the flood in the days of Noah. Only Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives survived. Noah was found to be a righteous (not sinless) man (Gen. 6: 9). As a result, he and his immediate family benefited by the grace (Gen. 6: 8) of God.
There does come a time for divine retribution when the God of mercy, love, and grace has had enough of the ways of Man (Gen. 6 : 3).
God has prepared (Matt.25: 41) the lake of fire to permanently incarcerate (not exterminate) the devil, his allies, and every human soul (Rev. 20: 15) that chooses to reject His one and only (John 14: 6) gift of salvation.
Even though God desires that all souls be saved (1Tim. 2: 4), Matt. 7: 13 teach that only a few (the minority) will find the one and only way that leads to (eternal) life.
Every soul has everlasting life as a result of being created in God's likeness (Gen. 1: 27). But without eternal life , the soul with its everlasting life) will spend all of eternity future in the lake of fire once the Rev. 20: 15 takes place.
There is a day coming when many "religious" persons and doers of good (human) deeds will cite all the things that they had done "for God,"only to be told to depart, as He never knew them (Matt. 7: 23).
One may know of God, but does God know him/her in the capacity of a born again believer? It is the born again believer who has received His gift of salvation. On the day one is born again, he/she receives the "seal" (identifying mark), forever identifying his/her as a child of God. The placing of this seal is the exclusive identifying work and function of God the Holy Spirit. 2Tim. 2: 19 teach that the Lord knows who has this seal and knows those who are His.
Some folks literally keep a book recording the gift and the giver for special events. Scripture tell us that God has a book (Rev. 20: 15) in which He records the names of every born again believer that has received His gift of salvation. Scripture (Rev. 20: 15) warns that if anyone's name is not found written in this book he/she will be thrown into the lake of fire where he/she will spend all of eternity.
***
God did not give His gift because it had been earned or deserved (Eph. 2: 8). The gift of salvation is freely given to those who conscious choose to receive it.
It is he who believes is the one that receives eternal life (John 3: 16).
Children are told that Santa maintains lists of good and naughty individuals. The ones on the good list receive Christmas presents. While being good may impact the quantity and quality of what one receives from people, no one has ever been or will ever be good enough to receive God's Christmas Gift.
Scripture (Romans 3: 23) teach that even though we are all on God's naughty list, we can still receive His gift (Romans 5: 8).
***
God gave His gift knowing that the majority of its recipients would neither appreciate nor thank Him for it (Isa. 53)
God gave what was precious to Him what would not be highly esteemed by many to whom it (Isa. 53).
God gave His gift knowing that it would be abused and rejected by many for whom it was given (Isa. 53).
God's didn't spend one earthly dollar, but gave what money can't buy.
God didn't ask the recipients what they wanted. He gave them what they needed.
***
We moan and groan when we see the heavy traffic, the crowds, and long lines that accompany our Christmas shopping. Perhaps the on-line shopping and delivering option can make obeying the command of Phil. 2: 14 a little more easier.
Perhaps the weight of this annual ritual might be lightened it we were to keep in mind that it was neither comfortable nor convenient for Mary to travel on the back of an animal in her very late stage of pregnancy to do her part in bringing God's gift into the world.
I wonder how many crowds they had to navigate through and how many lines Joseph and/or Mary stood in trying to make arrangements for God's gift to be delivered, only then to find themselves in a shelter built for animals.
Developing divine viewpoint on the whole gift giving process can shed new Light on the Christmas season and all year long.
If you are among those that has already received God' s Christmas gift, Scripture say that you would be wise (Proverbs 11: 30) to keep in mind that it was not given to you for your benefit alone. You have been commissioned () to pass it along to others.
No one knows when his/her last opportunity to either receive or to share this gift with others has come and gone. No one knows for sure who will and who will not still be around the Christmas tree this year, or in the future. No one should want to leave this world without it (Rev. 20: 15).
There are windows of opportunity to give and to receive. They open and they close. An advancing disciple does not need a special day or season to share God's Christmas gift.
In closing, as we make our gift-giving choices this season, consider that the best Christmas gift that one can ever give, receive, or pass along is the Gift that God made available. There was an angelic host (Luke 2: 13) and a few small groups (Luke 2: 15/Matt. 2: 1) that would come that night or a few days later to see and to celebrate the arrival of God's gift. But this event, and the gift that it produced would for the most part would go unnoticed by the world at large until the time came for His public ministry to begin some thirty years later.
The First Advent was the beginning of a long list of individuals (Matt. 2: 16/Matt. 4: 6/Luke 4: 29/Matt. 12: 14) who sought to destroy the gift that God had given before the gift could accomplish its divine purpose. When the time came, the crucifixion was not a pretty sight. There was no immediate celebration. There was no verbal thank you given to the Giver. It was not what many of His followers had expected or anticipated. It was not until three days after being placed in a tomb that many of the recipients finally began to understand the gift that arrived on Christmas some, thirty years earlier.
Q.: What then distinguishes one from another? Are they not all gifts?
A.: As we are about to see, it is the spirit in which each one was given that makes it a gift or something else.
When something is given in order to receive something in return, it is not a gift. That is an investment. When something is given out of compulsion, it is not a gift. It is only the means through which one fulfills an obligation. When something is given that has been earned, it is not a gift. That is compensation. When something is given with strings attached, it is not a gift. It is the means of control and/or manipulation.
It is only when something is given for no other reason other than it being what the giver wanted the recipient to receive that a true gift has been given.
To qualify as a Christmas gift, it should reflect the unearned, undeserved, nonobligatory, irrevocable, no strings attached, Gift that God gave at what we have come to call Christmas.
