Earth's Most Glorious Gift
Robert J Pruitt; Former General Overseer of The Church of God
Are you saved? Are you glad to be? Did you ever stop to think at what cost you enjoy this divine privilege?
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was enjoying the splendors of heaven, but there was trouble on earth. Being the Son of God, Jesus was subject to and completely obedient to the heavenly Father. Whatever the Heavenly Father asked of Him, He did it (cf. Hebrews 5:8).
It was about the fourth millennium of man's existence on earth. For approximately 4,000 years from man's creation and his subsequent transgression in the Garden of Eden, it was a fact that few people had learned anything from Adam and Eve's transgression. Rather than fearing God's wrath for disobedience even sometime over 1,000 years later when God sent a devastating and catastrophic flood to destroy all human and animal life upon the earth except Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives-only eight people in all-eventually the descendants of Noah continued in disobedience and multiplied transgressions.
All the while God was pleading with mankind to abandon their sin to recognize and serve their creator, but wickedness and violence increased. What could be done? All of God's efforts for man had failed to get his response. Another flood was out of the question because God had promised Noah that He would not destroy the earth again with a flood (cf. Genesis 9:15). But something had to be done! The souls of men were slipping more and more into the influence and bondage of Satan, the arch deceiver, who was and still is overpowering the weak and fickle will of human beings and dragging them by multitudes into hell's eternal torments. What can be done for them? What drastic measures can be taken to redeem them the disastrous fate of Satan?
Since God had created man in the beginning, it was He and He alone who had the power and influence over Him. His plan was to offer Himself for their ransom and redeem them from the power and destruction of Satan. It was in the power of His (the Heavenly Father's) will to offer Himself in the form of His only begotten Son to be a perpetual redeemer to lost and condemned humanity. The plan had already been made. In the foreknowledge of the infinite and omniscient God, it had only to be put into action.
Somewhere between the creation and the present moment, my friend, you and I fit into the scheme of eternal existence. With our gift of life was the gift of being an eternal soul with the quality of living forever-somewhere. Also, with the gift of eternal existence, we inherited the condemnation of all mankind since Adam with our destination being in the hands of Satan, the arch deceiver. Unless we are redeemed by the only power to do so, we will be cast into the torments of hell for eternity-an irreversible condemnation if ransom is not paid while in the natural earth life- while we are alive and sane.
The plan was plain and simple to men, but it took the power and creative might of God Himself to bring it about. It was simply this: Jesus Christ in His role of being the only begotten Son of God was to leave the splendors of heaven and come to the earth as the son of a virgin named Mary, in the town of Bethlehem, conceived by the Holy Ghost ( cf. Isaiah 7:14), to grow up in the city of Nazareth as the son of a carpenter (cf. Matthew 13:55), and at the age of about thirty begin His earthly ministry. In about three and one half years, it was over. In that time, He preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God, performed miracles of healing, cast out demons, raised the dead, made disciples of those who would listen to Him and obey God. From His disciples, he chose twelve and made them apostles. With these twelve, He established His Church (cf. Mark 3:13-19).
The capstone of His earth life was the gift of His life on the cross of Calvary to redeem you and me from the bondage of Satan who is bent on our destruction, and to purchase His Church that He established there on the mountain.
Innocent of all sins, He gave Himself as ransom for you and me. He is the only one who could have done it. Unless He had, we would die hopeless and helpless to go into all eternity lost forever. Is that, my friend, worthy to be called a gift? What better example could one demonstrate to show what a gift really is? Can you think of a more worthy gift?
Although we were worthy of dying on a sinner's cross, we could not have redeemed our souls even if we had. We do not have the power of redemption. Christ who has the power of redemption, but who did not deserve to die there, took our place and submitted to that painful and ignominious death so that we might escape it and enjoy also the splendors of heaven.
A great part of the Christmas celebration is the giving and receiving of gifts. It is an appropriate time to express our love and concern for others, because the wise men whom the Lord led to where Jesus was brought gifts to Him. Notice their gifts were for Him. What do you have for Him, dear one? During this wonderful season of the year, we have the opportunity of recognizing Him as our greatest gift and at the same time offering ourselves to Him as a "...living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God..." (Romans 12:1). Compared to what He gave for us, the very best that we can give Him is very small.
He came into the world as a babe according to prophecy. It was all in the plan of God before the foundation, or creation, of the world that He should come as the world's Saviour. He fulfilled that purpose on the cross. Our redemption was made by Him once and for all at no cost to us. Not only was He the Saviour of our souls, he was also our sanctifier, Holy Ghost baptizer, healer of our bodies, comforter and companion, the light of our lives, our example and guide.
As God's gift, Jesus is the head of the Church (Ephesians.1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Colossians. 1:18; 2:19). Aren't you glad He is the head of the Church and not man? If it were headed by man, we would be in a state of perpetual religious confusion and turmoil. God loves us too much to put us in the hands of man to spend our lives in religious confusion.He knows how to give good gifts. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11). Jesus, as Head of the Church, is the Good Shepherd of the one fold. He knows how to care for the sheep. He is dependable and is always available to us. He knows where the green pastures are and He leads us by the still waters, giving confidence and assurance that all is well when we live in obedience to Him.
He is the Bridegroom of the Church, the Body of Christ: "...Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they shall fast" (Matthew 9:15). In parable, Jesus explained the relationship of the Bride and the Bridegroom when He was with them on the earth, and afterward when He would return again to the heavenly Father. Then, He describes the event of the rapture: "...the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went with him to the marriage: and the door was shut" (Matthew 25:10). This is a sober warning that prior arrangements must be made to be ready for that instantaneous sound of the trump of God. If one is not ready for that sound beforehand, the doors will be closed and those who are not ready will be left. "They that were ready went in with him to the marriage" tells us that the marriage has not already happened, but is an event following the rapture. The gift of God to the world in the form of a babe in Bethlehem has fulfilled another event and role for which He was sent to earth. Oh, what a wonderful gift to men!
Someone once said, "God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but in the drama of the ages, he plays many parts." How true!
There is yet another role our Most Glorious Gift is to play on both earth and in heaven. The Apostle Paul introduced this subject in these words: "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who in the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, not can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen" (1 Timothy 6:13-16).
The most Glorious Gift is now fulfilling His role as the head of the Church and there are yet great and mighty things to be done of all that is prophesied about Him. He will soon set up His millennial kingdom on earth in a much different role than that of a babe of Bethlehem.
This Christmas while you exchanging your gifts, take some time to count how blessed we are to the Most Glorious Gift as our Lord and Saviour and as the Head of The Church of God. As you contemplate that wonderful truth, take some time to think of what you can offer Him as a gift, beginning with yourself. May God bless and guide you.
(This article was originally published in the December 1996 issue of The Evening Light.)
