Did you know the game show Let's Make a Deal is back on TV? You remember, Monty Hall made deals and offered contestants the chance to select a prize behind one of three doors. It was always fun to see whether what the contestant chose was a delight or a dud.
Well, there is no concealing of the prize when it comes to Christmas. Right there, for whosoever to see, is the gift more valuable than any gift imaginable—God's Son. What a time for celebration, gratitude, and homage.
Every year I challenge myself to take a fresh look at everything Christmas, and this year I’m determined to reflect upon the God behind the Gift. What would it have taken for God to send his Son? With all He knew, as He knows all things, with the future in plain sight, as He saw clearly what lay ahead, what would it take for the Father to send the Son?
It's too easy to dismiss the sacrifice, believing that God knew His Son would suffer and die, but ultimately would rise again; too easy to speculate that the end would justify the means.
I've seen the suffering that some people have had to endure, sometimes to the point where death seemed preferable to life. The excruciating suffering Jesus was destined to experience, including the separation from His Father, would be much worse than the experience of death itself. And yet, knowing all that Jesus would experience, suffer, and endure, still: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son…” (freely, completely, and without compulsion) “that whoever believes in Him…” (people from every nation, the unholy, the ungodly, and the unattractive) “should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Who is this God that gave so much for me? Even though we celebrate His birth, Jesus knew what He was born to do. What does this say about His nature? What does it say about His love for you and for me?
Christmas is a time for celebration, and so it ought to be. It is a time of giving, reflection, and glorious praise for the greatest Gift of all time. But this year, let’s take a little time to look behind the Christmas story. Who is this God who gave so much? Who is the Giver behind the Gift?
Just a thought…
