A TINY GIFT…WONDERFULLY WRAPPED,
SILENTLY DELIVERED
Since the first Christmas
celebration, one word has crossed everyone’s lips more than any other this time
of year. It isn’t the word carol or tree or food.
It’s gift.
With all the giving and receiving
that happens at Christmastime, it seems right that we pause to think about
God’s gift to us … His Son.
Jesus was the one-of-a-kind, original
must-have Gift that God intended for every person on Earth.
Reflecting on God’s generosity in
giving His Son, the Apostle Paul penned my favorite Christmas verse. I always
love seeing it on Christmas cards:
“Jesus
was wrapped in history. Sovereign over time, God wove the events of history so
that they dovetailed perfectly, at just the right time, with prophecy.”
“Thanks be to God for His
indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15, NASB).
Why is God’s gift indescribable? One
simple reason: Jesus was so much more than a tiny baby lying in a manger! As we
gaze closer and think deeper, we see Jesus wrapped in more than swaddling
clothes … much more!
First, Jesus was wrapped in prophecy.
Read Isaiah’s astounding prophecy of Jesus as mighty God and eternal King
centuries before Jesus was born.
Second, Jesus was wrapped in history.
Sovereign over time, God wove the events of history so that they dovetailed
perfectly, at just the right time, with prophecy.
Third, and most significantly in this
context, Jesus was wrapped in mystery. True “awe” resides in the
mystery of Jesus’ nature. Even in this tiny baby, we find undiminished deity
clothed in perfect humanity. Linking the two natures together in one
personality, housed in one unique body, the God-man Jesus was born. No less
deity, no less humanity, in one person, in one body, forever.
That’s awe-inspiring mystery! No
wonder hosts of angels declared in unison, “Glory to God in highest heaven”
(Luke 2:14). What words fail to describe, only worship can express.
This is why the Christmas story must
be repeated in God’s words time after time after time, year after year! That’s
the only way people will hear the truth … and believe it.
So, as you celebrate Christmas this
season, sing the carols, enjoy the food and exchange the gifts. But don’t let
the season pass without remembering the prophecy, the history and the mystery
that surrounds the original, must-have, indescribable Gift: that tiny baby
wonderfully wrapped, silently delivered … eternally adored.
©2018 by Charles R. Swindoll (Edited for
length from Decision Magazine 12/24)
