God's Grace

By God’s grace, we are “saved through faith” (Eph 2:8), in Jesus, by trusting Him as our Lord and Savior. God bestows each of us with “gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us” (Rom 12:6). We are to minister our gifts to one another “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” The word manifold means exhibited or demonstrated in various ways. Indeed, “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8)!

Jesus came into this world as a humble child, born of a virgin (Mt 1:23). But He did not become a Saviour, because He was already born “a Saviour” (Lk 2:11), and He “shall be called the Son of the Highest” (Lk 1:32). The prophet Isaiah prophesied that they “shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14), “which being interpreted is, God with us” (Mt 1:23). He was God Who “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). The birth of our Saviour was the most profound event for both humanity and eternity, because it was the time that God “took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Php 2:7).

God Himself wore the robe of humanity, “yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). Jesus came into this sinful world “that He might redeem us from all iniquity” (Titus 2:14). He is the greatest gift to this world. Sadly, many today fail to recognize the true meaning of His birth. They celebrate the season and all its festivities. They give gifts, but they ignore the greatest gift of salvation in Jesus (Acts 4:12). Before you open your present on Christmas day, ask yourself, is Jesus present in my life? He came for sinners like us, He died and rose again (1 Cor 15:4), to save us when we come to Him by faith. May you have a God blessed Christmas celebration!

-Pastor Melito Barrera