So I Fix My Eyes
  • Blog
    • Here I Am to Worship
    • Father to the Fatherless
    • Who is God? >
      • Who is God Series
  • Bible Studies
    • Exodus
    • Ruth
    • Hosea
    • John 1-6
    • John 7-21
    • I Corinthians
    • II Corinthians
    • Philippians
    • Colossians
    • II Timothy
  • Recommended Reads
    • Book Reviews
  • Girls Corner
    • Engaged to a Heavenly Bridegroom
    • All for Him Only
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Here I Am to Worship
    • Father to the Fatherless
    • Who is God? >
      • Who is God Series
  • Bible Studies
    • Exodus
    • Ruth
    • Hosea
    • John 1-6
    • John 7-21
    • I Corinthians
    • II Corinthians
    • Philippians
    • Colossians
    • II Timothy
  • Recommended Reads
    • Book Reviews
  • Girls Corner
    • Engaged to a Heavenly Bridegroom
    • All for Him Only
  • About
  • Contact

Random musings, meditations, devotionals, and thoughts as we are transformed more and more

Into His Image

The Greatest Gift

12/25/2022

 
Picture
​Christmas is here! After a season filled with festivity, lights, celebration, and joy, Christmas morning has finally dawned. For most, it is a time of merriment and good will as they gather around a lighted tree, exchanging gifts and sharing good food. However, this isn’t all that Christmas is about. It’s a time to remember and celebrate the greatest gift of all—Jesus!
At the beginning of December, our church’s teaching pastor kicked off his Christmas sermon series with a message on John 3:16. This all-familiar passage is easy to gloss over due to familiarity and seldom used for a Christmas message. But as our pastor was preaching, these timeless words hit me in a new way.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
~John 3:16-17
​God so loved that He gave. Let those works sink in and settle on your heart for a moment. In a culture that often views gift giving as more of an obligation rather than a selfless, unexpected offering void of any expectation to receive something in return, the truth of these words can easily lose their weight.
 
So let’s take a step back and remember that the true definition of giving is to give without expecting anything in return. Gifts are not meant to be forms of payment. We don’t give just because we’ve already received, but rather a gift ought to be freely given because the giver wants to bestow blessing upon the recipient. That is a true gift. And the greatest gift ever given was Jesus.
 
God so loved that He gave. It was a gift unmerited and unequalled. It was not sent because God owed us a favor, nor because mankind had attained some extraordinary level of goodness. On the contrary, humanity was undeserving of any good gift. Wrath and punishment were what our actions deserved. Yet because of the depth of His unconditional love, God gave a priceless gift—the gift of His One and Only Son.
 
He could have given us a prophet or divine revelation in the form of written words or miraculous signs, but rather He chose to give of Himself. He gave Jesus—God incarnate, the exact image and likeness of the Father—to earth as a sacrificial offering to save the world. It was a gift that cost everything of the Giver. And yet He gave because God so loved all the people of this world.
 
That is love! That is a gift to top all gifts! And that is the message of Christmas!
 
Because of love, God gave His Son, to be born as an infant and spend a lifetime on this broken planet, to be beaten and brutally murdered so that He might buy our redemption and give eternal life to all who will believe and put their faith in Him.
 
Out of love, God gave the greatest gift—Himself. Now it is time to decide whether we will receive this gift or not. God already did His part and gave. It is now our time to receive.
 
Therefore, let us receive by faith this matchless gift and celebrate the arrival of our Savior and ultimate manifestation of God’s endless love!
 
Merry Christmas!
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
~Galatians 4:4-5
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    Series:

    Here I Am to Worship
    Adoption/Orphan Care
    Who is God?

    Receive Posts via Email

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required
    Where would you like to receive posts from?

    ​Popular Posts:

    Picture
    Remembering 
    ​Ground Zero

    Today is a day of remembrance and reflection for our country.  A time to remember lives lost, sacrifices made, and a war begun.   Read more
    Picture
    Guest Post ~ When Stories Collide
    Stories are strange things. Because it isn't the big, important people who are usually the main characters; it's not the sunny, lovely days that move the story along. It's the little people who become the heroes. It's the disasters that cause the quest.  Read more
    Picture
    ​The Unrecognized "Royal" Couple
    Our world is obsessed with individuals and couples of fame and fortune, super stars and royals; however, there was one royal couple that the world completely missed.  
    Read more

    Show Hope


    Samaritan's Purse


    Categories

    All
    About
    Adoption
    Advent
    America
    Analogy
    Announcement
    Articles
    Bible Study
    Blogiversary
    Book Announcement
    Brevity Of LIfe
    Calvary
    Christian Living
    Christmas
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Death
    Deborah
    Easter
    Eternity
    Faith
    Fathers
    Fear
    For Girls
    Give Away
    Give-away
    Giving
    God
    God Came Down
    Godliness
    Guest Post
    Helping Others
    Holidays
    Hope
    Jeremiah
    Jesus
    Joy
    Leadership
    Life
    Love
    Memorial Day
    Mothers
    New Year
    Orphan Care
    Peace
    Prayer
    Question
    Reflections
    Remembrance
    Road To Christmas
    Singleness
    Suffering
    Thankfulness
    Thanksgiving
    Trials
    Trust
    Website Updates
    Worship


    Archives

    September 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    RSS Feed

Home

Blog

Here I Am to Worship

Father to the Fatherless

​Who is God? Study

Bible Studies

Recommended Reads

Book Reviews

Girls Corner

Engaged to a
​Heavenly Bridegroom

All for Him Only

About

Contact

...not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  
​For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Copyright © 2016-2021 So I Fix My Eyes