Three Gifts of God
by Les Walters
Advent is a time to reflect upon the gifts and blessings God has given us. Just as the 3 Wise Men, which were kings from the East, presented 3 physical gifts to Jesus upon His physical birth, so does God through Jesus Christ give us 3 spiritual gifts upon our spiritual birth.
Upon our receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God presents to us 3 spiritual gifts. These are
The Gift of Eternal Life
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. (Rom 6:23)
The Gift of Grace
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Rom 3:23-24)
The Gift of Righteousness
For if, because of one man’s trespass death reigned through that one man, much more who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:17)
All Christians know that when they acknowledge their sin and receive Jesus as their Savior, then they have the gift of eternal life. After all, John 3:16 must be the most-often quoted scripture in all the Bible. (For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.) Most Christians know that the grace of God is undeserved. But few Christians are even aware of this third gift – the Gift of Righteousness. Unaware that…once where sin reigned resulting in death, now grace reigns resulting in righteousness.
…so that, as sin reigned in death, Grace also might reign through Righteousness leading to Eternal Life through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. (Rom 5:21 with boldness & capitalization added)
Within this one verse, each of the three gifts of God is mentioned (eternal life, grace and righteousness) as well as the NAME that is above all names (Jesus Christ) as well as our fallen state from which we are being saved (sin). WOW… What a verse from the Word of God. John 3:16 watch out … we got a new verse in town!
When a person receives these gifts by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and by accepting Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for his or her sins, that person begins to know the depth of God’s love. This knowledge and these experiences of God’s love continues to grow within him or her with each and every blessing. (Praise and Honor and Glory be to God!) During Advent, we reflect upon these occurrences in our lives. However, that same person who reflects upon the immensity of God’s love, may or may not know and probably does not feel righteousness. In fact, many may feel unclean and unworthy. But the good news of the Gospel is that God sees him or her as Pure and Righteous. God has given you the Righteous One and He therefore sees you as righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.
AS a Christian, you can not become and you can not earn any greater degree of righteousness than that gift of perfect righteousness that you already received when you first believed. This may be hard for many to fathom. Jesus knew that this would be difficult for us to grasp. In fact, one of the reasons the Holy Spirit has come to replace the physical presence of Jesus is to remind (should I say “convict”) believers of our Righteousness. Jesus said,
“And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment … Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer.” (John 16:8 & 10)
Jesus knew we would not understand nor may we accept/receive the truth concerning this Gift of Righteousness without the Help of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, this author believes that during this Advent Season, just as Mary pondered the birth of her child, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the gifts and blessings that He brings and that is to come, we would be wise, as the Wise Men were, to also ponder the meaning of these three gifts that were given freely to us from the King of kings and Lord of lords and God Almighty, Himself!
So Let’s Celebrate the Greatest Gift of All Time by Openly Receiving Him and Proclaiming Him
TO: All the World
FROM: Jesus Christ our Lord and the Father
- The Gift of Eternal Life
- The Gift of the Abundance of Grace
- The Gift of Righteousness
God Bless You, One and All
Les Walters
Verse 1
The world was broken and shattered
By its sin all around
Every king before had failed them
Every effort left them bound
Verse 2
Voices in the desert pointing
To a future perfect king
unto us a son is given
he will soon come to reign.
Chorus
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
You are king you are kingVerse 3
Every soul on earth is longing
for a king to come and reign
We your church declare its Jesus
To our king, let us Sing
Chorus
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
You are king you are king
Bridge 2x
We crown you king
You are king
Come and Reign
Let Heaven Sing
