We cannot save ourselves, or participate in our salvation in any way. In our own strength we are not able to convert ourselves or even prepare to convert ourselves. Not only can we not rescue ourselves, we can’t even get warmed up for it.
And it gets worse: God cannot have any depravity in His presence. Not even a little. We might put on our best Christmas sweater, but inside we are still that dark, sinful-natured, totally depraved person. We can’t dress that up.
The story could have ended here, and what a tragic story it would have been. But God, in His great mercy, didn’t want to leave us there—separated from Him, dead in our trespasses and sin. God wants us to be His sons and daughters, so He did something completely unexpected. God sent His Son so we don’t have to stay in this sinful condition but can actually be redeemed.
And that’s the good news of Christmas: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
With the birth of Jesus, God broke the downward spiral. We said, “I don’t need You. I don’t want You. I’ll do what I want.” So His perfect Son stepped into the vortex of our sinful condition and offered not retaliation, but reconciliation.
Christmas is God’s move. It’s the message the angels sang about in the sky over Bethlehem two thousand years ago, and it’s the message of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world, that he gave” (John 3:16a).
What we offer unto God? Stubborn, sinful, rebellious rejection.
But unto us? A Child is born. A Son is given.
Reprinted with permission from Our Journey, copyright 2015 by James MacDonald. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from Walk in the Word.
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