The Universal Gift

At creation, man had not done anything to impress God to warrant such enormous and selfless gifts, unlike human exchange of gifts which is based on initial connection and performance.

In the general context a gift is an item, offer or something done to someone else as a result of a connection and or good deed of the recipient. In the Greco-Roman context, one must have done extremely well to deserve a gift. As a result of the importance of gift, the Greek could offer a gift as a bait to achieve their ‘inner’ desire.

In the modern parlance gift have become an order of the day and a daily occurrence. Like some international VISA processes, gift in the modern world has become point based as you need to fulfill some requirements before you could get access to such offer. In a nut shell, human gift exchange is based on reasons from the well-being of the recipient. Thus, to a large extent human exchange of gift could be selfish, withdrawn, limited, perishable and reciprocal. Man’s needs are insatiable, hence; no particular human gift could meet the needs of man.

On the other hand, God knows the needs of man ab initio. God’s duty in the first five days of creation is a reflection of his total and universal love for mankind. He perfectly knew the basic needs of man, hence ever before man’s arrival at the scene God made available – light, water, food and all other socio biological needs. At creation, man had not done anything to impress God to warrant such enormous and selfless gifts, unlike human exchange of gifts which is based on initial connection and performance.

The climax of God’s love is the offering of himself to mankind through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit:

1. This is how much God loved the world
2. He gave his son, his one and only Son
3. And this is why; so that no one need be destroyed by believing in him
4. And anyone can have a whole and lasting life (John 3:16 the Message bible)
5. The universal God is the architect of the gift and was not under any influence. The gift of God through Jesus Christ is born out of holistic love, passion and concern. The divine love and gift is not limited to a particular race, culture or an individual. It was love to the whole world.
6. Jesus in God as a gift is not like human festive perishable and reciprocatory gift. God gave himself – for no one can by any means redeem another (psalm 49:7) hence the need for this universal one-off gift.
7. Jesus in God as a gift is for a singular purpose – that ALL creatures be saved from eternal condemnation. Unlike human festive gifts, charity work or other means of good works, Jesus Christ in God as a gift is not point based. It was simply a celebration of his nature, person, love irrespective of our sinful nature – for while we were far away in sin God in Jesus Christ sought us and brought us home (Romans 5:8).We exchange gift often time to appreciate or show concern. Such is renewable; it is limited by time, space, content and context. Jesus Christ as our gift is ageless, priceless, covers both physical and spiritual needs of human beings. It is not recipocatory because no amount of human effort could pay back the act of love
8. Our human gift is to those that we know. God’s gift is even to the yet unborn children! It is universal. It is for anyone, everyone and everybody. By the birth of Jesus Christ, his ministry, death, resurrection and second coming, God gives to humanity a perfect gift. The universal gift of God in Jesus Christ could be summarized as follows:

1. Non-circularity: God does not expect anything in return for his act of love. A life lived in Jesus Christ in simply a show of our frailty and need to depend on him and not a payback issue. For if the whole world decides not to worship him, it does not reduce him as God
2. Singularity: The offering of the gift is simply the singular act of God with no regard to the worth of the recipient (s)
3. Superabundance: God’s gift is super abundance prosperity. It is a generous God giving generously and exceedingly beyond human comprehension.
4. Priority: God’s gift was given prior to any action on the part of its recipients; God took the first step and took the initiative when we were dead in our sins.
5. Efficacy: God’s gift fully achieved the purpose it was designed to accomplish. “It is finished!” Those who receive it are given the right to become children of God – John 1:12.

We should therefore appreciate this gift by responding to this act of love and sharing the gift to all people at all time.