I often gave my growing children one large Christmas package that was stuffed with lots of little packages. Likewise, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we need to begin unwrapping the package God sent us on that very first Christmas and discover all the gifts God placed in Him for us.
Romans 5:17 (Amplified) says, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive (God's) overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness (putting them into right standing with Himself) reign as Kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
The tiny gift of the Christ Child incorporated many varied gifts, one of which is the gift of righteousness. This gift is so very important for Christians to unwrap because without this gift, we find ourselves in a place outside where the Father intended us to be.
We seldom think about all the gifts God placed in this one small package of flesh in the manger. But, in Jesus we find all the gifts of God to mankind that are yet to be unwrapped or revealed to us and by us. Romans 6:23 (Amplified) says, "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the (bountiful) free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord."
Many of us unwrapped the gift and received our salvation, but then stopped there. The gift of eternal life is not for when we arrive in heaven, but is to be experienced here and now. When you received that gift, eternal life began living in you instantly. Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) tells us that, "For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And this (salvation) is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came by (not from your own striving) but it is the gift of God."
I often thought that scripture was referring to my salvation as being "the free gift of God." The more I studied this scripture, the more I learned how the grace, the faith and the salvation were all the gifts of God. When unwrapping the present, I found many, many more gifts inside.
John 1:16 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received (all had a share and were all supplied with) one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift (heaped) upon gift."
Acts 2:38-39 (Amplified) says, "And Peter answered them, 'Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Verse 39 goes on, "For the promise (of the Holy Spirit) is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away (even) to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself."
The gift of grace is the helper to unwrapping all the other gifts in Christ. Until we unwrap grace, the other gifts seem to be too much to accept. The gift of righteousness cannot be believed and received without first accepting the gift of grace. We can only believe we are now in right standing with God only by faith in His grace.
The gift of the Holy Spirit found in Acts 2, is to reveal the gifts of God to His children, through our union with Jesus. Without receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, you will not understand how to operate in the other gifts. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the gift of grace to us. 1Corinthians 2:12 (Amplified) says, "Now we have not received the spirit (that belongs to) the world, but the (Holy) Spirit Who is from God (given to us) that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts (of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly) bestowed on us by God."
When we don't receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as He is intended to be received, we still walk in the spirit of the world or the mere natural man. The Holy Spirit has come to reveal all these gifts to God's Church. All of these gifts are in Christ Jesus, but we must unwrap the present of God in order to receive them.
Jesus, still in the manger, is just the promise. When you receive Him, then you receive the gift of the promise. In Him are all things affiliated with life and Godliness both now in this life on earth and in the hereafter.
No comments:
Post a Comment