The GIFT Giver
This Season, Experience the ULTIMATE Giver of Gifts
Ephesians 2:8, ‘For by grace you have been saved! Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ!’ (TPT)
December 2nd, 2022
the GIFT: CREAT-ION
The tree stood higher than any other object in the entire forest. Its branches, this time of year, leafy and green and full, spread a canopy over the endless plot of land below. The foliage provided covering and shelter, protection and shade, and was swiftly becoming home to many of the feathered birds of the air, while the four-legged beasts of the land roamed at its base, pausing to look upward on occasion, and bedding down around it’s fat roots. Crevices in the skin of the tree hid other worldly creatures and an entirely different universe dwelled in the ample leaves.
From high up, one could see the vastness which stretched everywhere, from one side of the world clear to the other. Sprouts of green poked through patches of dust, creating a velvety carpet underfoot, and sprigs of growth blossomed with bursts of color. Bubbling brooks and cascading waterfalls moistened the air and the bodies of water expanded from one day to the next. The brilliance of light that had dawned on the first day once it was beckoned had exposed shadows which hadn’t been there in the inky blackness. It was good to be able to see as far as the eye could see, and an echo of imagination reverberated from one corner to its opposite. Gentle sounds splayed the silence, a tweet from that bird, a cry from this animal, a burble from the stream, and at once, the crash of a wave landing on a distant shore, crescendoed. The serenity of it, the gloriousness and magnificence of each new creation, the melody of joy making its home amongst the creatures, the significance of everything that breathed. All of its elegance and the allure of its artistry, almost overwhelming.
Now a heavy darkness overtook the land as commanded and the wholeness of everything slept. The Giver knelt at the tree’s base and looked skyward, dreaming. Even beneath the blanket of night, He could picture it all as it came into being and settled into place. He smiled slowly, pleased, for it was good. If He could just see it all, take it all in at once, it would be perfect. He rubbed His chin, pondering, how to be above it all. He sighed, and began to wander through His handiwork, as one by one a million stars flickered and then lit up the night sky. It was if someone had just turned on the lights! It is beautiful! He thought to Himself, and again the Giver smiled. He must make a way to oversee it all. And He must have someone to share this beauty with…
Genesis 1:1-5, ‘First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: “Light!” And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, He named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning—Day One.’ (MSG)
