Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/215736
The Perfect Gift MARK YOUNG, PHD PRESIDENT I am, couple of a pong table for her birthday. The romantic thatshepongapaddlespingyears ago I bought my wifetheping that one.)I My gift tothat I was (In my defense, asked for a pong table.) Once we got table set up, realized had forgotten to buy ping and balls. (Okay, I have no defense for her incomplete. In order to gain the full benefit and enjoyment of the gift, something had to be added to it. On Christmas morning, some of the gifts that we give and receive will be "perfect." Others may prove to be incomplete or insufficient in some way. What about God's great gift that we remember on this day—the coming of Jesus and the life eternal that we can have in Him? Is there anything lacking, anything insufficient about that gift? "FOR IN CHRIST ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE DEITY LIVES IN BODILY FORM, AND IN CHRIST YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO FULLNESS." (COL. 2:9-10) Some false teachers have tried to convince Christians that Jesus was lacking in some way and that the life we have in Him isn't all that God intended us to have. This great lie about the insufficiency of God's good gifts sounds hauntingly familiar to the deception voiced in Eden by a crafty serpent. Even though Adam and Eve were living in a perfect environment that met their every need in every way, they began to believe the seeds of doubt that the serpent planted in their minds: "Are you sure that what God has given you isn't somehow incomplete or insufficient? Perhaps God is holding something back that could make your life much richer and more satisfying." Evidently, the same basic lie was being propagated in Colossae during the first century. Believers there were being taught by some to question whether belief in the Gospel was really enough. Some were teaching that the worship of angels was needed to protect believers from the spirit world and that strict obedience to Old Testament dietary and Sabbath laws was required to experience the fullness of their salvation (Col. 2:16-23). Their teaching diminished the person and work of Christ and judged the Gospel to be incomplete and insufficient. 25 DECEMBER Paul's message to the Colossians was simple: Christ is supreme over all and Christ is sufficient for all. In Colossians 2:9-10, he wrote, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness." There is nothing lacking in Christ. He is fully and wholly God, He is supreme over all, and there is nothing lacking in our salvation. All that God intends for us is found in our relationship with Christ. He is sufficient for all: Nothing else is needed. The gift of God that we celebrate on this day, the coming of Jesus and life eternal in Him, is perfect and complete. Let's thank God for this indescribable gift! 30 DENVER SEMINARY CHRISTMAS 2013