O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin, and enter in; Be born in us today. This Christmas, will you accept the gift of God by inviting Jesus Christ to live in your heart? Then pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me that my sins might be forgiven. I beleive you rose from the dead. Come into my heart Lord Jesus, forgive my sin and make me a child of God forever. Amen. Scripture references: 1John 3:16; 2Luke 2:14; 3John 1:14; 4Titus 2:11; 5Luke 2:14; 6 Romans 5:1; 7Philippians 4:7; 8Matthew 1:23; 9John 1:12-13; 10John 3:3
For further information please contact:
Text & Cover Design: Š Mathew Bartlett 2016. Faithbuilders: A Division of Apostolos Publishing Ltd, 3rd Floor 207 Regent St LONDON W1B 3HH Further copies of this tract from www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk
A Christmas Gift.indd 1
A Christmas Gift 21/11/2016 10:27:15
This Christmas those who can afford to will buy gifts for their loved ones. What the gifts cost is by no means as important as their being given from a loving heart. When God gave His only Son to the world, He did so from a heart full of love. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.1 But the Lord Jesus Christ is more than one gift – we could describe him as bringing many gifts in one; for by giving us Jesus, God gave us all the fullness of his blessings. Jesus brought: “peace on earth and good will toward all people.”2 GOD’S GRACE Jesus’ birth brought God’s grace or ‘goodwill’ to all people. When God gives us good things which we do not deserve, that is grace. As Jesus Christ came into the world, “we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth”3 The Bible tells us that through Jesus “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people.”4 But for the God’s grace we would have been condemned to eternal misery, shut out of God’s presence. But his grace brings forgiveness and reconciliation to sinners and rebels. By sending Jesus Christ into the world, God has provided forgiveness for our past sins, power to live holy lives in the present, and the hope of a glorious future with the Lord. GOD’S PEACE ‘Peace on earth.’5 Jesus came to give us “peace with God”6 which comes through being forgiven. Once our
A Christmas Gift.indd 2
sins are forgiven we can experience the peace of God which surpasses understanding.7 GOD’S PRESENCE “The virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son whose name is Immanuel - God with us.”8 In the womb of Mary the eternal Son of God took on flesh that he might dwell among us. The miracle of Christmas is what we call the incarnation. God being was fashioned as a man was a unique act never to be repeated, yet God’s purpose is that there may be a new birth in the hearts of men and women who would repent and believe the gospel. “... as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”9 Once, when speaking to a very religious man, Jesus said, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again”’10 The miracle of Christmas is that he Christ who was formed in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirt can also come to dwell in your heart and mine by faith. The gift of Christmas is that you might experience God’s living presence with you, through Jesus, both now and for ever. If you will receive him by faith, Jesus Christ can come into your life just as he came into the world that first Christmas. In the words of Phillips Brooks:
21/11/2016 10:27:15