God’s perfect gift

Some people are hard to buy for. They never ask for anything, never express their wishes out loud, and never seem to need anything. You might find yourself asking, “What do I give someone who seems to have everything?” Really creative people come up with the answer. Some of us are a little short in the creativity department, and we struggle. In the end, we give up and buy a gift certificate.

Photo Mark Schroeder wearing green vest with cross — WELS President Mark Schroeder

A better question for us to consider during this season is, “What do I give a person who has nothing?” Where would you start? Wouldn’t you start by giving the most important thing first? That’s exactly what God did.

As God considered his completed creation—perfect in every way—he saw that he had provided man and woman, the crown of his creation, with everything they could ever want or need. The Giver of all had given all. But it wasn’t long before his perfect world was shattered. Seeking something they thought was better than what God had given, Adam and Eve turned from God and went their own way. It was a way that led to death, despair, and complete and utter poverty.

God had graciously acted to make his creatures people who had it all. Now he would act again to give the perfect gift to people who had absolutely nothing. It would be the perfect gift because it would be the most important thing that they would ever need. God promised to send the Seed of the woman to restore the joy, perfection, and peace that once had been given but now had been thrown away.

Martin Luther spoke for us all when he said, “We are beggars.” Regardless of the balances in our bank accounts, the size of our well-furnished homes, the multiple cars in our garages, and the talents and abilities we have, we are really people who stand before God with nothing—nothing good, nothing noble, nothing worthy of reward. If we do an honest inventory of our spiritual state, we can only echo the words of Paul and confess that we are the worst of sinners (see 1 Timothy 1:15). We too are nothing but beggars.

But a gracious heavenly Father looks at us with the same love that searched out our first parents as they hid trembling in the garden. He sees that we have nothing. He knows that we deserve nothing. He is aware that we can do nothing to change anything. But with a love and concern that he had for us before we were even born, God points us to that same Seed of the woman whom he promised to Adam and Eve. He directs us to the one who came to restore perfection to a ruined creation. He invites us to kneel with shepherds at the most unlikely of cradles. He urges us to hear the voice of the angel who announced the birth of God’s perfect gift. In his Word, he directs us to listen to the Son he loves. By the power of his Spirit, he leads us to the cross where that Son would die, giving himself as the perfect gift.

We may have trouble deciding what to give someone this Christmas. Our gracious God had no such difficulty. He knew exactly what to give to needy sinners: the perfect gift for people who have nothing. And because of that perfect gift, we now have everything.

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