Reflections on God’s Gifts to Us

God’s Gifts to Us

Scripture tells us that God is the creator of the heavens, the earth, and all living beings. Some of us may wonder why God created all of this. The answer is given to us in Scripture. In I John 4-5, we are told that God is love. After reading this, it appears that God created the universe to reflect his divine, everlasting love.

It is through this love that he gives us life and an abundance of other gifts. One of these gifts is the love of others. He also gives us the beauties of the world around us, such as the stars, the rain, and the sunshine. Each of us receives various abilities to help us during our earthly life. Another gift is that of free will, which allows us to choose between evil and good. However, the most precious gift that God gives us is his son Jesus, through whom we are offered the gift of eternal life.

God’s gifts reflect his everlasting love. This may remind us of a beautiful song by Michael Joncas, I Have Loved You with an Everlasting Love, which begins with the words, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have called you, and you are mine.” How wonderful to have been created by God, who loves us, calls us, and possesses each of us, both now and forever.

The Gift of Our Lord Jesus

Scripture reveals to us that Christ is God, who came to earth as a man. The Bible says that he is also the Son of the Father and the Light of the World.

God told Moses to tell the Israelites that Moses was sent by “I AM . . .” Jesus identified himself in this same way when he said to the Pharisees that when they the Son of Man, they will realize that he is “I AM . . .” Shortly thereafter, Jesus declared that he is one with God and said that he and the Father are one.

When an angel announced Jesus’ birth to Mary, Jesus was revealed as the Son of the Most High. Christ identified himself as the Son when he said that everything has been given to him by his Father and that only the Father knows him. While suffering in Gethsemane, he accepted his Father’s will that he must sacrifice his earthly life. Jesus was revealed as God’s son at his birth, during his life, and at his death.

Jesus also stated that he was the light of the world. We need this light to help guide us in all that we do. Christ is the light that leads us to eternal life.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

In the beginning, the Spirit of God moved over the waters. Thereafter, God created all and made himself known to all.

In the gospel of Matthew, we read that it was an angel of the Lord who appeared to Joseph to tell him that Jesus was conceived in the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. Afterward, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism, and a voice from heaven declared him to be God’s Son whom God loved and with whom he was pleased. Before his death, Jesus assured us that he would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be with us until the end of time.

It is God, through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, who fills us with hope, joy and peace when we trust in him. However, when we trust in ourselves instead of God, we fall into sin. Even so, if we repent, we are forgiven and receive the gift of the Spirit. When we have faith and pray in the Holy Spirit, we live in God’s love as we wait for Christ to lead us to eternal life.