The Unspeakable Gift: Celebrating God's Love and Grace

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Now those words remind us of what is, after all, from our standpoint as human beings, the most important thing for us to realize on this Christmas Day. This is a day in which it has become the custom for people to give gifts and presents to one another. [00:01:09]

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son." That's the whole notion which is emphasized for us in the teaching of the scripture so that all our giving of gifts and receiving of gifts, you see, is but a pale repetition of this unique event when God gave to the world his dear and only begotten son. [00:04:18]

The world always expects some great demonstration of power; it tends to estimate greatness in terms of power and bigness. But when God sends his greatest gift, at first, it's a very small gift, just a little babe and a helpless little babe, the exact opposite, I say, of any great display of military power or pomp or authority. [00:06:23]

The Apostle Paul bursts out and says, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." Words can't describe it. Why? Well, because even God couldn't give a greater gift than the gift he's given. He has given his only begotten son. He has given his dearly beloved Son. He has given the one who was ever with him from all eternity. [00:09:10]

God had planned to give this gift to the world before they ever made the world itself, before the foundation of the world. He planned it. It's the universal teaching of the whole of the Bible. So what we have at Christmas is this tremendous carrying out of what he purposed Before Time. [00:18:09]

God had promised throughout the centuries that he was going to give this gift, and there's nothing more wonderful to me about Christmas than just this aspect of the matter, that here God is keeping his promise. God is fulfilling his word. God is doing what he said he would do. [00:20:30]

The glory and the Marvel of this Christmas is just this, that it is entirely from God's side. We deserve nothing. Indeed, we deserve less than nothing. We deserve punishment, for we've all sinned against God. We've all rebelled against God. We've all turned our back upon God. [00:15:07]

It is all of Grace. It is in spite of us that God sent his only begotten son into the world. God so loved the world that had sinned so grievously against him. It tells us of his love and of his grace in a way that nothing else can do. [00:17:07]

Do you realize the cost of this gift? You like to think of that, don't you? If somebody whom you love has given you a gift, you like to think, "Oh, look at the money he spent or she spent, must think a great deal of me." The cost. Well, just try and think of this. Think of what this gift has cost the Father. [00:27:42]

Here is a gift that saves us, delivers us from punishment, from Hell, From Misery, from Eternal unhappiness outside the life of God. God is giving us free pardon, deliverance from the punishment we deserve. But look at it positively. He reconciles us to himself through this gift. [00:29:54]

We are given New Life, a new nature. We are adopted as children of God. We are made heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, so that through this gift, we are able to see beyond this world, beyond this life, through death, beyond it all to the glory Everlasting that is coming. [00:30:42]

Does this unspeakable gift of God fill you this morning with gratitude, with amazement, with praise? Amen. Let us sing this great and glorious Hymn of Charles Wesley, hymn number 84, "Hark the herald angel sing, glory to the newborn King." [00:32:22]