The Gift the World Didn’t Want

Ah, Christmas time! What a wonderful time of the year. Well, at least it always has been for me. I love this time of the year. It means so much more than just getting gifts. It also means light, joy, hope, family, and love. And of course, all that is encapsulated in the greatest gift of all – Jesus Christ!

When we follow the gospel story, it becomes clear that God gave the gift of Jesus to a broken, hurting world. It was a world that was largely in rebellion against Him, or just flat out refused to even acknowledge Him at all. The course of mankind up to that point had been a course of stubbornness, willfulness, selfishness, and wickedness. As a result, the world was plunged into a ceaseless cycle of violence and corruption that led to disease, decay, and death.

So why would God give the gift of Jesus to a world that didn’t want him? What was in it for Him? What was in it for us? And what does it tell us about God and His gift?

The reason God would give the gift of Jesus to a world that didn’t want him is because the world needed him. Unlike what some may think, God does love us and cares about what’s going on down here. He doesn’t love us only when we are good. If that were so, none of us would stand a chance. Instead, He loves the world despite all the wickedness and violence. Does God like the wickedness and violence? Of course not. Does He just turn a blind eye to it? Not a chance. But what He does do is work towards setting things right, and that’s where His love (and His gift) enters the mess we’ve made.

The Christmas story is perfect proof of what I’m talking about. On the night of Jesus’ birth, shepherds were in the fields tending their flocks of sheep. I’ve never watched over sheep, but I can only imagine that this is not the most exciting or glamorous work. I’m sure it would require patience, vigilance, and dedication and you might get pretty filthy and smelly. But yet it was to this group of men that God decided to announce the coming of His gift to the world.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people (Luke 2:9-10).’” Please note that at the appearance of a heavenly creature, the first reaction of the shepherds is one of fear. Why? Two thoughts I offer on this: 1) It’s natural for most people to experience fear when they encounter something completely unexpected, and 2) fear is a natural response to an appearance of God and/or His angels because in our sin and guilt we automatically presume that God is going to strike us with His wrath.

How wrong we are. Notice what the angel said. He’s bringing good news. It’s such good news that it will cause joy. And not just joy for the shepherds; it will cause joy for “all the people.” And it’s not just a little joy; it’s “great joy!”

What was this good news that would cause great joy for everyone? The angel continued, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2:11).” The good news was Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord. He had entered this messy world in the form of a baby. As John would later famously say, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14).”

How was the birth of this baby good news? First of all, this was not just another baby. This was the incarnation – God in the flesh. Jesus is the Son of God, so his presence among us meant that God was living in the midst of His creatures, the very creatures that didn’t want Him. And why did He do it? As the angel declared, Jesus is our Savior. That’s why he did it. He didn’t come to destroy His wicked world. He didn’t come to shower fire and brimstone on us all. He came to save us! He came to restore. He came to draw us to himself.

We needed to be saved from the destructive path of sin and death that we were on and Jesus came to do the job. Compare and contrast what Jesus came to do with the image that far too many of us hold of an angry God that is ready to smite everyone because He can’t stand the stupid and evil things we do. It’s a completely different picture of God, isn’t it? It’s God not only setting us right but also correcting our understanding of Him. It’s hard to approach someone whom you think is constantly going to lash out at you because of your failures but it’s easy to approach someone whom you know loves you and cares for you and desires nothing but the best for you. So God wanted us to see that He was for us, not against us; that he love us, not despises us. Once we realize this, and I mean deeply realize it, that’s when His love starts changing more than our perception of Him. It also starts changing our perception of how we live, how we love, and how we treat one another. That’s the transformation that lifts us out of sin and darkness and draws us into His wonderful light where we enjoy His peace, goodness, and joy.

So I’ve answered why God would give us the gift of Jesus, but there’s more to say on this topic. Next week we’ll start tackling what was in it for God to do it. Until then, may you always walk in Jesus’ light and be at peace and joy.