Portmore Lane Covenant Community Church

There is a Christmas gift for you under the Tree. Have you collected yours yet? Did you look under the Tree for your Christmas gift?  I did collect mine but it was not in December. In fact mine was waiting under the Tree for many years until I realized what I was missing. However it is not too late to collect yours, it is still under the Tree with your name on it and no one else can claim it. It will return to the sender when you die. Do not let it miss you this Christmas.

What Tree am I talking about? No, its not the traditional Christmas Tree that my parents use to put up in our family home and we would find our gifts under it on Christmas morning. We would wake up early that morning with great anticipation to see what gifts were waiting for us under that kind of tree.

The Tree I am talking about is the one mentioned in the bible, in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 21 verse 22-23 and Galatians 3 verse 13-14.

Moses giving God’s law to the people of Israel, says in Deuteronomy, “If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.”

In the New Testament, Paul writing to the Galatian Church says,” Christ redeemed us from the curse of  the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a Tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”

Jesus Christ was crucified on a wooden cross and that cross repesents a tree from which it was made.

The apostle Peter counsels us in his first letter to the church saying, “He himself bore our sins in His body on the Tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed” (I Peter 2 verse 24).

Clearly the Tree the bible is speaking of here is the cross that Jesus was crucified on as a substitute for us to receive our punishment for our sins and free us to be reconciled to God by accepting His free gift of salvation. That is the gift I am speaking of and is also described in the letter to the church in Rome by the Apostle Paul. It says, “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6 verse 23).

To emphasize that salvation through Jesus Christ is a gift from God, Paul also says in his letter to the Ephesian church, “For it is by grace(undeserved favor- my insert)you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast“. (Ephesians 2 verses 8-9).

You can simply collect your gift by:

• First agreeing with God that you are a sinner – Romans 2 verses 9-18; 3 verse 23.

• Acknowledge that you cannot do anything of your own to save yourself and become righteous before God – Ephesians 2 verses 8-9; Titus 3 verses 4-7.

• Make up your mind and decide to make a change from being a sinner to become a son of God – John 1 verses 10-13;  Titus 2 verses 11-14.

• Accept God’s gift of salvation by asking Him to save you on the basis of Jesus’ death on the Tree and trust Him to do it – John 3 verses 16-19.

If you have claimed your gift after reading this, let us know by emailing us at plccc16@gmail.com so we can pray for you.

Claim your gift under the Tree and enjoy your Christmas gift.