The Greatest Gift Of All!

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.  John 3: 16, NKJV.

Dear God, I am so happy that my salvation depends on You! Please make this truth very plain, as we study Your Word today. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

For the past two days we have been giving much thought to the fact that God desires to save us. We saw how He used disciplinary measures, like a parent who desires the best for his or her child, in an attempt to save His people from the foretold judgment. Israel was facing God’s judgment because of their sins. And, as is common with human beings, we tend to depend on the arm of flesh for deliverance. But God warned them, that even if those who were faithful to Him were in the land, it would not avert His disciplinary measures. Perhaps they were hoping  to be saved from the impending doom because of the “righteous,” in the land (remember the story of Abraham pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared if there were any “righteous” in  the land?). Notice that the word righteous is always enclosed with quotation marks. That is because we know that there is only One righteous, Jesus Christ!

Today, we want to talk about our eternal salvation. The salvation that Christ secured for us when He died on Calvary. That salvation was paid for in full, when Christ died, and rose from the dead, on our behalf. He did not make a down payment on our salvation. He paid it all! Neither you nor I, can add anything to it, or take anything away from it. We cannot deserve it, or, not be good enough to receive it. “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe…!” It is yours, and mine, for the taking. We have only two choices:  to accept it, or, God forbid, reject it. Strangely enough, this is one gift that people hesitate to accept. We have become so accustomed to paying for everything we have, that we find it hard to accept something that we cannot pay for! Even though this gift appears too good to be true; it is true!

I am almost certain that you have heard the saying, “the greatest things in life are free.” Yet we are unable to grasp the fact that, the greatest gift of all is free, and is made available to the world! Whoever really wants it, can have it. There is only one condition to receiving this gift:  You must receive the Giver along with it! Someone has rightly said, “the gift without the giver, is bare.” Unfortunately, many people give “bare” gifts. That is because anyone can give a gift without loving. But who can love, without giving? In giving us eternal life, God gave us a gift of Love – His love! He gave us Himself! Therefore, only as we accept Him, can the gift be ours. He and His gift are one, because God is love! Hallelujah!

His greatest desire is for us to receive His gift of love. Have you received it? Let me make this as plain as I can – the gift is free! All you need is to want it, and accept it. If you have not received it, won’t you accept it today? You will never be sorry that you did!