Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!  2 Corinthians 9:15

As we move from the celebration of Thanksgiving to the celebration of Christmas, I can think of no better way to conclude the series about thankfulness than to consider being thankful for the salvation provided by Christ our Lord.  While there is much that can be, should be and has been said about this gift, I’d like to focus on the act of love, the ongoing gift and the benefit yet to be received.

One of the first verses we learn as Christians is John 3:16 and it is certainly a great passage to know for it speaks of the love that is the backdrop for this indescribable gift.  The Father has done what He has never asked of any of us in that He has sacrificed His only son.  However, to truly put it into perspective we need to also look to Romans 5:7-8.  God did not sacrifice His son for those that were righteous in and of themselves, but rather for sinful creatures whose actions are abhorrent to Him.  Holy God asked His perfect son to lay down His life for rebellious humanity in order to cleanse and perfect them.  Further, Christ accepted His Father’s request because of His love for His Father as well as His love for those who would accept His gift.  As I searched for images to represent 2 Corinthians 9:15, I found many that included a nicely wrapped package, however, while the end result may be a beautiful thing, the actual act was anything but beautiful for Christ who knew no boundaries subjected Himself to human form, was tempted as we are, was treated harshly by the majority of those to whom He offered His gift, was brutally beaten and crucified, and finally endured the rejection of God the Father as He completed His task by bearing the past, present and future sins of all men.  Too often, I fear that we read passages like John 3:16, Romans 5:7-8 and 2 Corinthians 9:15 without fully recognizing the immense sacrificial act of love that it truly is.  Certainly, when we seek to fully appreciate the enormity of the sacrifice, we are driven to equally immense gratitude.

Another challenge to completely grasping all that God’s gift entails is that we often look back to Christ’s sacrifice and forward to our eternal reward forgetting that there is an ongoing piece to this indescribable gift of love.  I am grateful for a devotional by John Piper that God sent my way this morning which reminded me of this fact.  Romans 8:34 gives us the picture of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father constantly interceding for us.   Romans 8:26-27 reminds us that the Holy Spirit is also constantly interceding for us as we pray to provide the necessary depth to our communication with God.  Further, He lives in us and is ever working to convict us of our sins in order to help us grow in righteousness.  As we walk through our lives enduring both the successes and failure, we have Christ who knows our weaknesses continually interceding for us; and we have the Holy Spirit speaking to the Father to fully bring our requests before the Father while comforting and reproving us so that we will grow in grace.  As long as we draw breath, we have both continually working on our behalf; another piece to this indescribable gift for which we should be thankful.

Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:22)  There are two sides to eternal reward:  punishment for those who reject God’s gift and blessing for those who accept it and seek Him.  For those of us who seek God and desire to serve Him faithfully, our indescribable gift culminates at the point when we receive the righteousness of Christ and abide with God perfected in every way.  To behold God in all His glory and to serve Him faithfully forever without having to be concerned with our shortcomings is truly a wonderful thing…an indescribable gift for which we again should ever be grateful.

God has lavished great love upon us in the gift of salvation; daily we enjoy intercession, comfort and encouragement to grow in grace; and when we step into eternity, we will receive the righteousness of Christ, be provided a perfected body, be released from the effects of sin and bask in the Glory of God.  Allow that to sink in and lift your soul out of any frustrations that you may be facing to praise and thank God.

Thank the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.

Will