Gifts from God
The present time of the year has many folks focused upon gifts. It has become a tradition for many in this country and elsewhere to purchase or make items to give to people during this ‘holiday’ season. There are also quite a few businesses that have capitalized upon this. Some have started companies to participate in and promote the ‘gift giving’ season. Much money is spent on advertising to entice the public to participate, even to the point of going into debt to procure gifts for others. Often the gifts and the giving of them are directed toward people they love. Occasionally, some even give to others out of a sense of obligation.
It is amazing that so many are ignorant of what God has provided for all of humanity. The list of ‘gifts’ God has given to man is too numerous to list in an article. However, some need to be mentioned, so let’s begin at the start. In Gen. 1:1 we are told of the first gift God gave to man. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. To some, this may not seem to be much of a gift, but God created earth so man would have a place to live.
Years later when man had populated the earth, because the wickedness of man had become so great, God, in Gen. 6:5-7 determined to destroy earth and every living thing. However, because of his fidelity, in vs 8 we see that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Then we are told God gave man a great gift in 2Pet. 2:5 in that all did not perish. And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; Consider the gift of the fact that you and I would not even exist had all humanity been destroyed then.
Interestingly, in Gen. 3:15, God had already promised humanity a gift in the Garden following the sin of Adam and Eve. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. This is speaking of the death of Christ.
As Christ was on earth, He taught about some gifts of God. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 5:43-45we read what He taught to His disciples. This portion of the Sermon was about love. God’s love for man has Him giving all humanity gifts daily as part of His general providence for man. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Everyone benefits from this gift from God.
Unfortunately, not everyone benefits from every gift of God even though the gift is offered to all. God loves man to the point that He sent the great gift of His Son as John 3:16 points out. 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. God provided this gift because He does not desire that any soul should be lost. We have assurance of this in 2Pet. 3:9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God’s Word has always declared the Christ and what He came to offer mankind.
However, as John 1:11 shows, some of Christ’s own people (the Jews) rejected Him. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. Those who gladly receive Him according to John 1:12 are indeed given a wonderful gift. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Sadly, too many folks are taught that all one has to do to become a “son of God” is believe. That cannot be true, else the ‘devils’ could become ‘sons of God’. Jas. 2:19 tells us: “the devils also believe, and tremble”. One thing is certain. The folks who refuse to believe that Christ is the Son of God will die lost. This is a promise from Christ Himself in John 8:24. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Many fail to realize that some of the promises of God are conditional. If one refuses to abide by God’s conditions, He will not grant the promise. Upon the beginning of the New Testament age, the apostles addressed all the Jews that were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost. At the conclusion of the sermon, some of the Jews were convinced that they had condoned the killing of the Son of God. In Acts 2:37b they asked: Men and brethren, what shall we do? The Spirit had Peter provide the conditions and the available gift in verse 38. He said: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.This gift is the ‘promise’ of eternal life. While we live on earth, we only have eternal life in promise. This is what 1John 2:25 tells us. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
Rom. 6:23 tells us of God’s great gift to man and how it is procured. But it also shows us the ‘reward’ for iniquity. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why not obey the gospel according to God’s conditions as laid out in His Word and become a ‘son of God’? For one to do otherwise is to reject God’s gift and spend eternity in Hell.
Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ
