What is the best gift that you have ever received? Mine? A ladder. I know what you’re probably thinking…” man, this guy has a boring life.” But hear me out.

I bought my first (and only) home when I was 20 years old. The first Christmas in my home, I was gifted an 8-foot A-frame step ladder, and as a 20-year-old, immature man I thought to myself, “geez, thanks.” It was a gift that I didn’t realize that I would need as a homeowner and most certainly one that would be more often used than I thought. I used that same ladder this Christmas to hang lights and put up our family tree. Yep, that ladder has been used by me for almost 30 years. A gift that I didn’t know that I needed and one that would endure the stress of a workload for the past three decades. It was the best gift.

So often, the greatest gifts we could receive are the gifts that we don’t quite understand their value when we first receive them. That is, gifts are often more appreciated over time as we grow and mature. Such is the case of the greatest gift given to men, redemption in Jesus Christ. But the greatness of this gift of salvation isn’t found in deliverance from the power, penalty, and eventually the presence of sin, but in the One who gave Himself. The greatest gift is God, the triune God as revealed in Christ bodily.

I would like to encourage you with three brief thoughts (or articles) on how the three Persons of the Godhead gave to humanity.

God, The Father

Outside of Christ, man is the enemy of God and outside the household of God the Father. This is in opposition to the modern idea that all people are children of God, but such is the case with natural thinking – it opposes the Scriptures. But, in what way has God the Father gifted the believer with Himself?

My wife and I have had the honor of experiencing the legal process of adopting three children, the oldest of which we named Elijah. Elijah’s story is unique from our other children, and I would like to share some of it with you.

Elijah’s birth mother twice tried to self-abort him. Once by pounding on her womb with her fist and once by jumping out of a two-story home and landing on her stomach. But God, as He often does, had other purposes and plans for my son. On the way to the hospital, she called the Department of Family and Child Services and told them that he wasn’t wanted by them and their intent was to leave him at the hospital. A baby boy who had not yet been born or given a name – one who would struggle with developmental delays because of the lack of prenatal care – was already without a father to protect and provide, a mother to care for and nurture, or a family to love and support. But God.

On August 6^th of 2012, as a family, we stood in the judge’s chamber and took an oath to love, provide for, and care for our new son. After this oath, the judge signed the decree of adoption making Elijah a legal son of Travis and Jolie Cooke. Here is an excerpt of that decree that is pertinent to our subject matter:

IT IS THE JUDGMENT OF THIS COURT that the adoption of the minor child to be known as Elijah Travis Cooke by Travis Talmadge Cooke, III and Katherine Jolene Rhodes Cooke is by decree of Court made final, and the name of said child shall hereafter be Elijah Travis Cooke.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this decree of adoption terminates all legal relationships between Elijah Travis Cooke and his natural mother, ——————-, together with his putative, biological father, ————————–, so that said child shall hereafter be a stranger to his former parents and legal custodian for all purposes.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that permanent custody of Elijah Travis Cooke is granted to the Petitioners, Travis Talmadge Cooke, III and Katherine Jolene Rhodes Cooke.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Elijah Travis Cooke shall hereafter enjoy every rights and privileges as a biological child of Travis Talmadge Cooke, III and Katherine Jolene Rhodes Cooke and shall be deemed their biological child including the right to inherit under the laws of descent and distribution and to take under the provision of any instrument of testamentary gift, bequest, or legacy.

Through this legal process of adoption Elijah’s legal relationship with his birth parents has been terminated; he is deemed a biological son to his adoptive parents, is granted rights and privileges which affect his inheritance, and most comforting – this decree is final.

In the doctrine of adoption (as a legal term), God the Father gives the believer a new identity by terminating his legal relationship with his natural depravity (along with its power and practice) and makes him a son that receives the same inheritance as Jesus Christ – union and relationship with God the Father. The book of Hebrews calls the believer joint-heirs with Christ. Co-heirs split the inheritance of their father, but joint heirs receive all the inheritance. The child of God receives the endless and infinite inheritance of God the Father with God the Son (in ways we do not fully know and understand…yet).

In the book of Ruth, we find a beautiful story of redemption. Ruth, the Moabite, is left destitute and without hope – that is until she meets her kinsman redeemer, Boaz. There is a principle in Ruth’s redemption that relates to our story. In chapter four, we are introduced to a nameless man that is nearer to Ruth in the redeeming process. He desires to redeem her (purchases her debts and inheritances); that is until he learns that she’s a Moabite and not from one of the tribes of Israel. Upon hearing of her lineage, he responds in Ruth 4:6, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” She was rejected because it would mar the name, lineage, and inheritance of the man (a type of the law), but that did not stop Boaz.

In salvation, our heavenly Boaz, Jesus, redeems us at the risk, at least from a human perspective, of marring his inheritance. But God the Father justifies the believer through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son; adopts him into His family, gives him a new name, and deems the repenting sinner a son and confers upon him the inheritance that he shares with the Eternal Son.

Believer, you have been gifted with a new name, a new identity, and a new inheritance because the Father gave Himself by giving  Jesus. This glorious gift was one we didn’t know that we needed until God in His mercy drew us unto Himself, a gift  whose worth is one that we cannot fully comprehend.

In our next article, we’ll examine the gift of God, the Holy Spirit…