8 | To the Jew First
culture and spend much of our time and money considering what
gifts we will give to whom! I, for one, do not think it is all that
bad to think about giving and being generous at this time of the
year. I, like you, do not enjoy the rampant materialism of our day
or support those who use the birth of the Savior for profit. Some
of what goes on is distasteful. However, it is always good to be
generous. It is always better to give than to receive.
And most importantly for me, this is a season of the year when I am
reminded that God gave the Light of the World, our Messiah Jesus as
His greatest gift to mankind. He was wrapped in flesh, as foretold by
the prophets of Israel (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7) and sent to earth to pay for
our redemption with the price of His life. This is God’s greatest gift!
But, He also gave many other gifts. For example, I view His
giving the land of Israel to the Jewish people as a gift. This gift
was given in much the same way as He gave us the Savior. He
promised this gift of the Messiah and of the land of Israel in His
Word. And today we see the fulfillment of both of these promises.
The Jewish people now dwell in the land of Israel because God
is powerful and faithful, not because of the might of our armies.
The land of Israel, despite continually defending its borders and
its inhabitants lives continually disrupted by war, is still a gift
from God. The fact that Jewish people from all across the globe
have immigrated to Israel—and it has more than 5 million people
according to the latest statistics—is a modern-day miracle.
But, as wonderful as it is to see the Jewish people back in the
land of promise, we know that this is only part of God’s plan for
the Jewish people. One day, Israel will dwell in the land in peace
and security. The other part of His plan is that His chosen people
will come to know the One who chose them from all the nations
of the earth. This can only happen when Israel comes to know her
Messiah. We expect this will happen to a greater extent before
the Lord returns (Romans 11:11-15).
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