Gift-Wrapped in Love

Presents and gift-giving are a central part of the Christmas season. In fact, I would say gifts have become the focal point of the Christmas celebration for most homes in our culture. Even Scripture records how the magi gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Christ child.

People agonize over gift giving this time of year. Shoppers exhaust themselves driving from store to store or surfing the internet spending precious hours, money and effort in trying to purchase just the right present to give someone. The buying and giving of gifts has definitely taken center stage and stolen the show. And then comes the wrapping … ribbon, shiny paper, bows and fabric, beautiful bags with tissue and tinsel, all assembled with painstaking care to present a beautiful package.

I used to enjoy wrapping gifts when our kids were younger. The greatest challenge to wrapping was a fun tradition called “Guess What?” once the kids got a bit older. On Christmas Eve each person received a unique gift from a family member but before they could open it they had to guess what it was by asking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. Wrapping had to be done very creatively to conceal any easy detection and to keep things more interesting. One year I stuffed a flexible Frisbee inside a paper towel tube and added a few rocks for good measure just to throw things off!

Wrapping presents for many is a fun, creative challenge. But did you ever consider how the Father gift-wrapped His greatest present to mankind? His Son Jesus Christ, arrived special delivery through the womb of a young virgin, wrapped in human flesh and laid in a manger. God incarnate, came to earth draped in frail humanity. The Holy, all-powerful, all-wise God of the universe, who spoke the world into being, chose to put skin on in order to be Emmanuel, God with us. There were no frills or glitz associated with the birth of Christ. No elaborate packaging with elegant bows or fancy ribbon. God’s presence to mankind came gift-wrapped in the flesh of a newborn infant and this epic event changed the course of history!

The birth of Christ seemed so common and obscure that it’s hard to imagine just how precious and costly this Gift really was. Have you ever truly reflected on what it must have been like for our Savior to come down from the majesty, beauty and grandeur of heaven to this earth? It cost Christ to leave His throne of glory to be laid in a crude feeding trough as a vulnerable, helpless baby. It cost God’s spotless Son to live among sinful, broken and corrupt humanity in a fallen world. It cost Christ to be misunderstood, persecuted, despised, betrayed, plotted against, apprehended and unjustly condemned. It cost Him to be spat upon, reviled, beaten and hung naked in shame on a cross as a vile common criminal. It cost Christ dearly to bear the penalty of sin for the entire world … for your sin and mine.  The Gift of God’s Son was priceless!

The Gift from God came at great cost to the Father as well:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jn. 3:16

And yet this costly Gift was the only way to redeem mankind. It had been planned in eternity past. God’s love and desire for a people of His own determined long ago that this Gift would be offered to all mankind. Love has always been the motivation for all God does for His people. Love was the foundation of God’s plan of redemption from start to finish. Love was the reason for this unspeakable Gift!

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 Jn. 4:9-10

So this Christmas season, take time to reflect on the costly Gift we’ve all been given. Remember to celebrate God incarnate, coming to planet earth through the form of his Son, Jesus Christ, lovingly wrapped in frail humanity to be the hope of all mankind. Christmas is about receiving this “good news” and accepting God’s priceless gift of a Savior, who died in your place, who paid the penalty for your sin so you could have eternal life … all because of love.

Christmas is about Christ coming to earth as EMMANUEL, to be with us so he could make a way for us to be with Him … forever!

** For a great reflective jumpstart to your morning during this Christmas season, check out the daily posts on “The Advent Project” put out each year by Biola University CCCA (Center for Christianity Culture and the Arts). It’s a great way to celebrate Advent.