The Gift of Salvation

Have you ever had to wait for an exciting purchase to come in the mail? Though the shipping only takes 3-5 business days, it feels like several weeks before the item finally appears at your door. When I was a junior in high school, I really wanted a pair of sneakers that all the popular kids had. I remember begging my mom to find them online although they were sold out on every website. After searching high and low, my mom found the exact pair I wanted on an unknown website. Skeptical, I had her order the shoes, and the wait began. Since the website we ordered the sneakers from was a third-party site, it took the shoes a little longer than expected to come in the mail, growing my anticipation day-by-day. The day the sneakers came in mail, I rushed home from school, opened the package, and gazed at their beauty. 

The Long-Awaited Gift

Having to wait for a good gift can be discouraging, but the wait is worth it when the gift finally arrives. This illustration pales in comparison to what the Israelites endured while waiting for the coming Messiah. The Israelites waited 400 years in silence before God once again spoke to His people. This time, the message was the long awaited one. The Savior was here! God sent His own Son to dwell among His people as fully God and fully man. Just as God promised the Israelites, Jesus took on flesh, was born into the very world He created, lived a sinless life, and died a brutal death to pay for the sins of humanity. John 1:14 is a key verse in understanding that Jesus came to earth as a man to save His people from their sins. 

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14 (ESV)

Knowing Where the Gift Comes From

To understand what this verse means, we must look at the Old Testament context. In Genesis, God created man and woman and placed them in the Garden of Eden, where He walked among them (Genesis 3:8). God’s intention was for His people to dwell in His presence since the very beginning of time. Sadly, man and woman rebelled against God’s commands, and sin entered the picture for the rest of humanity. A barrier was created between sinful man and a holy God. Anywhere sin is, God cannot be, unless there is a sacrifice on sin’s behalf. 

The Gift of Forgiveness

Later in the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites to set up the tabernacle so that His presence could dwell among His people (Exodus 25). The tabernacle was a means of God’s provision so that His people could enter a holy place, sacrifice for their sins, and meet with their God. The sacrificial system was not perfect, but it was a temporary way for God’s people to be in His presence again.

The tabernacle was a foreshadow of what would come when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” We know from John 1:1 that “the Word” existed in the beginning, was with God in the beginning, and was God in the beginning. This verse is a beautiful depiction of the Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Further on in verse 14, we see that the Word became flesh, meaning that part of that Trinity came to earth in human form. God’s own Son, His exact expression, came to earth to be with His people. Not only to be in their presence again, but to save them from their sin that leads to death. When Jesus was crucified on the cross for humanity’s sin, and rose from the grave three days later, sin and death was conquered. 

Whoever believes in Jesus receives the full and perfect payment for their sin. What a gift! Every believer has the Holy Spirit living in their heart, a tangible depiction of God’s presence remaining with them at all times. We never have to worry about being apart from God again. And we look forward to the day when we meet our Father face-to-face and spend eternity in His perfection. The wait is over–the best gift we could ever receive is salvation found in Christ Jesus.