The Gift - The Story of Christmas (notes)

The Gift - The Story of Christmas

The Greatest Gift Was Given To The World Around 2,000 Years Ago.

A gift is a thing given willingly to someone without payment, a present, a Christmas gift. An act of giving something as a present.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

The Gift

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God

• Gave the very best of Heaven, part of Himself, His only begotten Son.
• Did not expect anything in return but because He is all knowing, He knew that the return would be the church, billions of people over the centuries will one day stand before the Lamb of God and give thanks to God for that great gift.

Who Ever Believes

• In Him, will not perish but have everlasting life. The result of the gift is eternal life. God sent His Son Jesus Christ because of His love.
• Lives because Jesus gave His life.  

A Gift is given without expectation of payment. As believers we all understand that salvation is a gift, it is not earned but received by faith. It is by Grace, not of works.

When I think of Christmas I think of the greatest gift ever given to anyone, the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ the Savior.

Jesus came to give us abundant life as His gift of eternal life.

The Word Life is Zoe or life in the absolute sense. John 10:10 says that the thief steals, kills and destroys but Jesus came to give us life and life in the absolute. Life that is the very essence of Almighty God. This is what John 3:16 means.

When God Sent Jesus it was out of His great heart of love and generosity that He gave. We now have eternal life because of His great love. Eternal Life is the free gift of God to anyone who receives it by faith.

When We Talk about a gift in the Bible the Word is charis or grace. The gift of God is by Grace, it is not by working for it. We all know that when we work we get paid. We get educated, we go into a field to get paid. But when we come to God, we don’t need an education to get the payment God offers.

Eternal life is given by Grace not by works.

We Will Look At:

• What the Word of God says about the coming of the Savior into the world. We will look at the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. We will look at His parents, Joseph and Mary. We will look at what Heaven did when Jesus was born. We will look at the outcome of the coming of the Son of God into the World.
• How the life of God works in us daily as a result of Jesus coming into the World and into our hearts.
• The little town of Bethlehem. A town about 5 miles south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. A town today of about 14,000 people the native city of King David. It was known for its bread. Isn’t it ironic that the city where Jesus is born was known for its bread when Jesus said, I am the bread of life. John 6:35 If we come to Him we will never be hungry again.

The Gift of Salvation is for everyone who receives it. There is no way to put a price on salvation. Our eternal destiny was paid for by the blood of the Son of God. This is why the blood of Jesus is God’s number one priority. There is nothing more precious than the blood of Jesus. The Blood will never loose its power, it reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valley. The blood was shed on Calvary that hill outside of Jerusalem.

Matt. 27:33

During This Season Let’s:

• Concentrate on the greatest gift ever given to us. Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
• Ask God to give us an opportunity to give this gift to someone who does not have Jesus. It could be at the mall, at Walmart, at Safeway, at the office, to our neighbor or a fellow worker or an employee or a friend. Let’s give this gift away.