The Gift of God
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
A “friend” on Facebook commented, “I WISH Santa was real”! I responded, “Actually Santa is a fantasy that comes far ‘short of the Glory’! LOL. The only Free Giver of all things is God ... and He is real!”. The Giver of all gifts is God.” You cannot imagine a replacement for God that is better than God. And since we are entering into Christmas season, we now have to deal with Norse a fantasy, Santa Clause, who supposedly can ride around the planet in a sled pulled by reindeer in 24hrs.; climbing down chimneys and leaving gifts to all good little boys and girls. As adults we know that is impossible and that grown-ups and parents end up doing all thee things the myth attributes to the fat man in the red suit with white hair and beard.
Where Santa Clause limits his gifts to those who have been good and a lump of coal to those who were bad, he is not like the God our Father. Our Father is ALL INCLUSIVE! He gives the best things to all men whether they are good or bad regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Paul taught us we, “should covet the best gifts”.
1 Corinthians 12:31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
The more EXCELLENT WAY is your Father Himself. “I AM” is your Father’s name used to introduce himself to Moses. “I Am (Father) the WAY, the truth and the life”. Jesus told us in no uncertain terms, “Father is the WAY, the truth (thy Word), and the only Living One”.
From the time men are born and come into conscious awareness about life and its value, they are also confronted with the certainty that, “We are all born to die”. When men part the womb alive, their time-clock begins the countdown to their designated day of death. Since men only see the visible outer manifestation of death, the rotting corpse which is disgusting, the prospect of dying is something not desirable.
We have learned that the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ as a GIFT to the world.
Micah 5:2 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; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Psalm 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity (enslaved humans captured by devils on earth) captive (reaped to the Barn of Heaven): thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious (human sinners) also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (slave) of sin.
Luke 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
Luke 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. 37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
So now we see the BEST GIFT TO THE WORLD that no Santa Clause can give IS THE SON!
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
All men want to live (forever) and avoid eternal death. Men do not know that “I AM” created them IMMORTAL “after his likeness”. So to a dark world of mankind, He sent the Son as a gift to bequeath upon them eternal life whether they believe him or not. The Atonement act by the Son on a cross is our guarantee that men will be found sinless, prodigal son or not!
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Glorify God!
God did it!
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