“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means God with us)." Matthew 1:23
Christmas is coming, and Christ followers around the world will celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. Church sanctuaries will be filled with the harmony of voices singing Silent Night, and lighted candles will illuminate the scene as that warm and fuzzy feeling that accompanies the moment swells within the church walls. Yes, it’s a beautiful thing to be part of, and emotions run high as the thought of Jesus’ birth takes hold in everyone’s hearts.
The birth of God as a man is arguably the most important occurrence in human history. Nothing that happened in Jesus’ life, including the resurrection, could have happened without His birth. Fully human and fully God doesn’t compute in our puny minds because in God’s math, one plus One equals The One. Scripture proves this phenomenon to be true as John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John goes on to say, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The fact that God became man and sent Himself to us as Jesus, allows the human race to see exactly who God is. The way Jesus lived, healed, taught, prayed, and forgivingly sacrificed and then resurrected Himself reveals all we need to know about God’s nature and being. The intimacy with which we can understand God through Jesus is simply amazing. Every time we empathize with people who are suffering or celebrating, every time we sacrifice a part of ourselves for another, every time we pray, we are mimicking the nature of God as Jesus revealed to us. We get to know God when we get to know Jesus, and it’s written for eternity for all of mankind to learn.
John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jesus may have been born in human form, but He was sent. Sent to show us the true nature and being of God that we might choose to know Him, believe Him, trust Him, and obey Him no matter what this weak, wobbly, tired world heaps on us as believers.
So we will sing to baby Jesus Silent Night with candles lit in the darkness of the sanctuary, and we will hold back tears as we dwell on that helpless little babe that was humbly born in a manger. We will feel awed and humbled as we think about the birth of our friend, our Savior. It’s in our nature and being to feel all these things because it’s in God’s nature and being to have sent Himself to us in that little baby named Jesus so there would be no doubt who He is.
Christmas is fun, but Christ is awesome!