DECEMBER 21 JESUS – THE GIFT By Phil Tuttle President & CEO, Walk Thru the Bible
Today’s Passage: Galatians 3:10–14; Galatians 4:4–5
Imagine your family opening presents around the tree. At some point you say, “I don’t feel like opening any more.” The others respond, “Why? Several have your name on them!” Right now, you are probably thinking, “I’d never do that.” And yet that is precisely what we do with the gifts God has given us through the Gift – Jesus. The birth of Jesus is about the gospel, the good news that God wrapped Himself in flesh, interrupted the downward spiral of the human race, lived a sin-free life, died a torturous death, and came back to life three days later.
Far too many of us are content with a surface understanding of the gospel and miss some of the gifts He longs for us to open, treasure, and share.
Paul describes one neglected gift in Galatians 3:10–14 and 4:4–5. He explains one reason Jesus came was to set us free from the curse of the law. The Old Testament law was intended to show us our need for God’s forgiveness. Romans 3:21–24 declares we’ve all broken God’s law and deserve His judgment. I often hear Christians say, “Abraham, Moses, Esther, and other Old Testament saints were saved by obeying the law, but we’re saved by trusting in Jesus.” But that is not true. Salvation has always been by grace through faith because of God’s gift, not our goodness. When we misunderstand the true purpose of God’s law, we doom ourselves to live under its curse. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. By trusting His finished work, we are set free from the futility of thinking we can earn God’s love. This gift is not only for those from a Jewish background but also for all of us who are tempted to step back on the treadmill of works and exhaust ourselves in the fruitless pursuit of perfection.
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