The Manger: A free, necessary, costly gift of grace

The manger:
A free, necessary gift of grace, which is very costly.

Let us talk correctly about the theology and sacrifice of the incarnation which is found at Christmas time in a manger.
The question might be asked, “I've heard preachers say that God gives us salvation as a free gift. If that's true, then why doesn't God go ahead and give it to everyone?”
The gift of Christmas, which is to say, the gift of the Incarnation, which is also to say that the gift of Jesus’ life given in atonement for our sins, is available to everyone.  But many reject the free, but necessary gift because it costs them too much. 
God's sacrifice, Jesus dying for humanity's sins, is a free gift of salvation from God.  At the same time, it was immensely costly for God as Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity had to leave heaven, add the nature of humanity to his divine nature and sacrifice his life for humanity.  While the gift is free and necessary, it also costs us our captivity to self and sin.  While it seems odd to suggest that someone might prefer captivity to sin verses the surrender of their will to the Lordship of Christ, this is the gift of free will God gives us.  We as humans possess the ability to reject God’s gift of grace or embrace the gift which will demand us living in alignment with God’s will.  This is often communicated as a personal acceptance (faith) from the receiver.  Thus, it is a true statement that the gift of grace is freely given, costly to God and thereby costly to the recipient to embraces the free gift. 
God’s word reveals that salvation is a free gift offered to all humanity.   This is why the angel appeared to the Shepherds and proclaimed,
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord,” (Luke 2:10-11).
Notice that the news was good for all people, in all places, at all times.  What was the good news?  Jesus had come to pay the wages of sin by presenting himself as our atonement.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Rome, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  This is a crucial verse because many translators insert theology into the verse for clarity.  Often the verse is read, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (NKJV).  The word used for “gift” is (charisma, χάρισμα) which is defined as a "a gift of grace, a free gift or an undeserved favor.”  There is no Greek word for “free” in the Greek that could be translated as free.  The English word free is added to emphasize the theological point that the gift of salvation is "free."  Because of the meaning of the word (charisma) which is a gift of grace, ie, free, the meaning is already inherent in the noun itself.
The gift of grace is both freely given and a necessary, and requires a life-altering commitment. While free to receive, it's not "cheap"; it redeems from sin but calls for a transformed, sacrificial life in return, reflecting devotion.  The atonement is a free act in that its motivations come from within God himself.  By way of similarity, I bought a Christmas gift for a friend yesterday from the store.   When I give it to my friend it will be a free gift to him.  At the same time, the gift was not free.  We therefore speak of Christ act of atonement as a free act from God and also a act of necessity.  The historic consensus of the Church is that Jesus had to die for our sins in order for people to be saved.  Once God had freely decreed to save sinners, the death of Jesus was the necessary means by which that salvation was accomplished. 
The Bible also tells us two important truths about God’s gift of salvation. First, it tells us it was a free gift which cost Jesus everything and secondly that it was a necessary gift.  While the gift of the incarnation and sacrifice upon the cross was free for us it cost Jesus his earthly life and the recognition of the price paid for our salvation should never be lost or far from our thoughts.  Jesus death upon the cross should never be diminished to cheap grace which is no grace at all.  Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance.  As Detrich Bonhoeffer wrote,
“Cheap grace means, justification of sin but not of the sinner.  Because grace alone does everything, everything can stay in its old ways.  Our action is in vain.  The world remains the world, and we remain sinners even in the best of lives,” (Bonhoffer Discipleship pg. 43).
Remember when we sin, we create an eternal debt that only an eternal being can pay.  By offering himself as the Second Person of the Trinity God was exercising mercy while at the same time upholding his character as the one who judges sin with perfect judgment.  In this sense God is both the justifier and just. 
Atonement is to bring about the reconciliation between a holy God and sinful humans.  Christ himself, spoke of his blood being shed in such an act of justice, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” (Mattew 26:28).  The author of the book of Hebrews picked up on Jesus New Covenant language when he likened Christ both to the High Priest who offered the sacrifice and the sacrificial animal stating,
“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant,” (Hebrews 9:15).
Without the sacrifice there would be no hope for sinners to be freed from sin because no amount of good works could offset the eternal debt of sin which we owed.  Again, the author of the book of Hebrews wrote, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” (Hebrews 9:22).
There is no other way to be free from sin than though Jesus Christ.
To avoid the error of cheap grace thinking we must also remember that to accept the gift of grace we must surrender to the Lordship of Jesus over our lives.  A way to think of this is that the gift of justifying grace is offered to everyone.  The gift of new birth is offered to those who repent so that they might become the new creation.  The gift of sanctification while offered to everyone must be received and lived into.  A person cannot follow Christ and relish sin.  The deliverance Christ offered is freedom from the bondage of sin.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Galatia, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit,” (Galatians 3:14).  When we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus we can experience the true blessing of Emmanuel, God is with us.  The Holy Spirit is able to reside within a soul that has surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. 
But the Bible also tells us a second truth: Like any other gift, God’s gift of salvation doesn’t become ours until we accept it. Just as we can refuse the gift someone offers us, so we can refuse God’s gift of salvation. But why would we? Don’t let this happen to you, but by faith reach out and accept Christ into your life today.
The doctrine of the Incarnation is that he divine Son, who from all eternity is God in the same full sense that the Creator-Father and the Holy Spirit are divine, completely and permanently joined himself to our human nature to form one person fully-God, fully-human.