I remember the many years going Christmas shopping with my parents. In the early years it was for toys for cousins, brothers, and nephews. As we grew older, we shopped for clothing. I remember the cold and the winds beating upon us as my brother and I waited for our parents in front of a building stoop on Moore Street. My parents would return loaded with gifts, drop them off into a large box we had, and then return for more. One time, we probably waited two hours all bundled up. We then had to walk home lugging the loaded box.
At home, the coats, scarves, boots, and gloves came off. The nice heat from the radiator warmed us up. We’d have hot chocolate while our parents had coffee. The gifts were then wrapped, labeled, and placed under our tree.
Thousands of years ago, God went shopping. In fact, He’s been trying to get us back to Him since Adam and Eve sinned, but we have rejected Him ever since. He’s sent prophets, kings, and judges, but we’ve rejected them all. Two thousand years ago He sent His Perfect Son to look for us poor lost souls. In spite of the cold, the snow, the ice, the frost, the wind, and the sin that thwarted man from making his way to God, Jesus searched for just the right gift to take home to the Father. The Godhead concluded All of humanity deserved being taken back to the Father.
And so, Jesus paid our ransomed price! The cost was not cash, credit cards, bars of gold, silver, or even crypto! The cost called for perfect, untainted blood- an impossible price for man to pay, but God in His infinite wisdom was able to pull it off through Jesus’s life and perfect blood; untainted by sin. The Perfect Lamb of God, Jesus, through the virgin birth, entered humanity but without sin.
Thirty-three years later, He laid His life on the cross after saying, “I’ll take them all” (John 3:16). And so, He died for us all taking our souls to the tree and nailing us and our sinful nature to the cross. He then presented us to the Father.
However, not everyone wants to be wrapped in the blood of Christ! Not everyone wants to be presented as a gift to God! Some people think they’re too good-they think they can make it on their own-but they CAN’T DO IT! And others think they’re not good enough. They think He doesn’t want them. But you’re the perfect gift for the Father! He loves you unconditionally! That means YOU are precious to Him No Matter What you’ve done or where you’ve been! Give yourself to Him, He’s made you righteous through Christ.
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
This Christmas, will you place yourself under the tree? Will you lay down your life as a sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1)? God has a new name for you (Revelation 2:17)-might even be scripted on a stocking hanging on His fireplace…
Merry Christmas! Sam
