A gift is something given for free of charge. It comes voluntarily, out of the giver’s free will, to the receiver whom the giver deems to.
Giving is one of the teachings that was most emphasized by Christ. He himself was a gift from God to men. He taught about it several times and in various parables: Matthew 5:42; 6:2-4; 7:7-11; 10:8, 42; Mark 10:21; Luke 6:30, 38; 12:12-14; John 3:16; 10:10.
God’s Generosity: God is a generous Giver. Since ages past, God has been blessing His servants and chosen ones. He prospered Noah (Genesis 9), Abraham (Genesis 13, 14:17-24, 22:16-18), Isaac (Genesis 26), and Jacob (Genesis 30:25-43). He promised prosperity for the Israelites, if they obeyed His commandments, and He kept His word.
The Gifts of God
God is the Giver of all gifts; He has given, and continues to give many gifts to men. His purpose for giving…is to show His love and care for man, and to draw man closer to Himself. All we have is given to us by the Lord; everything that we have, comes from God.
What are the gifts of God?
Majorly, the gifts of God can be categorized into three, and each of these categories produces other multiple gifts. These include the Law, His only Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God gave the Law (Commandments) to the Israelites through Moses, as a sign of His covenant with them, to serve as a guide in their dealing with Him and with men. God promised many blessings for those who would keep His Commandments, and curses on those who broke them (Deuteronomy 5:29; 11:13-17; 30:1-10). The essence of the Law was to keep them sanctified and bring them closer to God. It however brought them punishment instead, because they could not keep it. God then sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son to save Israel and the world, and restore His relationship with man that was lost after the sin of Adam and Eve (John 3:16; 10:110; 14:6). And while Jesus accomplished his work of salvation and was returning to the Father, he promised to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-16). The Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and the other disciples of Christ, on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Today, Pentecost is celebrated by the universal Church as a memorial for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Two Thousand years ago.
The Significance of the Gifts of God
For each of the gifts mentioned above, God was aiming at something particular.
In giving the law, God was showing (giving) man the way to Himself, eternal life. All that the Law gives—wisdom, understanding, insight, fear of the Lord, among other things—are meant to help us to do the will of God; to live according to His own pleasure; and to gain life. (Psalm 1; 19; 119. Proverbs 3:1-2; 8:1-21; Deuteronomy 30:15-20). But could man find his way to God through the Law? If it was possible, then there would not have been any need for Jesus to have been sent into the world. So God had to give up His only begotten Son Jesus, for the same purpose.
In giving us His Son, God gave us eternal life—salvation (John 3:16; 10:10). Man now has the Way to the Father. For Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Jesus however, did not come to stay forever. He had to return to the Father as soon as he accomplished his purpose for coming. That notwithstanding, he gave us an everlasting gift: Salvation. This salvation was to reconcile man to Himself, so that we could become His friends again. This points to a relationship. Remember that man became separated from God after he drove Adam and Eve away from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). Now, in order to sustain this relationship that Christ has restored, God gave us the Holy Spirit.
In giving us the Holy Spirit, God gave us His very presence, for ever; He gave us Himself. As we profess in the Creed of the Church, the Holy Spirit is “[t]he Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and Son, who with the Father and Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.” He is God, the third person of the Trinity. He is the Builder of the Church founded by Christ, who is the Foundation. The Holy Spirit sustains our relationship with God.
Can you imagine how life would have been for you as a Christian, even for the first disciples, without the Holy Spirit? No wonder, they had locked themselves in the upper room. It wasn’t only because they were waiting as they were instructed by Jesus, but also because they were afraid. But when the Holy Spirit had come upon them, they became courageous and went about boldly proclaiming the good news. The first thing the Holy Spirit did was to transform their minds and change them from timid to courageous men. In our relationship with God also, the Holy Spirit first does the work of transformation in our lives. He changes our hearts from sin to righteousness, so that they become the dwelling for God. God is holy, and cannot dwell in a filthy place. So, as Paul taught (Romans 12:2), our lives are transformed by the continual (daily) renewal of our minds, so that we can perpetually commune (fellowship) with God.
What then can we say is God’s greatest gift?
Note that the Holy Spirit also gives gifts to men (Isaiah 11:2, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; 13:1-13; 14-1-25; Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:11). Paul particularly mentioned those gifts in his letters, and in 1 Corinthians 13:13, he emphasized that the greatest of them all is love. This points us to something: all that God was proposing to do since the time that He gave the Law, until when He sent His Son, and subsequently the Holy Spirit, was to reconcile us to Himself and maintain an everlasting relationship with man. And it was God’s love for man that inspired Him all the time.
Therefore, the greatest gift has given us is the relationship with Him; GOD’S GREATEST GIFT is GODSELF. He gave us access to Himself! Now we can come into His presence unhindered and unharmed. In times past, the people could not, but since Jesus died on the Cross, and the curtain that separated men from going into the Holy of Holies, he opened the door to God (Matthew 27:51). And the means to go into God’s presence is the Holy Spirit.
God is inviting you to have a relationship with Him. This is the essence for which He created you. Come to Him now, do not delay. Are you already communing with Him? How consistent are you?