So let's take a look at God' s gift and the spirit with which it was given at the First Advent. God did not give His Gift on the basis of any good (Gen. 6: 5/Isa 1: 6 / Romans 5: 8) that He saw in the hearts of the would-be recipients. God gave His Gift on the basis of the love that was in His own heart (John 3: 16).
God was not obligated to save the human race. He would have conducted Himself in a manner consistent with own His divine nature (Habakkuk. 1:13) and would have been justified had He chosen to destroy all forms, all sources, all promoters, and all participants in any (James 2: 10) kind of evil as soon as they
appeared on His radar screen.
For the self-righteous, holier than thou crowd, this still sounds like a good plan of action until they consider what their own end result would be (Romans 3: 23) if this was God first response to sin.
He did, in fact, reduce the world's human population to just eight individuals at the time of the flood in the days of Noah. Only Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives survived. Noah was found to be a righteous (not sinless) man (Gen. 6: 9). As a result, he and his immediate family benefited by the grace (Gen. 6: 8) of God.
There does come a time for divine retribution when the God of mercy, love, and grace has had enough of the ways of Man (Gen. 6 : 3).
God has prepared (Matt.25: 41) the lake of fire to permanently incarcerate (not exterminate) the devil, his allies, and every human soul (Rev. 20: 15) that chooses to reject His one and only (John 14: 6) gift of salvation.
Even though God desires that all souls be saved (1Tim. 2: 4), Matt. 7: 13 teach that only a few (the minority) will find the one and only way that leads to (eternal) life.
Every soul has everlasting life as a result of being created in God's likeness (Gen. 1: 27). But without eternal life , the soul with its everlasting life) will spend all of eternity future in the lake of fire once the Rev. 20: 15 takes place.
There is a day coming when many "religious" persons and doers of good (human) deeds will cite all the things that they had done "for God,"only to be told to depart, as He never knew them (Matt. 7: 23).
One may know of God, but does God know him/her in the capacity of a born again believer? It is the born again believer who has received His gift of salvation. On the day one is born again, he/she receives the "seal" (identifying mark), forever identifying his/her as a child of God. The placing of this seal is the exclusive identifying work and function of God the Holy Spirit. 2Tim. 2: 19 teach that the Lord knows who has this seal and knows those who are His.
Some folks literally keep a book recording the gift and the giver for special events. Scripture tell us that God has a book (Rev. 20: 15) in which He records the names of every born again believer that has received His gift of salvation. Scripture (Rev. 20: 15) warns that if anyone's name is not found written in this book he/she will be thrown into the lake of fire where he/she will spend all of eternity.
***
God did not give His gift because it had been earned or deserved (Eph. 2: 8). The gift of salvation is freely given to those who conscious choose to receive it.
It is he who believes is the one that receives eternal life (John 3: 16).
Children are told that Santa maintains lists of good and naughty individuals. The ones on the good list receive Christmas presents. While being good may impact the quantity and quality of what one receives from people, no one has ever been or will ever be good enough to receive God's Christmas Gift.
Scripture (Romans 3: 23) teach that even though we are all on God's naughty list, we can still receive His gift (Romans 5: 8).
***
God gave His gift knowing that the majority of its recipients would neither appreciate nor thank Him for it (Isa. 53)
God gave what was precious to Him what would not be highly esteemed by many to whom it (Isa. 53).
God gave His gift knowing that it would be abused and rejected by many for whom it was given (Isa. 53).
God's didn't spend one earthly dollar, but gave what money can't buy.
God didn't ask the recipients what they wanted. He gave them what they needed.
***
We moan and groan when we see the heavy traffic, the crowds, and long lines that accompany our Christmas shopping. Perhaps the on-line shopping and delivering option can make obeying the command of Phil. 2: 14 a little more easier.
Perhaps the weight of this annual ritual might be lightened it we were to keep in mind that it was neither comfortable nor convenient for Mary to travel on the back of an animal in her very late stage of pregnancy to do her part in bringing God's gift into the world.
I wonder how many crowds they had to navigate through and how many lines Joseph and/or Mary stood in trying to make arrangements for God's gift to be delivered, only then to find themselves in a shelter built for animals.
Developing divine viewpoint on the whole gift giving process can shed new Light on the Christmas season and all year long.
If you are among those that has already received God' s Christmas gift, Scripture say that you would be wise (Proverbs 11: 30) to keep in mind that it was not given to you for your benefit alone. You have been commissioned () to pass it along to others.
No one knows when his/her last opportunity to either receive or to share this gift with others has come and gone. No one knows for sure who will and who will not still be around the Christmas tree this year, or in the future. No one should want to leave this world without it (Rev. 20: 15).
There are windows of opportunity to give and to receive. They open and they close. An advancing disciple does not need a special day or season to share God's Christmas gift.
In closing, as we make our gift-giving choices this season, consider that the best Christmas gift that one can ever give, receive, or pass along is the Gift that God made available. There was an angelic host (Luke 2: 13) and a few small groups (Luke 2: 15/Matt. 2: 1) that would come that night or a few days later to see and to celebrate the arrival of God's gift. But this event, and the gift that it produced would for the most part would go unnoticed by the world at large until the time came for His public ministry to begin some thirty years later.
The First Advent was the beginning of a long list of individuals (Matt. 2: 16/Matt. 4: 6/Luke 4: 29/Matt. 12: 14) who sought to destroy the gift that God had given before the gift could accomplish its divine purpose. When the time came, the crucifixion was not a pretty sight. There was no immediate celebration. There was no verbal thank you given to the Giver. It was not what many of His followers had expected or anticipated. It was not until three days after being placed in a tomb that many of the recipients finally began to understand the gift that arrived on Christmas some, thirty years earlier.