God’s Christmas Story
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17
Originally, God created and placed Adam and Eve, our original parents, in the Garden of Eden. But our parents sinned greatly against God by partaking of the fruit of the tree God had told Adam (See Genesis 2:16), ‘…From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” (See Genesis 2:16-17). And, take careful note of Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took (underline, mine), from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
The Bible tells us that from the beginning, God “gave…!” He established the beauty of creation including the rich bounty of the Garden of Eden with which to provide for all of Adam and Eve’s needs! The Bible also tells us however, that into that Garden crept the Sin of all sins through the serpent’s cunning tongue: PRIDE! And the result? We became “takers” by nature, instead of being “givers” in the manner of our Father’s heart! The remedy-the only remedy?
The sacrificial death of God’s only Son on the cross “…that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life!” God’s gift to the fallenness of man! God’s gift to you! (Read John’s Christmas Story: John 1:12-14). Merry Christmas!
Pastor Louie