There is no denying that when I open my email, seasonal shopping, especially year-end sales, is upon us. Deals declaring 25%-30%-40% off customarily priced items. The final push for companies to reap profits in the year’s final quarter. Companies pursue us intensely in these last days of December. There is Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday… all competing for us to decide where our money goes. Because of the onslaught of deals, we look for the best possible arrangement, which, in my estimation, is the BOGO- Buy One Get One… hopefully free.
We all hope that we can double our efforts. If I purchase one, I will automatically get a second item for free. We love the thought of getting something free without any prior obligation. There is nothing like “free” because there is nothing that is free in our everyday life. We almost instinctively look for all transactions to have some strings attached. Whether it is in commerce or relationships, all our connections seem contractual or compelled in some way.
Even the notion of BOGO requires that I buy something first. If any business desires to turn a profit, there is no way to do so if it gives everything away without obligation. This is one of many reasons God’s Kingdom is not a business; God is not concerned with profit margins. God’s kingdom begins on the principle of a free gift, as the New Testament writers point out numerous times.
Romans 5:14-18 “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
The good news is that Christ, through his obedience, presented the payment against the debt that we owed. For the believer, there is nothing more indisputable than Christ. Jesus paid our debt, and therefore, we receive God’s gift free of charge. We don’t have to look for a better deal; there is nothing better. According to Paul, every other option leads to condemnation.
The free gift presents us with two things we must acknowledge. We must be eternally grateful, and overlooking the most incredible gift would be a most egregious mistake; we must recognize it for its phenomenon. Secondly, like all those emails we receive this time of year, we must tell others. God gave us this great gift. Shouldn’t we want to share it? Like the old song says, we should want to “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” Paul states it like this:
1 Corinthians 9:16-19 – “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.”
God has made us stewards of this great news, a concept too glorious to hold in. We have been given a gift free of charge so that we may tell others free of charge. We are saved so that we might share with others and they can understand the wonder and beauty of the greatest gift ever.