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Is there a difference between the thinking of a 20- or 30-something-year-old single male and a 40- or 50-something never-married single male about getting married? I will share some information on that subject in the next article. In the meanwhile, first, view this film clip released by Columbia Pictures in 1955. Then view the conclusion on the “HERS” page. It is quite humorous.
By Justin Coleman
“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given…” – Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)
As we approach Christmas, we will undoubtedly hear the telling of the Christmas story, the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus. God became a man and came into this earth to save us from our sin. He humbled himself to become one of us, because that is the only way he could save us. Isaiah 9:6 is a commonly shared scripture regarding the birth of Christ. It tells us that a son is given.
Christmas traditions around the world involve giving gifts. Often times that is the only aspect of Christmas that many people know or celebrate, but the real meaning of the holiday comes from the greatest gift that has ever been given. God gave His only son and Jesus gave His life.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (NKJV)
God’s motive was love. He gave us His son because of His great love for us. A gift that we did not deserve and could never earn.
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13 (NKJV)
“As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:15 (NKJV)
Jesus told us that the greatest form of love is to give your life for someone. Then He proved that His love for us was greater than any other love the world had ever known. He laid His life down for us as the final sacrifice for our sin. John 3:16 tells us that if we believe in Christ that we will have everlasting life.
What is everlasting life? It could be said that it is God’s kind of life. The quality of life that God Himself has. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came so that we would have life. In John 4:14 Jesus said that eternal life would be a like a fountain within us. Is this eternal life a gift that we receive and then go about our merry way?
During Christmas many people will get together with family. They will exchange gifts, eat dinner, have a wonderful evening and then go to their separate homes. They will take the gifts home with them, but the one that gave the gifts will go their separate way as well. The gift and the giver are not intertwined. That may be the way things work in the natural world, but I don’t believe that is what God intended when He gave us the greatest gift.
I believe there is a much deeper meaning to everlasting life. A more meaningful experience than simply knowing we will go to heaven when we die. Paul touches on this experience in Philippians.
“ [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly]…” Philippians 3:10 (AMPC)
The truest experience of everlasting life is to come to know God in a personal and intimate way. To know Him more intimately than we have ever known any other person. To share the depths of our hearts and souls with Him and to experience and rest in the vastness of His great love for us. We don’t receive His everlasting life and then go about our business and forget about God until we die and go to heaven. The greatest expression of everlasting life is to experience the giver as much as we experience the gift, because knowing God personally is the greatest gift, and the greatest gift is the giver Himself.
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