Thinking About Thanksgiving
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Next week brings us to Thanksgiving Day. In this week leading up to that day Theology 101 takes a look at what might be called the supreme reason Christians have for being persons of gratitude. Of course we give thanks for many blessings, many of which are material or physical in nature. These are by no means unimportant.
However, much about which Christians are grateful for is spiritual in nature. When we narrow down the most important reason for a Christian giving thanks we do well to remind ourselves of 2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.” Bible readers usually understand the gift to be Christ Jesus.
While the King James Version terms Christ an “unspeakable gift,” other versions employ other translations: the New King James Version and New International Versions both use “indescribable” to refer to this gift. The English Standard Version reads “inexpressible.” How does one speak of Him who is unspeakable, describe Him who is indescribable and express Him who is inexpressible? In an attempt to do so we might approach the season of thanksgiving by meditating on seven truths about Christ, our supreme reason for gratitude.
First, He is the eternal Son of God. This divine Gift was Himself fully divine. He was in the beginning with God and was God. He brought the perspective of eternity into time and that of heaven down to earth. He paraded the ways of divinity among humanity that we might grasp spiritual truths.
Second, He is the sinless Son of Man. Born of human lineage, God’s unspeakable Gift walked in human sandals, understood temptation without succumbing to it, was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, found Himself touched with the feelings of our infirmities and submitted Himself to mistreatment and indignities without ever committing sin.
Third, He is the Good Shepherd of the sheep, as we pondered a couple of weeks ago. Appearing among imperfect human beings, God’s inexpressible Gift loved ordinary people who were sinners, helped them with their hurts, healed their diseases, lifted their hopes and promised them life everlasting, all because He came to be our caring Shepherd who seeks the suffering, the straying, the sinning and the sorrowing.
Fourth, He is the crucified Savior of the world. From birth He was destined to die for the sins of the world. Even before birth He was designated as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Fifth, in His death He was the perfect sacrifice for sin. What repeated animal sacrifices could not do, Christ accomplished once for all. Dying as the just for the unjust, He takes away sin that He might reconcile us to God.
Triumphant King
Sixth, He is the resplendent sovereign of all. Through the resurrection from a death that could not hold Him and by the ascension to the Father’s right hand, He triumphed over death, hell and the devil.
Seventh, He will be the returning and triumphant King of kings and Lord of lords. When the trumpet sounds and the archangel shouts the Lord of Glory will appear the second time to gather those who are His into an eternal future while fitting us for the new heaven and new earth that we might be at home with Him through the endless ages.
And so we who belong to Him can again this year give thanks to God for His greatest Gift.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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