Our Most Precious Possession 12/22/2024
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- Опубліковано 17 січ 2025
- Our Most Precious Possession
John 3:16
Christmas is a season when we think about giving gifts. What is the most thoughtful gift you have ever received? What is the most precious, most valuable gift you currently possess? Gift giving is certainly at the heart of Christmas. Christianity itself is all about receiving and giving. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). Jesus is a gift (John 3:16). Paul speaking about Jesus in 2 Corinthians 9:15, proclaimed, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Salvation is a gift (Romans 6:23). So, what does this idea of gift giving have to do with Jesus and His relationship to this world?
Anticipating The Gift.
Isaiah 7:14 - “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” When the greatest Gift of all was given, He was marked by an anticipation. From Genesis 3:15, all the way through to Luke chapter 2. God spoke of the coming Messiah who would deliver God's people.
Appreciating The Gift.
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have life everlasting.” God gave us the most precious gift that has ever been given by anyone to anyone. Do we ever stop and thank Him? Do we worship Him, and let Him know that He is our most precious possession?
Accepting The Gift.
John 1:9-13 - “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” A gift unaccepted is not a gift. The gift of God in Jesus Christ only becomes a gift when you receive it, when you accept it.
Final thought: Those made in the image and likeness of God should love to give. God is the ultimate gift-giver. Accept God’s gift of salvation and like the wise men from the east, we should come to Christ offering Him the best of our treasures (Matthew 2:11).