Christmas is here! And all that comes with it: lights, decorations, gatherings, and…gifts. What does that last word do for you- gifts? Does it create excitement, perhaps over the gift you might receive or give? Or does it create a sense of burden over the gifts you need to purchase? Whichever it may be, how would you feel if I told you that our practice of gift-giving could (and should) deepen our appreciation of the Triune God?

Why do we give gifts at Christmas, anyways? We may say, “because God has given us the gift of salvation.” And while that may be true, the gift God has given us is much more than that. The ultimate Christmas gift is a Trinitarian gift. It’s a gift prepared, given, and protected by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a gift that redeems the world and restores all that mankind lost in the Garden of Eden, chiefly, an intimate relationship with the Triune God.

When God gives us the gift of salvation, He gives us Himself and the ability to know Him. That’s what we lost in Eden. Everything else is merely a symptom of that broken relationship. So God prepares, purchases, and extends this gift to us. But He does so through each member of the Trinity giving themselves so that we may know God in all of His fullness. Let me explain.

This gift of salvation begins with the Father giving His Son, whom He loved eternally. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Son of God was sent in love by the Father to reveal the Father and reconcile us back to Him (Matt 11:27; 2 Cor 5:18-19). “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him” (1 Jn 4:9).

So the Father gives and sends the Son for us. Why? Jesus says, “so that the world may know that you loved them even as you loved me” (Jn 17:23). This is the greatest Christmas gift: that the love that the Father had for the Son “before the foundation of the world” (Jn 17:24) is now offered to you and me. In other words, we are invited into their loving relationship, invited to become sons and daughters in the Son. Because the Son was given for us, we are reconciled to and adopted by God our Father in Him.

It’s also important to remember that the Son gives Himself to us! “Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). Not only did the Father give the Son, but the Son gave Himself- for us!

But that’s not all! We are also given the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16), who reminds us of everything the Son said and did and produces the cry of ‘Abba, Father!’ within our hearts (Jn 14:26; Rom 8:15). The Spirit is given to us to remind us of the person, work, and words of the Son, so as to confirm and give experience to our position as sons and daughters of God the Father. He also seals us in this relationship- our guarantee that one day God the Father will complete our adoption by glorifying our earthly bodies in the image of the Son (Eph 1:14, 1 Jn 3:2).

Thus, Christmas is not just about Christ, but the entire Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, all giving themselves so that we may know the God who created us to know and worship Him. The ultimate Christmas gift, then, is the Triune God giving Himself to us. When we give, we are being like Him- a relational God who loves and gives out of love. I pray that you and I will appreciate the incomprehensible beauty of His gift as we give all of our gifts this season!