Santa got arrested for mentioning Christ.

Yes, that's what's amazing about the gospel, but the redemption from damnation could not happen without several things

1. An unblemished lamb that is sacrficed and is sinless

2. Someone who could fit the role of kinsman redeemer and would substitute for man

3. Someone who is holy because His sacrifice covers sins against an eternal, infinite God

From the very beginning of sin, there was a blood sacrifice. After Adam and Eve sinned, God killed either one or two animals and covered their nakedness with the clothing/fur.

So from the beginning we have sin, and covering with sacrifice.

The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. The reason is that life is in the blood and sin is death.

All throughout the old testament they were waiting on a savior, and a savior who was prophecised all the way back in Genesis after the fall, that a descendant of the woman would come to defeat the serpant and the curse that is on this world (death entered the world because of man's rebellion and worse still, spiritual death ie; hell)

So all throughout the old testament, they were sacrificing animals, throughout the year, but the most important sacrificial day was the day of atonement which covered all the sins you did that year, including ones you didn't know about, where the high priest would sacrifice an unblemished lamb for the sake of the whole people of Israel.

Now Hebrews tells us that the blood of bulls and goats is impossible to take away sins....If it could, Jesus wouldn't have had to come and the sacrifices would have continued. But these sacrifices were the Jews actually, without realizing it, putting their faith in the once and for all sacrifice that was to come, that was Jesus.

Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies, all the requirements to take away sins, and lived a sinless life, where as fully God and fully man, His death acted as the one sacrifice to take away the sin of the world.

Now the Jews expected the savior to come and rule in an earthly sense, and the things Jesus was saying were about the kingdom of God and went against the self-righteous religious order of the pharisees and they unknowningly fulfilled the prophecy by killing Him. The first believers were Jews, but most Jews didn't believe. The gospel was more widely accepted by the Gentiles.

As it says, the gospel is foolisheness to the Gentiles, and a stumbling block to the Jews.

It's a stumbling block to the Jews because they had become so conditioned to thinking they were justified by following the law well enough, when the reality is the law was meant to show you how sinful you are and unable to meet God's holy standard and seek mercy. That's why putting your faith in Jesus was a stumbling block to the Jews who had wildly different expectations of the savior and are still looking for the savior to come, only He came 2000 years ago, and when He comes back it will be as a warrior to judge the world.

Why Jesus is the greatest gift is, He didn't have to do what He did.

It would be like you or I dying for the sake of saving Kamala Harris' life, or Joe Biden's life, only times a billion.

The Bible says, few people would die for a friend and a good man, but none would die for an enemy, yet that's what Jesus did. We are and were enemies of God without His grace and mercy. So He stepped out of heaven, endured humiliation, mockery, physical, mental and spiritual pain, and was seperated from God for a time, when He had not been seperated for all of eternity past....can you imagine the darkness He experienced on the cross when He had been in perfect unity with the Trinity for all eternity past, and was now bearing the weight of the sins of all mankind, and taking on the wrath of God?

That's why He called out "Father, why have You forsaken me?".

He did this all for enemies.

So you cannot separate Christ from the redemption from damnation and actually Jesus Christ is so much more profound to behold than merely not going to Hell.

He today in the form He is in right now, sitting at the right hand of the Father, with eyes like fire, voice like a raging river, a sword will protrude from His mouth when He returns.

This isn't "hippy Jesus". This is the almighty Lord, who humbled Himself because He loved us, truly loved us despite literally not deserving an ounce of love, instead deserving wrath.

That's why Jesus is the gift.

If we merely didn't go to hell, and died, that would be better than going to hell, and if that's what Jesus saved us for, it would still be worthy of praise for not having to spend eternity in hell, but actually, He went further and saved us so that we could be heirs, and be called sons of God and inherit the riches of eternal connection with the Father and all other believers.

Do you see why Jesus is the greatest gift and not merely the avoidance of hell?

You guys put your sins in a chicken and then beat it to death.

The path of redemption that Christ provided is what Santa meant: it was implied. He is wrong, of course, since the redemption is but the second greatest gift.

The actual greatest of God's gifts is life itself, since it's the difference between existing and not.