The Gift That Required Everything: God’s Sacrifice
This is day 4 of a 5-day devotional on the symbols of Christmas. Hopefully, you have been sharing with your children and grandchildren as this devotional is a great tool to help teach the true meaning of Christmas.
Christmas morning brings excitement as families exchange gifts, but no present under any tree can compare to the gift God gave humanity on that first Christmas. Understanding this gift requires us to grasp something difficult about God's nature. God cannot simply overlook sin. It's not that He won't; He literally cannot. It goes against His holy nature.
Sin requires payment, and that payment is death. This created an impossible situation: God loved us and wanted us to live with Him forever, but our disobedience demanded justice. So God did something that was extremely difficult for Him to do. He gave His only Son as payment for our sins. Try to imagine the weight of this decision. If you had to give your child to save someone else, could you do it? Yet that's exactly what God did for you and me.
The gift of Jesus wasn't easy for God to give, but He gave it willingly because of His incredible love for us. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus became that sacrifice, paying the price we could never pay.
This Christmas, as you give and receive gifts, remember that the greatest and most expensive gift ever given was God's gift of Jesus. It cost God everything, but He gave it freely because He loves you that much. No earthly gift can ever compare to the magnitude of what God sacrificed for your salvation.
Bible Verse
'Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.' - Hebrews 9:22
Reflection Question
How does understanding the cost of God's gift of Jesus change the way you view His love for you and your response to Him?
Quote
The greatest and most expensive gift ever given was given by God when he gave Jesus to mankind on that first Christmas?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I can barely comprehend the sacrifice You made in giving Jesus for my sins. Thank You for loving me enough to pay such a costly price. Help me live worthy of such love. Amen.