Years ago in my hometown an elderly woman crafted new pairs of mittens for my brother, my sister, and me every Christmas. It wasn’t that this lady had forgotten what she had given us the year before. But she knew that the mittens she had made the previous year would likely wear out over the winter. She also knew that we children were still growing and would need larger sizes. So out of the goodness of her heart she dedicated her time and effort to keep our hands warm.
But our family friend isn’t the only one who has given us the same Christmas gift every year. Our heavenly Father has too—for countless years! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
(John 3:16).
Of course, we know that Jesus is not born as a Bethlehem Baby each and every year. Our annual Christmas celebration is a remembering of the first time God’s Gift was given, when Jesus was “born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
That one-time, God-given Gift should remind each of us every year of what changes…and of what doesn’t change!
What changes? Every year brings changes in our age, height, weight, and health.
What doesn’t change? Our natural spiritual condition! Ever since our conception in our mother’s womb we are “in sin” (see Psalm 51:5). And that “in-sin-ness” marks us as deserving of nothing but eternal punishment in hell.
Some clothing items given as Christmas gifts are marked as ‘one size fits all’—the idea being that it’s not necessary to know the recipient’s specific size. While the idea has some merit, the fact is that there will still be those for whom a particular item won’t fit.
But God’s Gift of His Savior-Son is truly a one-size-fits-all. When Jesus gave His perfect life into death on the cross, He paid for each and every sin of each and every person. Yes, the salvation Jesus came to bring is tailor-made for our forgiveness needs each and every day! Never do we need to be concerned that God’s grace for us will rip, wear out, or not fit. Never will God’s mercy for us have to be replaced because of weathering, aging, or unraveling.
God’s Gift of His Son—along with all the other gifts of His grace—is “good and perfect,” for it “comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). No matter how much forgiveness each of us needs at any given moment, no matter whether we need guidance or strength, mercy or help, God’s perfect Gift given once and for all (see Hebrews 9:12) is exactly what we need!
God’s one-time Gift never wears out and always fits—His only-begotten Son, our perfect Savior, Jesus Christ!
Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto us His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth
A glad new year to all the earth.
(TLH 85:15)