The Greatest Gift
Christmas Devotional - Day 1
Listen along as you read today's devotional:
“She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
— Matthew 1:21-23 (English Standard Version)
“O holy night. The stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.”
Every year, when I help my mom decorate the Christmas tree, “O Holy Night” is the first carol playing through the speakers. As a child, I loved the melody and the story. Now, I also appreciate the profound words that point to the heart of Christmas.
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”
These words tell us of our need for a Savior.
When our creative God set the universe into motion, the Bible says it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31, ESV). Humanity was the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in His image to reflect Him. We were made to flourish.
But Adam and Eve’s rebellion in Genesis 3 broke our relationship with God, and evil entered our world. Sin is now a part of our nature. I see the sin in my own life, in our communities, in our world. Sin and its ripple effects are devastating. We died spiritually that day in the garden, and we need God’s intervention to bring us back to life.
“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn.”
But in the same chapter, in Genesis 3:15, God’s promises of redemption and restoration begin. Even as Adam and Eve turned from Him, He responded in love and hope. And this restoration will be a gift to us, not anything we can earn.
Jesus, our promised hope from God, suffered and died so we might have a restored relationship with God, be saved from our sin and be made whole. Now we long for the day when the hurting world will be fully restored by the Messiah who was born in a manger.
This hope is the heart of Christmas — that we would remember and reflect on the hope we have because Jesus, God’s greatest gift, came to earth to save each of us. Now, you and I can experience joyful hope as we eagerly wait for God to fulfill His promise — for Jesus to return and restore humanity and our world to the goodness God intended from the start of creation.
Let the weary world rejoice.
Watch: Reflect and Pray
Reflect:
Where do you need God to intervene in your life right now? Where do you need the hope God offers? What hope can Immanuel, “God with us,” give you for the future? Pray and ask God to give you that hope today.
Pray:
Father, the world is weary, and we long for hope. I confess the brokenness in my own heart, and I see the destruction of sin throughout the world. God, thank You that You have loved us so much that You sent Jesus into the world to save us. You are God with us. Thank You that because of Jesus, I can now have a relationship with You. Restore my hope. Restore the world. Amen.
Rachel Geckle, a Pittsburgh native, serves as editorial strategy team leader for Cru® in Orlando, Florida. A 2012 graduate of Ohio University, she received a journalism degree, which has taken her around the U.S. and to Morocco, Russia, Spain, and Moldova, telling God’s stories to inspire hope. Contact Rachel at Rachel.Geckle@cru.org.
