The Greatest Gift Is Jesus
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
Today on this beautiful Christmas morning, I would like to talk about the Greatest Gift is Jesus
Christmas is the time that we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We celebrate the fact that God became flesh and dwelt among us.
The Almighty and all Powerful God
Quote: The King gave Himself
Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left. Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, “I am your king!” The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn't. Instead he said, “You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!” The King of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave himself to you and me. The Bible calls Him, “the unspeakable gift!”
Jesus is God wrapped in Flesh.
I know we are excited about our gifts and we are excited about celebrating the festive season but let us also remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.
This reminds me of a quote that I read:
It points out the fact that we can miss out on the main point of something when we are focused on other things.
Quote from daily bread – December 23rd issue:
In December 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He totally missed the big news–man had flown!
Let us not get so caught up in the news of gifts that we forget about the main reason we celebrate this season and that is the birth of Jesus.
The birth of Jesus is the reason for the season.
Jesus is die rede vir die seisoen.
Did you know that the Prophets of the old testament foretold the birth of Jesus hundreds of years before it happened?
Micah 5:2 (NIV)
2- “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clansof Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Miga 5:1-2
- Betlehem-Efrata, jy is n klein dorpie in Juda. Tog sal daar uit jou vir my n
regeerder kom wat oor Israel sal heers. Sy oorsprong is uit die verre verlede.
2 – Hy sal die mense van Israel uitlewer tot dat die vrou wat verwag, geboorte gee. Eers dan sal sy volksgenote terugkeer na die land van Israel
The bible also says in the book of Matthew:
Matthew 2:4 – 6 (NIV)
4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
Matteus 2:4-6
4Hy het toe die priesterhoofde en die skrifgeleerdes van die volk bymekaar geroep en hulle uitgevra oor waar die Christus gebore sou word.
5Hulle het hom geantwoord: “In Betlehem in Judea, want so is dit deur ‘n profeet geskrywe:
6“En jy, Betlehem, gebied van Juda, jy is beslis nie die kleinste onder die leiers van Juda nie. Uit jou sal ‘n leier voortkom wat vir my volk Israel ‘n herder sal wees.
The old testament prophets mentions that Jesus will be born in Bethlehem.
Why was Jesus born?
He was born because you and I needed a Savior.
The bible says in Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
When the bible says all it means all.
It does not matter your background, your color, your education, your bank account, your social status or even if you were brought up in church, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
We are all sinners.
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Now here is the other part of why you and I needed a Savior.
The bible says in Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In other words what you and I get paid for our sin is death. It is like having a job. When you work at your job you get wages, or you get a paycheck for the time that you work.
Well, that is how sin is. The work that you and I do is called sin and our wages or our paycheck is called death.
Now that takes me to why Jesus is the Greatest Gift.
You and I had a debt that we could not pay.
That reminds me of the old school song.
He paid a debt He did not owe, and I owed I debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away. Now I sing a brand-new song Amazing Grace all day long. Christ Jesus paid the debt I could never pay.
Why is He considered the greatest Gift?
He is the greatest gift because He met our greatest need. He gave His Life that you and I might have the gift of salvation.
Jesus is the Greatest Gift for our greatest need.
Quote about our greatest need:
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
The bible says in Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thank God for the Gift of Jesus.
Dankie Here.
It is a Gift.
We cannot earn it, we do not deserve it, we cannot buy it, and we cannot be good enough for it. It is a gift.
God gave his best Gift to us, so that we might be saved.
John 3:16 says:
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.
Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
21 – She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus is a gift for everyone.
All we must do is receive it.
How do we receive this Gift?
Romans 10:9-10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
All it takes is a prayer inviting Jesus to come into your heart. The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe I your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
This morning I would love to give you an opportunity to receive the Greatest Gift of all.
Maybe you are here in person or you are watching online, and you want to accept this Gift.
I would love to lead you in that prayer.
See God created us with a void that only He can fill.
Maybe you have tried filling that void with drugs.
Maybe you have tried filling that void with relationships.
Maybe you have tried filling that void with religion.
Maybe you have tried filling that void with money.
Maybe you have tried filling that void with partying.
Maybe you have tried filling that void with the things of the world, but you are still empty.
Only Jesus can fill that emptiness.
During this Christmas season, many people are giving and receiving gifts, but wouldn’t it be nice this Christmas for you to receive the greatest gift of all and that is the Gift of salvation?
The Gift that God gave us in Christ Jesus was the Gift of salvation.
I just showed you that we all need a Savior no matter our background, no matter our color, no matter our education, no matter our social status or no matter if we are a good person.
Jesus was born to be the Saviour of the world.
Jesus is the greatest gift.
He is a Gift that our money cannot afford, He is a gift that our good works can’t earn, He is the only Gift that can fill our emptiness and He is the Greatest Gift of all.
I have news for you.
Your Greatest Christmas Gift wasn’t sent via UPS, It was not sent via FedEx, it was not bought at the mall, it was not sent via your mail courier, but the Greatest Christmas Gift was sent via Heaven express.
Let’s unwrap our Gift today.
Let us pray –
Salvation prayer for those that would like to get saved.
For those of us that have this Gift already let us use this holiday season to remind us to be grateful and thankful that we have the Greatest Gift.