The Gift of Gifts

His advent foretold At Christmas time, we look back any years to the birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem. By contrast, hundreds of years before His birth, there were men who looked forward to that great event. Such men were prophets in the Land of Israel to whom God revealed important details, concerning for example, how He would be born, “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” (Isaiah 7:14), and where He would be born , “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5.2). Over 700 years later, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? Herod consulted the chief priests and scribes to find the answer to their question. From their knowledge of the Old Testament these men were able to confidently answer, “In Bethlehem of Juda”, read Matthew 2.1-6. Isaiah made another deeply interesting prediction concerning the coming of Christ in these words, “For unto us a child is born, Unto us a son is given”. (Isaiah 9.6). A child born You may regard the first part of the quotation of little consequence, thinking that there is nothing at all unusual in starting that “a child is born”, for after all children are born every day. But when Mary “brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger” (Luke 2.7) there had occurred an event of enormous significance. Not only had a child been born, but a son had been given! The words “a child is born” tell us of the humanity of Jesus. This child, born at Bethlehem, grew up a boy in Nazareth. In later years He became a carpenter until, when about 30 years of age, He began a ministry of sublime teaching and preaching, of wondrous miracles of healing, but with an end in view, to suffer and die upon a cross at Jerusalem so that guilty sinners might be saved A son given And with that end in view, His suffering and death, “a son is given”. These words tell us of His deity, He is the Son of God, sent by His Father into the world. Someone has written “Was e’er a gift like the Saviour given? No, not one! No, not one!” Think carefully upon the birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem, that you may come to understand, “In this way manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only- begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4.9. The coming of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God into the world is an amazing proof of God’s love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, (John 3.13). It will indeed be a wonderful Christmas for you, if you will “Believing you might have life through His name” (John 20.31). JHB