God really shouldn’t have …

Have you ever received a gift from someone that was so exquisite, so extravagant, so precious that your immediate, shocked response was, “Oh ______, you really shouldn’t have!”?

And as those words came tumbling out of your mouth, you were thrilled they did!

Actually, your emotions may have been mixed. You may have experienced twinges of concern at the great cost the other person had to pay for your gift. Yet, you were still elated to receive it!

As we think of Christmas, and picture the Christ-child lying in a manger as God’s most precious gift to humanity, we immediately are moved to say, “Oh God, you really shouldn’t have!”

But we’re thrilled He did!

But He definitely shouldn’t have.

None of us deserve the gift of Jesus. Scripture tells us we have all sinned against God and, by doing so, we are all enemies of God. None of us have behaved so well that we earned such a gift. If on that Christmas day God would have given us what we deserve, it certainly wouldn’t have been Jesus!

But that’s the point of mercy and grace. John Koessler gives us a simple insight about this from this little story …

There is a story told (perhaps apocryphal) about a mother who came to Napoleon on behalf of her son, who was about to be executed. The mother asked the ruler to issue a pardon, but Napoleon pointed out that it was the man’s second offense and justice demanded death.

“I don’t ask for justice,” the woman replied. “I plead for mercy.”

The emperor objected, “But your son doesn’t deserve mercy.”

“Sir,” the mother replied, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask.”

Her son was granted the pardon.

We don’t deserve mercy, but through the gift of Jesus we receive even more … grace!

And from that, a “pardon” for our sins!

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son,” Romans 5:6-10.

What a wondrous gift!

Scotty