The Best Christmas Gift “Jesus Christ”

John 3:16 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 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God
sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

(Ephesians 2:1-5) “1¶And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses
and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times
past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4¶But God, who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul writes of the great gift God has given them
through His Son (2 Corinthians 9:15). Because of Jesus, they are not merely bad
people made good, but dead people made alive.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), they brought both
physical and spiritual death into God’s perfect world (Romans 5:12; 6:23). The
moment they transgressed God’s law, “their eyes were opened and they realized
they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). For the first time, mankind tasted rebellion and
was awakened to the difference between good and evil. They had experienced no
evil, no shame, and no guilt until that moment. But, with one forbidden bite, their
souls and bodies began to die. God Himself made the sacrifice required to atone for
that sin (Genesis 3:21) and established the principle that only through the death of
a perfect substitute could the sinner live. This began the unfolding of God’s
ultimate redemption plan by which He would make the ultimate sacrifice to atone
for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2; John 3:16–18).

Before we surrender to the Holy Spirit’s urging, our spirits are dead to the things of
God (Romans 8:8). We have no good within ourselves and no desire to submit to
our Creator. We are dead spiritually and have no way to make ourselves alive. Just
as a corpse cannot do anything to help himself, so we cannot save ourselves or
make a move to cleanse our sins. We cannot even produce the desire to obey God.
We were dead because of our sin. Dead people need a life-giver. John 1:4 says of
Jesus, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

The life Jesus gives is not merely eternal life in heaven (John 3:36; 14:2; Titus 3:7)
but spiritual life on earth that empowers us to live out the purpose for which He
created us. Our dead spirits can be compared to a deflated balloon inside our souls.
We are scarcely aware of its presence as we live for ourselves, under the command
of sin (2 Peter 2:19; Romans 6:16). When we respond to the Holy Spirit’s calling
(John 6:44), we repent of our sin and exercise faith in the Lord Jesus (1
Corinthians 12:3). God forgives our sin, crediting us with the righteousness of
Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21), and sends the Holy Spirit to live inside us. The Greek
word for “spirit” is pneuma, which means “breath” or “wind.” At the moment of
conversion, the breath of God fills that deflated balloon, and our dead spirits come
alive. This new spiritual life goes to work, transforming us from lifeless, sin-filled
corpses to vibrant, living children of God (2 Corinthians
5:17; Ephesians,2:5; John1:12).

Every human being in the world exists in one of two categories: spiritually dead or
spiritually alive. Religion cannot make a dead man live. Good works, effort, and
tradition may look like life to other dead people, but they have no spiritual power
to transform from the inside out. Jesus Christ paid the highest price to redeem us
from the clutches of Satan. Sin destroys; surrender brings life. We were all dead in
our trespasses and sins, but we can be made alive through the blood of Jesus Christ
our Lord (1 Peter 1:2; Ephesians 2:13).