Reflections for Christmas
What was the greatest Christmas gift ever given? As Christians, many of us would likely answer something along the lines of a cute baby in a manager who would grow up to be brutally tortured and crucified so that we escape the fires of Hell.
“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation… .’” (Revelation 5:9)
For a moment step outside of the temporal and enter a chilly Christmas Eve night. We are standing in knee-deep snow outside a great mansion. Inside we hear a mix of laughter and the melodies of favorite Christmas tunes. We walk up to a frosted window and peer into the Christmas party that was, and is, and is to come. We see the coziest of fires ablaze in the hearth—eternal Father, Begotten Son, Holy Spirit in perfect fellowship.
The scene continues to unfold—it’s time for an exchange of gifts! But what does God get God for Christmas? God is in-and-of Himself fully complete. God needs nothing internally or externally. Nothing can be added or subtracted from Him—and you thought it was hard to shop for your spouse?
All eyes turn to the Begotten Son. He is looking at His Father beaming as any young child does who has painstakingly selected the exact present for a beloved parent. With the greatest anticipation, He hands the gift over to His Father who removes the gift’s bow and wrapping. Time suddenly stops, and the Father radiates a smile unlike any other.
Through the frosted window, we strain to see what is inside the box. What could so greatly move God? We feel the warmth radiating from inside as we press our ears to the cold windowpane to hear the conversation.
“Father, I got you something that you so greatly desired, a desire born of no need yet only jealous want. I have traveled the greatest distance and paid the greatest price. I have purchased this gift with my own blood. For your glory, I give to you mankind—for I want to restore to you your full inheritance in their lives poured out as living sacrifices unto you.”
Suddenly through the window, we realize that the eyes of The Great Three-in-One are now gazing upon us. We've been caught spying yet we do not find ourselves in trouble. Instead, we are beckoned to join the party inside. We are being welcomed to find our place as God’s inheritance. We have been bought at the greatest price, and freely given of the Begotten Son to His Father. And now we each must choose, will we accept this invitation to come inside or continue to stand out in the cold?
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit … .” (1 Peter 3:18)
The greatest gift was the one The Begotten Son gave to His Eternal Father – you are the gift God gave God—it is His desire that you abide in Him, with where He is (John 17). However, you must accept this invitation.
Let me be clear, I am not speaking to the unsaved, but to those who are already in the body. This is the true gospel: the heart of a Father and The Son who so loved His Father that He went to the greatest length to return the Father's treasured inheritance. Certainly, in Christ, we have escaped the fires of Hell; yet, too many Christians will never accept this invitation to, as C.S. Lewis described, “Come further up, come further in!” Instead, we choose to stand out in the cold, bowing to a corrupted image of our Father and subscribing to a narcissistic version of the Gospel.
As the classic song states: “Oh, he's making a list and checking it twice. He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice.” For many of us, isn't this our very conception of God? Certainly, this is the predominant picture of God presented by the Church in America – a God who is no different than Santa Claus. Yet, this is not the God of the Bible. As John 5:22 states, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son … .”
From such a corrupt picture of the Father, we settle comfortably with our narcissistic version of Christ. How often we sum the Gospel as Christ who came to save ME from MY sins in order that I may go to heaven. Notice the predominant subject in such a description is ME and certainly not Christ. This very narcissism is nothing short of man’s original sin in the garden. Adam’s sin was man trying to become like God – the ultimate narcissism. The only solution could be God becoming man – the ultimate humiliation.
And from this corrupted gospel we easily twist the Holy Spirit to fit our agendas, ideologies, and whims. Is there any mystery as to the condition of the Church and our society? Our problems have nothing to do with our political circumstances or the sinful appetites of those outside the body (1 Corinthians 5). Instead, the problem is with our narcissistic Gospel and corrupted image of Our Father.
The True Gospel is that Christ ransomed people for God (1 Peter 3:18, Revelation 5:9). That we would live our lives, in the duration and circumstances He determines, as living sacrifices, voluntarily poured out before Him because He alone is worth it (Romans 12:1-2). Yet this, the True Gospel, remains so often overlooked in our church pews in favor of a narcissistic sales pitch centered on what “I” get out of the deal.
All have been made by the hand of God in His image, and all are miserable sinners before Holy God (Romans 3:23). Only by the blood of Christ can we gain the invitation to intimately know the One True God, “and this is eternal life”(John 17:3). By His great mercy, many will choose Christ and escape the fires of Hell; however, few will accept the invitation to know their Father.
This Christmas, will you accept the invitation to rest as His beloved gift from The Son to His worthy Father?