I Wish You More God For Christmas!

The greatest gift of all is the gift that God offers to all of us, Himself. 

In God, we find absolute prime reality, the unchanging and eternal Rock of Ages, and in knowing God we have a sense of true security.

In God, we find the very essence of self-giving love, and He loves us unconditionally, even as He gives us the power to offer the same to other people. 

In God, we find meaning and significance, in that we can become adopted spiritually into His family and we belong to God and in a sense, He belongs to us.

In God, we find that ultimate prime goodness exists in His very nature, the beauty of virtue, the basis of true ethics.

In God, we find deep and lasting joy. This is not the main goal of living in a selfish sense, and there is a danger of idolizing pleasure, but it's a beautiful paradox that we find in seeking the person of God above all other things in a personal relationship. 

I wish you all these things for Christmas, and in increasing measure.

God's the "I AM" that we ALL NEED!

In saying "I wish you more for God for Christmas!" this is more of a response to the commercialization increasingly associated with all holidays. I know that most of the holidays we celebrate in the West have their basis in combination with early Roman pagan holidays, and ones predating Rome. But looking at 1 Corinthians 10, that regards ancient feasts and the partaking of food offered to pagan idols, the idea was to avoid things that drew people away from God and salvation. In the case of celebrating Christ at Christmas, the aim is towards the opposite, towards sharing the meaning of salvation of Christ and using an opportunity to discuss salvation with more people:

"Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."[1]

By focusing on God as the transcendent foundation of all, and the human needs that are met in knowing God, Christmas is a perfect opportunity to share how meaningful these truths are.

When God defined Himself to Moses, He said to tell them that "I Am" sent you,[2] and then when Moses asked to see God's glory, He went on to describe His prime unchanging good nature.[3]

Consider that when Jesus described Himself, he often used the word "The" his analogies of life and meaning. He didn't just say "I am a way to life." He said, "I am the way, the truth, the life" and this is significant because He was defining the fact that Jesus and God, in general, are, in fact, various aspects of prime reality and prime existence. 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."[4]

Our personal needs for love, significance, and security, are met in God. The Bible teacher and counselor June Hunt has a lot of experience in helping people to understand the importance of this. She says: "Everyone is born with the God-given needs for love, significance and security, but all too often those needs go unmet. When these needs are ignored, we end up looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places."[5]

The prime importance of a rock of meaning and significance in life that is outside of ourselves was also highlighted by Viktor Frankl, who learned this in the fiery trails of life in a Nazi concentration camp. He likened the search for meaning to a paradox of self-forgetfulness that defines us as human:

“Man is originally characterized by his "search for meaning" rather than his "search for himself." The more he forgets himself—giving himself to a cause or another person—the more human he is. And the more he is immersed and absorbed in something or someone other than himself the more he really becomes himself."[6]

 
References

1. Corinthians 10:332.  Exodus 3:14

3. Exodus 34:6
       
4. John 14:6 KJV

5. www.hopefortheheart.org - June Hunt Meeting the Needs for Love, Significance and Security http://www.hopefortheheart.org/meeting-needs-love-significance-security/#ixzz5YN9qWQid 
 
6. Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search For Ultimate Meaning (p.85)

Tags: New Christmas message, new Christmas sermon, the deeper meaning of Christmas, the deeper meaning of the gospel, what is our deeper purpose? Bible meaning of life, what are greatest human needs, June Hunt three main human needs, Viktor Frankl quote about the main need for meaning.