The Greatest Gift

This time of year brings to mind the greatest gift ever given to mankind. Almost two thousand years ago, God came to earth. Jesus lived for about 33 years teaching man about what He expects. He then suffered a horrible death but miraculously arose on the third day to give man eternal life.

There were deniers from the very first. The Scribes and Pharisees paid the guards to tell people that His disciples stole His body. As the years have passed, more and more deniers have arisen trying to discount Jesus and His death and resurrection.

Today, we have people who even deny that Jesus existed. The simple fact is that we have more evidence that Jesus existed than we have that Julius Caesar or Homer existed. No one would claim these men didn’t exist.

Why is there such a concentrated effort to deny that Jesus existed? The answer is complex and simple. The simple answer is that the Devil tries to tell us that God’s word is a lie. It started in the Garden of Eden when he told Eve that God lied.  God said if they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die. The Devil, in the guise of the serpent, told her she would not surely die, but she would become like God. Of course, His word was true and they died spiritually and physically.

Today the cries are shriller. The Devil still wants man to believe God’s word isn’t true. Man also has a dilemma. If he admits that Jesus was real, then he must ask himself what will he do with Jesus.

All men know that there is sin in the world. The question is what to do about it. Many think the government is the answer. Others believe overcoming poverty and ignorance will defeat sin. All of these are doomed to failure because sin is a condition of the heart. Until the heart is changed sin will continue. Jesus brought us freedom from sin and death. That is why his death and resurrection are so important and why it is fought so vehemently.