GOD’S UNSPEAKABLE GIFT!
From 2 Corinthians 9:15 we read, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”
GOD’S UNSPEAKABLE GIFT! The weeks leading up to Christmas Day were always exciting in our home growing up as a kid. After finding out there was no Santa and it was my mom and dad buying all the gifts, it was a lot of fun trying to find out what we were getting for Christmas. Most of our gifts weren’t wrapped. They were hidden in places my parents “thought” we’d never know about. But we figured out all of their secret hiding places. And just as the wise men came seeking Jesus that first Christmas, we came seeking for our hidden gifts every year during that last week before the big day. We’d wait till mom and dad weren’t around to start the search. We’d find them in the usual places…up in the garage loft…stashed on the top shelves in their closet…in the trunk of the car…under their bed…etc. After finding them, we’d even get out some of the toys and games and play with them before carefully putting them back where they were hidden. Then on Christmas Day we’d act like we were so surprised when we saw our gifts all around the tree. Those were the days!
THE GREATEST OF ALL GIFTS. The real message of Christmas is not the gifts we give each other. Rather, the gifts we give and receive are reminders of the greatest of all gifts that God has given to each of us. It is the only gift that truly keeps on giving. I love what the Apostle Paul says in our verse for today when he said, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” I can think of several reasons why Paul said God’s gift of His Son can’t be described with mere words…
FIRST, IT IS SURPRISING. When Christmastime comes around, you often try to figure out if certain people have bought that gift you really wanted. Maybe you already know what they bought, because they didn't hide it very well. Or, maybe you uncovered it by accident. But when the day comes and they give you your gift, like when we were kids, you pretend you’re surprised. Yet all along, you knew what it was. God’s gift to us, however, was a complete surprise. It was not expected and, as you examine it more carefully, you realize how great a gift it actually was.
SECOND, GOD’S GIFT CAME TO US IN THE SIMPLEST OF WRAPPINGS. What would you think if you saw a gift under your Christmas tree that was wrapped in newspaper and tied up with string? At first, you would probably assume that a man had to have wrapped it😁. But think about God’s gift to us. Jesus was not born in a palace of gold; He was born in a stable. He was clothed in rags. He was laid in an animal feeding trough. Yet these things do not, in any way, diminish the story of Christ’s birth. If anything, they help us realize the great sacrifice God made for us. God’s gift to humanity, the ultimate gift of eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ, came in the simplest and humblest of wrappings. The King of glory born in a stable!
THIRD, WE DON’T DESERVE THIS GIFT. At Christmas, we give gifts to the people we love and care about, the ones who have been kind to us over the past year, or the ones who have given us a gift first. We don’t give gifts to the person who has been talking bad about us, or to the angry neighbor who never has a kind word to say. Yet God gave us His gift when we were His enemies. He didn't give this gift to us because we deserved it. In fact, it was just the opposite. The Bible tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
FOURTH, GOD’S GIFT TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT THE GIVER. When you want to give someone a gift, you start thinking about it ahead of time. It’s true…”It’s the thought that counts”, right? Hopefully, you try to find out what that person wants or needs. When God decided to give us the gift of eternal life, it wasn't something that He just thought of on the fly. The sending of His Son wasn’t an emergency measure with God. It wasn’t like He, all of sudden said, “Well, mankind has sinned, so I’ve gotta do something to get them out of their mess! I’ll send my Son to die in their place!” No! Long before there was a planet called earth, a garden called Eden, or a little town called Bethlehem, a decision was made in eternity that God would send forth His Son, born of a woman, to redeem those who are under the law. God knew before He created us the great cost He would have to bear. The Bible says that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world (see Rev. 13:8). Make no mistake about it: this gift that God has given to us was the most sacrificial thing He possibly could have offered.
GOD PUT HIS GIFT ON THE TREE, NOT UNDER IT. So Christmas isn't about those gifts that you have under your tree right now. All of those things will be gone one day. All that will be left after this life our souls, and that will live forever. We put so much stock in all the things that we have, but these things are going to pass away. Life is about what happens beyond the grave. Life is about knowing the God who made you and who gave you the greatest gift you will ever receive, eternal life! It truly is, as Paul described it, “His unspeakable Gift!” Think it over…🙏