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Merry Christmas! It is time to celebrate our Savior’s birth. Let me share my thoughts about the miraculous birth of Jesus as recorded in Luke, chapter 2.
Luke recorded in detail the Lord’s birth and related events. What majesty unfolds around the humble stable as the God-man is viewed as a babe. Lowly, obscure, and uneventful should have been the birth of a child to a teenage peasant girl who was married to a carpenter. However, the impact of this One, birthed into a hated race, deprived of worldly possessions, and despised by the powerful can hardly be measured today.
His birth was and is a marker. An agnostic once told the great evangelist of the 19th century, D.L. Moody, that he would never pay homage to Christ. Moody asked him what year was it, and the reply was 1887. The unbeliever suddenly realized that even time is affected by the birth of Christ. The calendar used by much of the world is mute testimony to Jesus Christ.
The birth of Jesus was a manifestation. The difference between Jesus and other world religion founders is His claim to be God. Jesus, with an earthly mother and a heavenly Father, embodied all of God as a man. A mystery to be true, but nevertheless a claim that must be reckoned with. The Scriptures present this fact in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh . . .”
Ironically, the God of glory wrapped in human flesh was placed in a manger. Yes, at Jesus’ birth and then throughout His life He identified with the poor, the meek, and the downtrodden. The manger, a symbol of poverty and humility, characterized Jesus’ mission to the world. Jesus left the riches in heaven to make man spiritually wealthy.
Perhaps most significantly, Jesus’ birth provides a meeting place for God and man. Man cannot be good enough to meet God’s standard of perfection. This is the expressed purpose for the first coming of Christ. If man could pay for his own sins or be good enough to get to heaven, then Jesus would have never been born. Jesus was born to die. He paid the penalty for all sin by His shed blood and satisfied the Father as evidenced in the resurrection. He is the potential Savior of the world, but only the personal Savior of those who receive Him as Lord.
During the holiday time, people are more conscious of spiritual matters. Let us use this time to share Jesus with them.
