Is Your Christmas Meaningful Without God's Gift of Christ?
The Meaning In Giving
Most people exchange gifts at Christmas. We inherited this tradition from our past. Ever wondered why we still do it? Most of us find exchanging gifts meaningful, and we’d miss it if we gave it up. Why? What’s so special about giving?
It is often said that it’s better to give than to receive. That sounds nice, but think about it for a minute. What’s the real benefit of giving something of yours to someone else? What if they don’t appreciate it or give anything to you in return? What if it ends up being unfair? Is giving worth the risk? After all, if you give something away, doesn’t that mean it’s not “yours” anymore? What’s better about that?
Well, consider this. What makes another person “yours”? What is the difference between your loved ones, and everybody else? You don’t own them, so how are they especially yours? They’re yours because they are freely giving themselves to you. And if you are theirs, it’s only because you are giving yourself to them in return. That’s how Love works—it's an exchange. Love makes us immeasurably better together than we could ever be by ourselves.
Love is worth the risk.
"You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself."
Athanasius of Alexandria 296-373 AD
The Need
Another tradition that Americans and other western-types inherited from our past is a “can do attitude.” We cherish the value of individual persons, and prize the freedom to solve our own problems and meet our own needs. Indeed, we guard these ideals jealously and sometimes even fight to preserve them. But there’s a downside. All too often, our purpose as individuals gets buried beneath our own self-interest.
Ask yourself: “Am I good by myself?”
Imagine you are all that exists—just you, all by yourself. Dwell on that for a minute. What is it like? Is it good? Do you have everything you always wanted? It’s finally all about you. But nobody can congratulate you for being so important. No one can give anything to you or receive anything from you to make your life meaningful. You don’t have any friends to make you a friend. You don’t have any loved ones to make you a loved one. You’re alone—and that’s all you are.
Alright, wake up. Do you mean anything all by yourself? No! You can’t! Because you came from others to begin with, and now you depend on others to make your life meaningful. Others are depending on you for meaning too.
We all need a community to truly matter.
The Needy
So, what’s really wrong with our world? If we asked ten people, we might get ten different answers, each a reflection of someone’s culture, background, and priorities. But they would all have something in common. The problem is lack.
Try it. What’s wrong with “your world?” Is it a lack of recognition or respect? Is it a lack of justice or equality? Perhaps it’s a lack of food and safe housing. Is it a lack of wealth, status, or pleasure? Maybe it’s a lack of fairness, or a lack of good-health owing to the lack of some needed cure?
Don’t you lack goodness and dignity even by your own standard? Be honest now. Do you always do as you would have done? Do you always give others what you always expect to receive from them? Are all of your relationships enjoying perfect peace? Are you whole and healthy?
Of course you’re not. None of us are Perfect. Now, can you make up for your lack all by yourself? If you can, then what are you waiting for? You know deep-down that you can’t—and we are all in the same boat. Each of us lacks what all of us need...
...a Community that isn’t broken.
The Perfect Gift
Have you ever heard the phrase “I’m only human?” It’s the usual excuse for our foul-ups, big and small. But if humanity is all we have to work with, how are we supposed to ever fix it? Can we get meaningfully better?
Progress means moving closer and closer to a Standard of Good. So are we?
Take a look around. Our world is polluted with every imaginable kind of lack. As long as we keep trying to make it “better” by ourselves, it always will be. Why? It's simple. If you foul-up a math problem on the first step, what will happen if you ignore it and press on? Your error will compound itself over and over again, and you’ll get further from the truth instead of closer to it.
That’s what's really wrong with our world. It isn’t broken because “we’re only human.” It’s broken because none of us are human enough! We lack Perfect-Humanity, and if we are ever going to get meaningfully better, we must find it up and running in Someone, and then get to know "Him."
Since we live in a logical world, there's just one solution to our problem of lack. Our perfection has to be given to us. Naturally, this gift can only come from Someone who really Is Perfect in the first place. Because, no one can give to another what is lacking in themself. That's why there's only one solution to our problem. We all need a gift that only God can give to us.
He did! His Name is Jesus Christ.
The Perfect Giver
Why is there something rather than nothing? Because God is The Giver.
God is the Perfect-Being. He lacks nothing, and He has all within Himself to give. The world exists because God gave it existence. We are alive because God gave us life, personhood, and the potential for perfection. So, how do we reach that potential?
We can't—not on our own. But God can reach it in us through His gift of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is God’s unique Son. Within Jesus lives the Perfect-Humanity that we each need to get meaningfully better. The Life of God in Jesus is the greatest gift ever given. He Is “God with us” (Matthew 1:18-24). Through Jesus we can reach the unbroken Community of God’s Perfect Love. Indeed, the Perfect Life of God can complete us by filling our every lack (Colossians 1-2).
God loves the world so much that He gave His Perfect-Life to save it. You are a part of the world, and His gift is especially for you. Indeed, God has risked the greatest unfairness of all by making your life with Him a gift instead of a sovereign decree.
God gave Himself to you because He loves you and wants to be especially “yours.” Do you want to be especially “His”? Believe in Him, receive Him, and give yourself to Him in return. Love God and become "His child."
Exchange Life with Him.