Theme: Coming to Christ
In this week’s lessons, we look at the three gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men.
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-2
I’ve said that we’re able to bring nothing to Christ, who is our Savior, but we must come with our faith. We must come believing. Moreover, there’s a sense in which, by faith, we too may present the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. You begin with your myrrh, for myrrh is the symbol of your death and of the spiritual death that should come to you for your sin. You lay it at Christ’s feet and say, “Lord Jesus Christ, I know that I am less perfect than you are and I’m therefore a sinner. I know that I should receive the consequences of my sin, which is to be barred from your presence forever. But you took my sin, dying in my place. And I believe that. I ask you to accept me as your child forever.”
After you have done that, you may come with your frankincense, acknowledging that your life is as impure as the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is sinless. The Bible teaches that there is no good in anyone that is not mixed with evil, but it also teaches that Christ comes to live in the believer so that the good deeds produced in his life by the indwelling Christ become in their turn “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”
Finally, come with your gold. Gold symbolizes royalty. So when you come with your gold, you acknowledge the right of Christ to rule your own life. You say, “I am your child and you are my Master. Direct my life and lead me in it so that I may grow up spiritually to honor and to serve you accordingly.” Have you done that? Have you come believing in all that the myrrh, frankincense, and gold signify? If you have, you’ve embarked on a path of great spiritual joy and blessing. For these are the gifts of faith and they are the only things that we can offer to the one who has given all things to us.
Study Questions:
Though Christ needs nothing from us, and as sinners we can bring nothing to him, still with what must we come to him if he is to be our Savior?
Explain how in a sense we, too, must come with our gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Application: In your own reflections during this Christmas season, take time to praise the Lord for all the gifts of his grace that flow to you because of the birth, life, death, and ministry of Christ.
For Further Study: Download for free and listen to Donald Barnhouse’s message, “Christmas Contrasts.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
