The Unopened Christmas Gift
Time 2021-10-16 11:05:00Web Name: The Unopened Christmas Gift
WebSite: http://theunopenedchristmasgift.blogspot.com
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keywords: description:Everyyear, hundreds of millions of us go through the ritual of decorating our home,buying presents, throwing parties for a holiday we celebrate as Christmas. We waitin long lines on Black Friday or spend countless hours online researching theright gift for our loved ones. We wrap up gifts and anxiously wait for them to be opened. As we grow older and wiser, we realize that giving is a muchgreater reward than receiving. But what if you gave someone you loved thatperfect gift only to watch them set it aside and never open it - it would probablybreak your heart right? But that is what most of us do year after year,Christmas after Christmas. We celebrate the holiday but we leave the true giftunopened. Let me explain...
2000 years ago, God the Father gave us the gift of eternallife through His Son Jesus Christ. The bible tells us in John 3:16 that ForGod so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, thatwhosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So lets focus on two things here, first offis the love of God the Father for us. This verse tells us that He loved us somuch that He gave us His only begotten Son. This is in direct contrast to what many think that God is, a stern selfish tyrant only waiting for us to mess up. The reality is that God is love and He would rather be sacrificed on the cross and endure the pain, guilt, shame and sorrow that we deserve as sinners than to be separated from us eternally. Secondly, this verse tells us thatHe gave us His only begotten Son. Think with me for a moment - if someone youknow gives you a gift, what must you do? The answer is simple, you must receive it.And that is where The Unopened Christmas Gift comes into focus. Most of us havenever taken the time to receive this Christmas gift from God the Father. We setthis gift aside year after year and rather choose to celebrate a meaningless Holiday. So thenext question is this; how do I open this Christmas gift? Glad you asked.
The Bad News
Beforewe can realize the great gift the Father has given us, we must first realizewhat it would mean to us to leave this precious gift unopened. What Im aboutto share with you is what has been left out of the pulpits in most of the MegaChurches now for a few decades. They leave this part out of the gospel because theyare more interested in filling their church pews with people than filling up heavenwith souls. Pointing out the sin in peoples lives is very unpopular these daysand most people tend to shut out the gospel because of it. But stay with me for a little while longer andopen your hearts to what Gods word has to say about sin.
The bible tells us that sin entered the world through Adam.Adams sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone has sinned(Romans 5:12). The bible expands on this verse and states that all have sinnedand fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This means that one sin inyour entire life keeps you out of heaven. The math is very simple here; everyonehas sinned so therefore we are all on our way to a place called hell. But mostpeople dont believe in a literal hell or often misunderstand Gods reason forcreating this place called hell. They say how can a loving Father send anyoneto hell? First off God never created hell for you and I, He created hell forLucifer and the fallen angels that rebelled against God. God gave all of us,even his angels the gift of free will and we all have the CHOICE tolove Him back and accept His gift of eternal life. God is in the process of creating his eternalfamily and giving us the choice where we will spend eternity with Him in heaven orwe can choose to stay in sin and live out this short life without Him whichwill result in being cast down to an eternal hell on judgment day. That is what Satan andhis demons have chosen and they want to take you with them.
When the bible talks about life and death, it generallydoesn'tmean our mortal life anddeath on earth, it means our eternal life or death. The bible tells us that if you dont repent and believe that Christ has paid your penalty in full, then the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and you will be cast into the lake of fire, where you will experience the second death, eternal damnation for all of your sins. Jesus describes hell as a place of anguish and sorrows for eternity. It is a place where you are conscience of your life and your decision not to repent will be your eternal torment (Luke 16:19-31).
