THE GIFT
The temperature outside was about -25 degrees C or -13 degrees F, a thin fresh layer of
snow covering the ground. It was the evening of Christmas Eve, December 24, 2003. However,
for the Russians, the greatest day of the year is not Christmas but New Year’s Day, when
according to their tradition, they exchange gifts
and the children eagerly wait for Santa Clause to
come. My fiancée had recently come from
Romania to visit me for a few months and was
feeling kind of homesick, wondering what her
family would be doing the next day.
After a time of sitting silently together,
somewhat depressed, I blurted out, “Let’s visit
Moscow together!” Even though a visit to the
Russian capital city would take a 7 hour train
ride each way, a big smile came across my
future wife’s face, as she imagined what the
following day would hold for us. Arriving early
in the morning, we walked briskly through the historic Red Square, trying to keep warm in the
early frost. Throughout the day, we visited much of the city, looking at shops, eating at different
cafes, and just enjoying each other’s company. We will remember that time in Moscow as one
of the most romantic days of our lives – and one of the greatest gifts either of us would ever
receive.
People love to get presents. It’s almost as if we invent different
reasons to give and receive: Christmas, birthdays, women’s day, anniversaries, graduation – or
sometimes just to let the other person know that we love them. But what if God Himself wanted
to give you a gift? Wouldn’t that get your attention and stir your heart? If the Creator of the
entire universe gave you something, don’t you think it would be the best gift of all?
All of us are born with a big problem called sin. The Bible tells us that, “We all ha ve
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and, “Our sins have separated us from
God; our sins have hidden His face from us” (Isa. 59:2). Some people think to themselves, “I
don’t have that many sins, or at least they aren’t very big,” but in God’s eyes, sin is sin,
regardless of the size. Like a terrible disease, sin grows until it finally kills us. As a result of sin,
first we die physically, but then, we are condemned to suffer for all eternity in hell.
But wait…there’s good news. Jesus Christ came to the earth as the Son of God and lived
a perfect life. He died on the cross for the sins of mankind, suffering death in our place. The
Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in
Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). So God sent Jesus to die for us so
that we wouldn’t have to spend eternity in hell! Then, He rose from the dead and destroyed
the power of death.
Now, an important question: how can we know where we are going to spend eternity?
Some people think , “If I’m good enough, I’ll go to Heaven when I die, but if not…” The truth
is that we can never be good enough to get into Heaven, even if we try really hard our whole
