The Indescribable Gift | Northstar Church

“Jesus answered, ’I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said, ’Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ’Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’”— John 14:6-10 (NIV)

Christmas is a time of investigation and inquisition when you are young. A child uses the tactics of Mission Impossible and CSI in an effort to determine what gifts are hiding behind all that wrapping paper. It often requires peeling back a corner of the wrapping to see what is inside. Even though you are told that the anticipation and the unwrapping of the gift is the best part, most kids just don’t buy into that. They want to know what it is. But determining what the gift is before Christmas is not what Christmas is all about. Christmas is so much more because the gift is God is with us.

In Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV) we read, ”Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, …” Jesus Christ reveals God perfectly. There is no characteristic which they do not share. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul commends the church in Corinth for their eagerness to help, and reminds them that those who sow generously will reap generously. Then he shifts his attention from human gifts to God’s gift of sending Jesus to earth for us. And he cannot find words to describe that. In 2 Corinthians 9:15, he simply says, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

How do you describe Jesus? Isaiah said He would be called Emanuel, “God with us.” How do you describe that? How do you describe the love and grace of God? How do you describe the indescribable? We can’t. But God is with us. God can be known. He isn’t just a supernatural being out there who is above us and thus unapproachable, incomprehensible. He is real, and we can have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

Christmas is much more than Santa and seeing the Xbox label behind the wrapping paper. It’s more than children and family and good will and the Christmas spirit. Christmas is a miracle. A miracle where God became man and dwelt among us.

Discussion Questions:

As a child did you try to get a sneak peak at your gifts before Christmas? How successful were you?
How do you describe Jesus?