in Jesus' name

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17)

The ultimate goal of Christmas for the Poor is to glorify God through His Son, Jesus Christ. To aim merely to relieve the suffering of the poor and provide for their basic needs without giving glory to God would be to ignore the chief and final end of all mankind — to glorify God. Jesus told us, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me," (Luke 9: 48) "and whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." (Matthew 10:42) In both scriptures, Jesus addresses the motivation behind the good deed, emphasizing its importance. If you do something in someone else's name, you are giving that person the credit for your action, and that is exactly what we aim to do.

The good works of the Church have eternal significance, partly through the role those works play in making the gospel attractive to the lost. Hypocrisy is poisonous, but a life that displays obedience to the commands of Jesus is strong evidence to the unbeliever that the message of Jesus is true. Just as Jesus gave His own life to save the whole world, we Christians carry the same God-given zeal to see the captives of sin set free and brought into the kingdom of God.

The immediate task of relieving the suffering of the poor and saving them from physical death is not just a formality, however. We cannot watch these people suffer and do nothing! It's difficult to put compassion into words, but as God's children, His immeasurable love has been revealed in our hearts, and we know His compassion for us. That's how we feel compassion for those in need.

Finally, read the following two verses, and see if you can get the idea of the eternal setup that God has designed. He arranges ahead of time for us to do good works in His name...and in eternity those works beautify His Church, who is His Bride. This glorifies Him and brings Him pleasure, which is exactly what we are trying to do.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." (Revelation 19:7-8)