The Ultimate Christmas Gift part 4

Posted by Christian St John in Faithblogs | 0 comments

[audio:xmasgift4.mp3|titles=The Ultimate Christmas Gift part 4|artists=Christian St John]
In my last three Faithblog’s I have been looking at the ultimate Christmas gift. So far, I have looked at the gift’s usefulness and worth, and in this Faithblog I want to look at another way we can measure the good gift that God gave us – We can measure a good gift by its effectiveness.

To find out if a gift is effective we can ask, does the gift do what it is intended to do? Does it do what is promised on the box? For example, if I get a toaster for Christmas I expect it to make toast. Likewise, if I get a coffee machine I expect it to make coffee.

So is God’s gift effective? Well, let’s begin by asking, what is the gift of God intended to do? It’s intended to save us and CHANGE us.

Let’s look at verses 9-11 of 1 John 4 again. Beginning in verse 9, the gift was given “…so we might live. 10 This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice… 11 If God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.”

In verse 11 the Greek word translated as “ought” is the word opheilo. This sounds like a suggestion – but it’s not. It’s not just some suggestion that God is making to us. This Greek word is, more often than not, translated as one’s duty or to be indebted to someone. The root word means actually means – to owe something. You owe a payment – you are under obligation – you must pay it back!

So verse 11 could maybe read, “If God loved us like this, we are indebted and it our duty to love each other.”

But Chris, you may argue, I’ve always heard that God’s gift was free, that I didn’t owe anything… in fact didn’t you say that previously in this series of Faithblog’s? Yes I did, and while this is fundamentally true, let me restate the last part of verse eleven again and let Scripture speak for itself – “If God loved us like this, we are indebted love each other.”

Why would God ask this of us? It all goes back to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world.” The truth is, God is not done loving the world yet and He wants to keep on loving the world through you and me. Jesus said it this way, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NKJV)

So the question remains, does God’s gift change you? Does it affect your behavior? Does it affect the way you treat people?

God’s gift of his Son is intended to change us into loving compassionate people who care for the needs of those who around us. God sent his own son as a Gift, the greatest gift any of us can ever be given, and why? Because he wants to love the world and He has a desire to love the world through us.
The question is, are we willing to let God show His love through us?

Is God’s gift effective? Many people have been saved and changed as result of Jesus coming to this world, many of whom the world had written off, thrown away, and considered as nothing.

So far, we have seen that God’s gift is highly useful, costly, and effective. So, join me next time as I continue to look at the ultimate Christmas gift.

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
December, 2008

Picture by Tracey Brown