Christ’s Gift of Mercy to Us                  

“Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17 NLT

            Christmas Day is a day of exchanging gifts with family, friends, and loved ones, and sometimes with not-so-loved ones. I’m sure we have all experienced ‘should I give so and so a gift this year?’ Whatever our reasoning is, it defeats the purpose of the true meaning and spirit of Christmas. There should never be a standard to live up to in order to receive a gift. If that were the case, most of us would not have anything under our tree on Christmas morning, myself included. When we do receive a gift from someone unexpected, we are surprised, yet thankful, and at times embarrassed and even feel unworthy. We may feel a need to reciprocate, but nothing seems adequate in response.

            Such should be our sentiment to Jesus for His gift of mercy to us. Jesus left His throne in heaven to come down to earth for us in a special way for a special purpose. The New Testament book of Hebrews says, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die…… Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.” (Heb. 4:14a, 17a NLT) Christ’s gift of mercy to us is His becoming our faithful High Priest offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sin once and for all. Jesus was faithful to God the Father’s required payment for sin, a perfect and holy sacrifice. “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” (1 Jn. 2:2 NLT)

            This Christmas let us remind ourselves as one loved or not-so-loved there is one gift we could never re-gift, the sacrifice of the Christ child born that early Christmas morning. Let us also remind ourselves there are no ‘not-so-loved’ with God, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16 NLT)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!