My Favorite Part of the Christmas Story

Once a month, I do a segment on talk radio called “Audio Adrenaline” on a local AM station. The purpose of “Audio Adrenaline” is to discuss spiritual matters. I enjoy doing this segment because it reaches so many listeners in my city. On my last interview, I was asked the question by the host, “What is your favorite part in the Christmas story?” Without hesitation I said, “It is Matthew 1:21”. It says, “She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” I can’t imagine where I would be today without the gift of God given to us in Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:14-16 says, "14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. 15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification." In Adam we are destined to sin and in Jesus we are destined to win. Just as the the “s” is removed and replaced by a “w” to produce a new word, Jesus' death on the cross removed the curse of sin and death and replaced it with righteousness and a new life. Jesus Christ, God's gift to mankind, purchased a victory for us we could never purchase ourselves.

I will conclude with an ad that reminds us salvation is given and never earned. One ad for the U.S. Marines pictures a sword, and beneath it the words: "Earned, never given." If you want to become a Marine, be prepared to earn that name through sacrifice, hardship, and training. If you get it, you deserve it.

But if you want to become a Christian, you must have the exact opposite attitude, for the message of the gospel is: "Given, never earned."

You cannot save your own soul, and God will not save anyone who tries to earn salvation, but only those who will humbly receive it as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. If you get it, you absolutely did not deserve it.