The Real Gift-giver.

In just a few hours, most of planet earth will celebrate Christmas. Images of Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and, of course, Santa Claus will be everywhere. From greeting cards and shop windows to Christmas songs and wrapping paper, these characters have come to the forefront of the Christmas narrative.

Of course, Santa Claus is, perhaps, the most popular of them all given that he’s the one who comes bearing a sleigh-load of gifts! Hence, kids are on their best behaviour so as to merit the approval of this bearded, red felt suit-wearing, affable, geriatric philanthrope.

However, when you dig a little deeper, you will find that whilst Christmas is about the most wonderful gift that mankind could ever receive, it has nothing to do with the kinds of gifts that make their way from the North Pole to your home.

Rather, Christmas is about God’s gift to humankind, His only Son Jesus Christ, through whom anyone can receive the gift of eternal life. That’s right, Christmas is not primarily about pretty-looking presents arranged under a tree but about the Son of God who gave up His eternal glory so that He could take on human form in order to save humanity from eternal condemnation. Which means Christmas is about the greatest gift of all — the gift of eternal life!

In fact, if you want to see just how amazing this gift is, take a look at the table below which compares the gifts that Santa brings and the one that Jesus provides.

Sure, you may think the table is a bit unfair because it compares the gifts of an imaginary character (Santa Claus) with the gifts of the real Son of God (Jesus Christ); and you’d be right in thinking so.

However our intent in making the comparison is to demonstrate the stark difference between the quality of both gifts. So that as you celebrate Christmas, you can evaluate for yourself which kind of gift you would rather receive. After all, whilst only one of the givers exists as an actual person, both kinds of gifts are very real.