Black Friday is now over and the race to buy Christmas gifts has started in earnest, but that makes us question why Christmas is so important (and why giving gifts is so associated with that celebration.) Dave spoke tonight on John 3:16, one of the most famous verses in the whole Bible. Salespeople use superlatives and hyperbole all the time to sell their products, but it is no exaggeration to say that God’s gift of Jesus is the greatest possible gift.
- The Greatest Possible Love – God’s love is divine love, not fallible like human love, but perfect, pure and holy. His love is all-encompassing, reaching everyone. He hates sin, but loves the sinner and loves everyone in the world.
- The Greatest Possible Gift – in giving His one and only Son, God gave the greatest possible gift (Gal 4:4, 2 Cor 9:15). Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being (Heb 1:3) and the very best that God could give. Matt 21:33-46 reflects the heartache it cost God to have His Son killed by those He came to save, but God’s love for the world meant this was a willing sacrifice.
- The Greatest Possible Plan – we are saved by believing in God’s Son, and this is encouraging since we all know how to believe and trust to some extent, and therefore the means of salvation is available to all people. We do not need to pay for salvation or earn it through good works; instead by believing we cross from death to life. (Jn 5:24)
- The Greatest Possible Deliverance – God’s gift is so that we do not perish, a word that is used in Matt 5:29 to describe an eye plucked out or in Matt 7:25 to describe drowning or in Matt 9:57 to describe wineskins bursting or Matt 2:13 to describe murder. Perishing in the natural sense of the word is not pleasant, but in the spiritual realm, it describes separation from God and an eternity in hell. 2 Pet 3:9 reminds us that God does not want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. God’s deliverance promises us both immediate and eternal safety.
- The Greatest Possible Possession – we are not only promised protection from perishing, but can receive God’s gift of everlasting life. This life is remarkable in quantity (it is unending!) but also in quality, for we have access to the life of God (1 Jn 5:12).
