JESUS – “The Gift that keeps on giving”
Jesus is the gift to eternal life: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
We’re all sinners and deserve eternal punishment from God. However, God did not send His son to condemn us; because of God’s great love for humanity He sent his one and only son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sin. John 3:17
Jesus is our ultimate gift for salvation. For those who believe and accept Jesus as their personal savior they have passed from death which is eternal separation from God into life. John 5:24
Jesus came to deliver and saved humanity from death and eternal separation from God through His death and resurrection. He came to bring us back into a relationship with God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Imagine owing someone $85,000 dollars in debt, and you know that you’re not able to pay your debt off. And the person that you’re indebted to came to you and said, “You owed me $85,000 dollars, but you don’t have to worry about paying me back because I am giving you the $85,000 dollars as a gift.”
What would be your reaction? Let me guess, you would gladly receive that gift with great joy and gratitude. You wouldn’t have a second to ask or ponder why. You’d simply accept the gift and be debt free.
Have you ever wondered or asked yourself, “Where does gift giving come from?” Or, “why do people give gifts in the first place?” Let’s take a closer look into gift giving. It all started in the fabulous Bible when God decided to give up his son Jesus to die for all of mankind. And also, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a Manger.
Three wise men came to visit Jesus and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. People give gifts to each other to show their love and value for each other. Therefore, God loves and values us so much to the point that he actually gave up is one and only son for us. Matthew 2:10-11
Jesus paid all our debts, the debts that we owed. Debts that we would never be able to pay back. He gave us a wonderful gift, the gift of salvation. He died and took our place of punishment so that you and I didn’t have to experience spiritual death; eternal separation from God.
When we accept Christ to come into our lives, he washes away all of our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He fills us with his Holy Spirit so we can live a righteous and a holy life that He wants us to live.
God wants us to be Holy and righteous like Him. Nothing impure can ever enter into His Presence, that’s why it’s very important to repent and confess all sins before Him.
We can’t hide any sin from God. Everything is in the open; He sees everything and knows everything that we ever said or done. He even knows our inner thoughts; It would be very foolish to hide our sin from God.
Jeremiah 16:17-18 says “My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.
I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.” Our sin should cause us to run to God, not run away from him.
Whenever we sin we can always go to the Throne of Grace. Jesus is our Advocate and the propitiation for our sins. He stands up for us before God, now that’s good news!
Salvation is free, it’s the best gift you will ever receive. Why not take it? When you accept Christ as Lord and Savior, you get more than eternal life.
Salvation also comes with God’s protection, provision, sanctification, justification, gifts, deliverance and spiritual blessings according to Ephesians 1:3-14 of however, the greatest gift of all is eternal life, that’s where you and I get to spend eternity in His Presence. So how can you be saved?
5 Practical ways that you can be saved and live your life for Christ.
1. Repent of your sins: Change your lifestyle and obey God’s law. Repent means in the simplest format, to stop sinning. Have a change of heart and turn to Christ.
2. Water baptism: When a person accepts Christ into their life, they get rid of their old ways for new ones. Baptism is simply entering into a new covenant with God, stating that you divorce yourself from living into sin and accepting the righteousness of God.
3. Accept Christ into your heart: Let Christ rule and reign in your life and allow Him to change you.
4. When you receive Christ into your life, He’ll deposit the Holy Spirit in your life to help you overcome sin and temptations. It is not enough to just accept Christ into your life; but Christ also wants you to share the gospel of salvation with others who are ignorant about him. Christ wants everyone to know about him and the gift that he offers; because it’s not His Will for humanity to perish. But for all to repent and turn to Him. Matthew 28:19-20
5. Just like any other relationship, you need to make sure you nurture your relationship with Christ by reading the Bible and praying everyday.
Prayer is the primary communication between you and God. So make sure you talk to God throughout the day through prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
In conclusion, there is no greater gift than the gift of salvation. Christ is the ultimate gift and the reward that you and I will receive in the end; nothing in this world could ever compare. This reward is eternal life spent in the presence of God forever!
This is God’s promise to all people who accept him as their personal savior and Lord.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.