The Greatest Gift

The Advent Season culminates in a day in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, born of a virgin at Bethlehem 2000 years ago. There is no Christmas without Christ. His birth gave him the name Immanuel—God with us. He was indeed the Son of God and the Son of Man —God in human flesh. Deny that and the heart would be ripped out of Christianity. His birth cannot be separated from two other events, that is, His crucifixion and three days later his bodily resurrection from the dead. Bethlehem and Calvary, Christmas and Easter, are inseparably connected. The Son of God took on human flesh and it was that One who was equally God and man in His person. The purpose of His coming was to be the one and final sacrifice for man’s sin and alienation from God. Christmas is a wonderful celebration for Christians all over the world because of these truths. Can there be any doubt that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior was God’s greatest gift to humankind, including the Danish people?

I am sitting at my computer here in California writing this and thinking about Christmas in Denmark. There is a small core of believers in that beautiful little country, the home of my ancestors, who have committed their lives to the Savior based on the truths stated above. They will gather joyfully in their churches at Christmastime to celebrate the birth of Christ and some of the traditional Christmas customs will mark the celebration. However, for the majority of Danes who out of tradition will flock to churches on Christmas Eve simply because its sort of Danish to do so have little or no understanding of or life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. Christmas has become embedded in Danish hygge and encrusted with ideas and customs that stray far from the simple truth of who Jesus was and why He came as he did as the babe in Bethlehem’s manger ultimately dying in our place to save us from sin and to give us eternal life in Him. How unfortunate it is that the real meaning of Christmas has been obscured in Danish culture and become just another folk holiday.

Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift to humankind, was His gift to every one of the nearly six million Danes. The country is desperately in need of an evangelism that will call Danes to repentance and saving faith in Christ.

Will you PRAY with me that God will raise up a host of Danish evangelists with a passionate message rooted in the saving truths of the Word of God that given voice would penetrate the hearts and minds of the Danish people. The Apostle Paul wrote of his fellows Jews , “My heart’s cry for Israel is that they might be saved” (Romans 10:1, KJV). My burden could be stated this way: “My heart’s cry for the Danish people is that they might be saved.” The greatest gift for Denmark would be a new forthright and uncompromising proclamation throughout the land that “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Faithful readers of Pray for Denmark.com, PRAY with me that Denmark and Danes would accept God’s greatest gift—His Son, our Savior, and the salvation He offers! That above everything else would really make Christmas really Christmas in Denmark.