The Gospel The GoodNews
So nowthat you made it through the bad news, it is time for the good news. One of thegreatest misconceptions that people have today is that God gave us the TenCommandments to help us achieve our own righteousness so we could earn our way toheaven. Thatcouldn'tbe further from the truth. God gaveus the TenCommandments so we would realize our need for a Savior. The fact is that noneof us merit or even deserve heaven. Ephesians 2:8-9 says For by grace you havebeen saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,not of works, lest anyone should boast. If you have bought into the religious liethat being a good person will get you into heaven then you will be sadlymistaken on judgment day. You have been saved through grace which is the giftof God and not out of your own good works. If we go back to John 3:16 and readwhat that gift is, it is His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Jesus steppeddown from His thrown, came to this earth in the most humble of ways. Hewasn'tborn to an earthly king or queen, Hewasn'tdelivered in a kingdomsurroundedbyroyalty, no, He came through a humbled bond servant named Mary and was born in a dirtystable without any pageantry. He lived a spotless, sinless life and wasrightfully named the Lamb of God. In the same way the Jews would sacrifice aspotless lamb for the sins of their people, God sent His own spotless Lamb, Hisson Jesus Christ to be sacrificed on the cross for the sins of the world. OnlyHe could pay the price for your sins and my sins. He was the only spotlesssinless being that walked this earth and could ever pay for the sins of theworld. Now all you need to do is receive this gift.
What Must I Do?
Thenext question you may be asking is how do I receive this gift? Mark 1:15 says Thetime is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe inthe gospel. Some of you may be reading this and saying but I believe in God,I always have and I believe in Jesus. Yes that may be true and is a requiredstep to salvation but the question you should be asking yourself is: am I bornagain? This is by far the most important question of your life, why? BecauseJesus tells us in John 3:3 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is bornagain he cannot see the kingdom of God. Again, this is Jesus uttering thesewords and Jesus is God, and God cannot lie. So now you know that you must beborn again. You may have the head knowledge of God, but you must make thechoice to transfer that belief to your heart. Goddoesn'tlook at anyotherpart of the body but the heart since it is the heart that reveals a mansintentions and private motives. The Bible tells us For the Lord does not seeas man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at theheart. (1Samuel 16:7b)
So what does it mean to be born again? What this simplymeans is that you have to die to yourself and give your life over to Christ.You must accept the FREE GIFT of salvation and understand that there is nothingyou can do on your own to make it into heaven. You must accept that the pricefor all of your sins has already been paid for by Christ on the cross. Once youhumble yourself and take that step, the Holy Spirit will dwell in your heartand seal you (2 Corinthians 1:22). Thisis what it means to be born again or born of the Spirit.
Receive the Gift
Now back to the story of TheUnopened Christmas Gift. God has been patiently waiting for you to unwrap thegift of His son Jesus Christ and receive eternal life with Him in heaven. So Iurge you to take some time right now to reflect on your life. Put down yoursmartphone, tablet, laptop, turn off the TV and put aside your pride and thinkabout the sin that is currently in your life. Find your quiet place with Godand ask Him to help you with your unbelief. If you are sincere and ask with ahumble heart, the Lord will hear you and reveal himself to you. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal the sin thathas separated you from Him.
Follow these simple steps to openthe gift:
1.Untie the Ribbon realize that all of the sinthat has you tied to the world can be released by admitting it and quitting it.REPENT therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out (Acts3:19).2.Open Receive the Gift Accept that Jesushas paid for your sins on the cross and that He is the only way to salvation. Butas many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, tothose who BELIEVE in His name (John 1:12).
Now pray and ask Him to forgiveyou all your sins. Pray something like this:
"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I ama sinner and ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and thatGod the Father resurrected You from the dead through the Holy Spirit. Right now, I turn from my sinsand open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord andSavior. Please send your Holy Spirit to take residence in my heart. Thank Youfor saving me. Amen."
If you truly prayed that prayer with a humbled heart thenyou have now stepped over from death to life. Welcome to the family of God! Ipray that this Christmas is more meaningful to you and that you begin yourrelationship with your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas and may the New Year be filled with Love, Peaceand Joy.
George TrejoNo comments: Labels:Christmas,Christmas Story,Gift,God,Jesus,Repentance,Salvation,TruthLocation:Lake Forest, CA, USA HomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)About MeUnknownView my complete profileBlog Archive 2014(1) December(1)The Unopened Christmas Gift - by George Trejo
TAGS:Unopened The Gift Christmas
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