Christmas is not about mince pies and roast turkey. It’s not about sleigh bells and Santa Claus.  We can have a great Christmas without any of these. 

Christmas is not even about shepherds and wise men, a guiding star and a manger.  These lovely ingredients in the biblical account of the first Christmas are but the wrapping paper in which God sent his amazing gift.  Most of us would surely agree that it would be silly to make more fuss over the wrapping paper than over the valuable gift inside. 

Christmas is about God’s gift.  It’s about Jesus.  Without Jesus Christ it is possible to have a mid-winter excess of eating and drinking, but you cannot have CHRISTmas.

God’s amazing gift to us was not a politician - the world has plenty of these, some good, some bad but mostly indifferent.  Neither did  God send us an educationalist or philosopher to help us think clearly.  We also have plenty of these.  But God sent a Saviour, because men and women desperately needed one, and there was no saviour in the world. 

The fact that God sent a Saviour is clear from the words of the angels on the first Christmas day: ‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:11).

God gave us a Saviour because we are all sinners, and we all need saving from the guilt and consequence of our sin, which is death and hell. 

Contrary to popular belief, we cannot deal with our own sin.  We can do nothing to make ourselves acceptable to the Holy God.  Morally it is possible to turn over a new leaf and change our behaviour, but spiritually that’s impossible because God says that all men and women are spiritually dead.  So if we are to be saved it must be done for us, because we can’t do it ourselves.  That’s why God sent Jesus to be our Saviour. 

Jesus is God’s unique gift because of who he is.  He is the Son of God.  He is ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘God with us’.  He is God become man. Jesus is God’s unique gift because of what he did.  He took the responsibility of our sin and guilt.  He bore the punishment those sins deserved, and on the cross he faced the judgement of God instead of us.  He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.

The great question of Christmas is:  Have we received God’s amazing gift of Jesus to be our Saviour? 

How can you receive the Gift?  See that you desperately need a Saviour because your sin is real and, unless it is dealt with, that sin will take you to hell.

Believe that Jesus alone can save you.  Receive the Gift by repenting of your sin, confessing it to God and trusting in Jesus alone for forgiveness and pardon.

The wrappings of Christmas are lovely, but the Gift is even lovelier.  It’s a Gift that never needs replacing, never wears out and never becomes outdated. It’s a most precious Gift that cost God an enormous price.  That Gift is Jesus. You need Jesus to deal with your sin and to make you acceptable to God.