The majority of my Facebook friends are Christians, but I know some of you do not share this belief. I hope I don’t offend, but I could not think of a better Christmas gift than to share how you might realize the joy of knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord.

________________________________________________________________________________________                       

“Honey, would you please bring me the flashlight? I guess I tripped the circuit breaker. There must be a short somewhere in these Christmas lights. The flashlight batteries are dead? Well, that figures…how about a candle? Surely we have one candle around here some place. I can’t get anything accomplished in the dark.”

Sound familiar? I guess we’ve all been there. It’s frustrating to try to get around in the dark. However, in a much greater sense, many people spend their whole life in darkness, with no guidance or direction. Simply because they choose to reject…”The Gift”.

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” 

John 1:5

Life’s trials and challenges are difficult enough without the added burden of going through them alone…without the help and guidance of a God who loves us. 

If you’re familiar with the Bible, and you want to read about the first Christmas, most of us will turn to the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke. But today, let’s look at the arrival of Jesus in another Gospel…the book of John. The author of this Gospel was John, the apostle. The very first verse reads…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. “

Skipping down to verse 14, we read…

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Now, let’s put these verses together and try to bring some clarity. The original language in which the New Testament was written was Greek. And the word translated as “Word”, was “Logos”. Here, it was used as a title for God. As we read further, John identified the “Word” (Logos) as God. 

A spoken or written word tells us what is in the mind of the speaker. So, John apparently chose this title (Logos) as the expression of God. Thus, he explains when the “Word became flesh, and dwelt among us”, the full manifestation of the Glory of God was born. He lived among men, and His name is Jesus.

The Bible also tells us that all of us are sinners. 

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,…Romans 3:23

Sin can be an attitude as well as an action. It can be either actively fighting God or as simple as excluding Him from our lives. We learn at an early age there are consequences for sin. And in Romans 6:23 we learn that the ultimate consequence of sin is death. 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Death in the Bible always means some kind of separation—in its most basic sense, separation from life. Because God is the author of life, a spiritual death means separation from Him for eternity. 

Now imagine a love so great that Jesus chose to leave His throne in Heaven, experience our pain, and bear our sin for us. Though he lived a sinless life, He chose to experience the death we deserve…an excruciating death on a cross, and He rose from the dead three days later. In doing so He offers us eternal life as well. “The gift”.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

This is the time of year when we celebrate that glorious event. The birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. It is because of Him, and only Him, that we no longer have to stumble about in darkness. 

Many of us celebrate Christmas by exchanging gifts with one another. But in order to receive a gift, we have to accept it. Have you accepted God’s Gift? He offers it freely. By acknowledging your sin and believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, you can receive that gift. It is as simple as that. If you have questions, feel free to direct message me on Facebook…I would love to hear from you.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” Ephesians 2:8

May the joy of this Christmas season remain within us throughout the coming year and remind us why we celebrate.