Merry Christmas

Today, many of us gathered with friends and family, sharing and giving gifts in rememberance of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible speaks of many gifts, some implicitly, some explicitly. 1 Corinthians 12 details for us several gifts that are given to the church for ministry and edification. Love, faith, and hope are numbered upon the many things the apostle Paul mentions. More importantly, salvation and the subsequent eternal life and sanctification is offered freely to those who will believe in Jesus, an eternal gift. These and more are all indeed gifts, and they are indeed good. But salvation, sanctification, are these gifts ends? Or are they means to an end? John Piper once asked, "If you could have Heaven, with no sickness, all leisure, all natural beauty you have saw, all physical pleasures you've ever tasted, no tragedy, could you be satisfied in Heaven, if Christ was not there?" The Gospel means "good news," but what is it that makes it good? A ticket out of Hell? A changed person? These are indeed good things, but are they ends of themself? Justification is good, only in that it justifies us before God. Sanctification is good, only in that it conforms us to the image of Christ. Eternal life is good, only in that it unites us with Christ...forever! Could we, or should we be satisfied to have all these gifts if it Christ was not there? Emphatically, No! Brothers and Sisters, to borrow the title from John Piper's book, God IS the Gospel! Christ IS the good news! Tongues and prophecy will cease, but the word of the Lord lives forever! All gifts given to us in the Bible are good, but they are only good in that they point to the ultimate Gift, that is Christ Himself! Cherish the greatest gift ever given today, as we remember the birth of Christ, and as importantly if not more so, His death and resurrection.

"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." 1 John 3:16