God’s Unspeakable Gift

What was the most wonderful gift you received as a kid?  Mine was a Lionel Satellite Train I received for Christmas when I was about ten or eleven years old.  It was an electric train having five cars, one of which was a satellite launcher that when the train started up, air blowing up from the car launched a small round Styrofoam ball into the air, which would remain in the air a few inches above the car as long as the train did not go too fast.  I greatly coveted this train since first seeing it advertised on TV and told my grandmother and aunt (who raised my sister and I) that this was all I wanted that year for Christmas, and then waited with great anticipation for Christmas to come.

When I got up that Christmas morning there was no train under the tree going around the track like I envisioned from the ad on TV.  I was of course quite disappointed, although I didn’t express it openly as I did not want to appear ungrateful for the nice gifts I did receive.  After all the visible gifts around the tree were open, I resigned myself to a trainless Christmas. And then my loving but “tricky” aunt, under some false pretense, has me go in back of the tree, where I see a large, wrapped box.  She feigns ignorance regarding what it might be and upon inspecting it finds my name on the wrapping.  And upon my opening it, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but my coveted train.

I enjoyed that train greatly for about a year.  Eventually it got boxed up and put in the attic with other “wonderful” gifts that had outlived their usefulness.  It was in good shape and probably would be worth a tidy sum today for its collectors’ value.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened to it, as many other wonderful gifts throughout the years had taken its place in my heart.  And for all too many of those years, the one gift that I needed most, I coveted least.  It was a gift I was fearful to receive, as to receive it could cost me everything valued in this world’s marketplace, in addition to my personal autonomy and pride (Matthew 19:20-22) (Matthew 16:24-26).

It is a gift described in 2 Corinthians 9:15 as indescribable, unspeakable, or inexpressible depending on the Bible translation.  These adjectives speak to the infinite value and inestimable worth of the gift, such that possessing it would be found to be exceedingly more desirable than anything that was lost or displaced in the receipt of this gift (Matthew 13:44-46).  They also speak to a gift of such unimaginable beauty, wonder and magnificence that it would far surpass the known joys and pleasures of all other gifts one can desire combined.

The identify of this infinitely valuable gift is found in John 3:16, where we read that God (the Father) so loved the world that He gave (as a gracious gift) His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ), that whoever would believe in Him (Jesus) would not perish (in Hell) but have eternal life – the glorious relationship of intimate love and communion with God for which we were created in the beginning, a relationship which was lost to mankind because of sin.

There are two essential aspects to believing in Jesus in a way that keeps us from perishing and restores to us eternal life. We first and foremost must believe and embrace Him for who He has revealed Himself to be in the Bible, namely the infinitely glorious creator and sovereign ruler of the universe; the one worthy of being known intimately, loved supremely, trusted explicitly, obeyed perfectly, pursued passionately and enjoyed singularly above all of His creation as the eternal God (Luke 10:25-28).

Secondly, we must embrace Him as the embodiment of the overwhelming, never ending precious love of God, who voluntarily comes into this sin cursed world as a man to accomplish, at great cost to Himself, everything necessary to save us from the eternal consequences of our sin and to reconcile us to the glorious relationship with God for which man was created.

John Piper, in his wonderful book Desiring God, addresses how if we do not find Jesus to be our greatest gift, our all-satisfying treasure, our heart’s eternal delight, then our faith, our believing is nothing more than a vain effort to secure fire insurance – to deliver ourselves from God’s just judgement.  He writes:

“If we are not captivated by His (God’s) personality and character displayed most clearly in the person and work of Christ in our salvation, then all of our other declarations of love and thanksgiving are like the love and gratitude of a wife to a loving husband for the many and beautiful cloths and jewels she receives from him, which she uses to further her love affair with another man. … God is then nothing more to us than a tool, a means, a machine to produce for us the things we really love, and desire and delight in. … Our soul is not born again unless or until it is excited by the knowledge and person of God (in Christ) where He is loved, desired for His own sake, where there is a deep and spontaneous love and affection to God as the most excellent of all beings – the most excellent of all relationships – the most excellent of all riches – the most excellent of all pleasures …. wherein we lose our appetites for lesser pleasures and lesser delights.”

I pray that as we celebrate God’s giving of the indescribable, unspeakable, inexpressible gift of His Son, that we would receive Him, rejoice in Him and relate to Him as the object of our deepest love and source of our greatest joy, both now and forever. Amen.

Grace and Peace ×