Christmas is named after Jesus Christ. Everyone knows that.
Do you know the saying, “He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice”?
Of course. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Everyone knows that.
On Santa’s lap at the mall, when he asks “have you been a good boy or girl this year?”, do you know the right answer?
Of course, it's "yes". That is, if you don’t want a lump of coal. Everyone knows that.
But imagine at the mall, instead of Santa, you meet God. He asks, “have you been a good boy or girl this year?”
How would you answer God? You see, God also has a gift to give. A gift everyone desperately needs.
So you better know the right answer.
This might come as a shock, but the “right answer” for Santa and God are not the same.
“He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so … ”
Before jumping to fill in the blank, consider this:
“… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Rom 3:11-12)
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” (Rom 3:20)
The Bible doesn’t have a lot of jolly things to say about us, does it? But what is this actually telling us? “So be good for goodness sake?” Far from it.
Are you a “good boy or girl”?
What’s the right answer?
Paul in the Bible knows the right answer: “Wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24a)
It sounds like if Paul is being honest with Santa, he’ll get a lump of coal.
But Paul deserves a lot worse from God.
While Paul realizes he’s lost as a “good boy”, hope is not lost. Paul asks next, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24b)
The answer to Paul’s question is the gift of alien righteousness (that is, a right standing with God, given from outside of Paul trying to be a “good boy”): “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 7:25)
A gift that Paul could never earn for himself with his works. A gift earned by Jesus when he lived a perfect life, and took the punishment for Paul’s sin by execution on a tree, a wooden cross (1 Pet 2:24). And that’s not all: “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4b). A gift of adoption, loved by God, with the same love that the Father has for the Son (Rom 8:17, Gal 4:5-6).
There you have it, the gift offered us at Christmas (or at any time of year) to those who put their trust in Jesus:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)
So everyone knows a lot about Christmas. But do you know what gift you want?
The gift under the tree?
Or the gift who died on the tree?
I know the one I want:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8:1)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Not a bad gift, for the same answer that gets me a lump of coal from Santa.
Merry Christmas.