What would you consider the three greatest gifts of God? Of course Christians would commonly go immedidately to the gift of Christ -- the Word becoming flesh. That is true, but perhaps some reflection would reveal a deeper understanding of just what this means. I would propose three very specifc gifts.
The first gift is found in Genesis. God saw fit to create the universe and all that is in it. The Word participated in that creation:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind." John 1:1–4 (NIV)
What happened during the creation event is truly remarkable.
" So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)
The first great gift of God to Man was life itself. And, this was not just any life, but life that was created in His own image. What exactly it means to be created in the image of God has been much debated. Some elements seem obvious. Man can talk to God and have a relationship to him. Man seems to be God's representative on earth and has dominion over it at God's command. Man has intellect and can reason. Man has the capacity to have godly attributes: love, purity, compassion, etc.
This brings me to what I propose is the second greatest gift bestowed upon man. Man has the ability to make choices. Man has free will. This is also an attribute that has been endlessly disbuted. Some in the scientific world would postulated all actions, even those that appear to be freelly made, are determined by only cause and effect. Others would ask how can we have free will if God already knows what is going to happen in advance? There are other endless arguments whether free will exists with varying defintions. ( examining each would take several books, not a short essay) What seems clear is God gave man the ability to choose one's course of action over another whether one defines this as "free will" or not. We are not robots.
Alas, this freedom to choose a particular course of action lets man make unwise choices. Coupled with this abiltiy to choose is one's responsibility for one's actions. Since Man through Adam and Eve made a choice forbidden to them, they sinned against God. In short they wished to be completely like God. This, then. leads to the third greatest gift of God.
" for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.' (Ro 3:23–25).
This gift truly is the grace of God towards Man. What a gift? The gift of justification by grace through Christ and received by faith. So, we return to the first gift--life itself. God gave Man life, the ability to chose, and even when their choice would lead to death, and then gift of life again if we choose to believe in Christ to be justified by Him. What a glorious God!
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