The Perfect Gift

?God . . . gave his one and only Son?

?who loved me and gave himself for me.?

?John 3:16 NIV; Galatians 2:20 NIV

Emmanuel God with us had real skin bones thoughts sensations and emotions. He got hungry He cried He laughed He slept He prayed . . . He died.

He lived!

So what was it like to catch a glimpse of that Child promised to anguished humanity so many centuries before? What was it like for the startled shepherds to hear the glorious news that the Messiah the King of the Jews had been born?only to discover a peasant infant in a feed box?

What was it like to watch that Man mingle among the masses in a world seething with sin? Or for Mary to see her Son rejected by the people of Nazareth?the very people with whom He had spent 30 years of His life? What was it like for the woman caught in adultery to look into His eyes and see unconditional love?the very opposite of what she saw in other men?s eyes?

How might it have felt to be God wrapped in human flesh?existing in the squalor of this ruined planet experiencing intense human emotions and literally feeling the weight of the world resting on His shoulders?

And what is it like to finally realize that God?s perfect gift was given to you?