As we enter this Christmas season, let’s do it from the solid foundation of scripture. (But then that’s how we’re to approach all of life, isn’t it?) So, what does the Bible say about the Christ Child? We already know that the season is primarily a commercial enterprise. Everybody gets stressed as they ponder what to buy, they’ll stress over the crowds at the malls and over Black Friday sales and their dwindling checking accounts, stress over being alone during the holidays. The tinsel and merry-making are masking a lot of sleepless nights.
But we have an advantage. We have a God who loved us and came in the flesh to save us. Before we approach this season based on warm feelings, memories of family traditions, home for the holidays, putting up decorations, fresh baking smells, sentimental songs, beautiful decorations, and gift-giving — before all this, let’s start with the facts of the Savior’s birth and what the implications are for us.
There’s a way to go through this season and give God the glory. I separated my observations into two groups: 1) Jesus’ birth fulfilled prophecy, and 2) Jesus’ birth is God becoming man.
A. Jesus’ birth fulfilled prophecies
Our faith has a foundation. God has provided facts for our minds to grasp and our confidence to grow. One fact is the bundle of prophecies regarding His first coming and what He would do. With prophecy, God is leaving a voice message that He is coming by for a visit. He left us details so we would recognize Him when He came by.
Therefore Jews in Jesus’ day referred to the prophecies to see if this was the prophet they were looking for. In John 7:25-31, the Jews reasoned themselves to faith in Him by comparing His life against the prophecies. One person argued that when the Christ came, they would not know where he was from; but they knew where Jesus was from. This was the logic used, but it was from a wrong idea of the scriptures. When the wise men came to Herod to find out where the king of the Jews was, Herod’s scribes said He would be in Bethlehem. We will know where He was from.
Prophecy is one of the fingerprints of God on the divine inspiration of this book. Here is just a shortlist of prophecies. Because all were fulfilled by this one man in history, we can be sure that He is the one God sent to save us. Internet blogs will easily list many more.
Genesis 49:10 tells us that the “scepter will not depart from Judah,” so Jesus will come from there. (Judah is the lower half of Israel and includes Jerusalem.)
Micah 5:2 tells us that a ruler will come out of Bethlehem “who is from of old, from everlasting.” That’s a clue that the Messiah will not be an ordinary man, but will have lived for a long time before being born. He will come out of Bethlehem in Judah, a short distance from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 7:14 tells us that a son will be born of a virgin “and shall call His name Immanuel.” The name means God With Us. The Son of God came through Mary — God indeed! The Spirit put Him there, not a human male.
Isaiah 9:6–7 tells us that a “Mighty God” will be born as a child and “the government will be on His shoulder.” He won’t float down from Heaven, but be born to rule over all.
There are also prophecies regarding the genealogy of Jesus. This is why we see lists of genealogies in the OT and why we have the two lineages in Matthew and Luke. Here are a couple of them.
In Genesis 12:3, we learn that He will be the offspring of Abraham who will “bless all the families of the earth,” through their faith in Him. We learn of this fulfillment in Jesus in Galatians 3:5–9.
We learn in Genesis 28:14 that He will bless the world as the offspring of Jacob, a child of Abraham. Later the line of the ruler would come through King David.
There was a big to-do a few decades ago where Jesus was illustrated as a black man to help the black community identify with Him. If a man said he’s the Messiah, yet isn’t a Jew through Abraham and Jacob coming from Bethlehem, he’s an imposter, according to these prophecies.
Jesus coming as a child, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, Judah, shows that God keeps His promises. He never forgets, even after thousands of years go by, even after all the human tragedies the Jews suffered. God is faithful.
B. Jesus’ birth is God becoming man.
The spirit becoming flesh. With this birth, God became something He never was before. With the incarnation, God inserted Himself into the human experience, into human history. Jesus drastically changed the course of history with this brief 3.5-year visit. Why was it important that He became flesh? Let’s look at several ways the incarnation benefits you and me.
1. The work of salvation from sin had to come through God Himself because it couldn’t happen through our best efforts. OT history had conclusively shown that there was no other way. Jesus said, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” It wasn’t possible. The astonishing thing is that this God of infinite love and of infinitely great worth was willing to die for people who deserved eternal damnation. Amazing grace and love indeed. Through the incarnation, we see that God cared about our lostness deeply.
2. Jesus was 100% man and 100% God. He would not give in to sin, no matter how much Satan tempted Him. Yet He wasn’t like Superman walking calmly through a hail of bullets, for Jesus felt the force of each temptation (Hebrews 4:15). So He understands us better because of the experiences He had. In your prayers, you can tell Him of your struggles with complete confidence that He will understand the power of your hurts and struggles. You’re not alone.
Because He had a human body, He understands what we go through as human beings. He experienced the weakness of our bodies. This makes Him the perfect High Priest to confess our sins to. He will not be suspicious, aloof, or angry, but compassionate (Hebrews 4:14–16). We can confess our sins, knowing that we will not be rejected. We will be understood.
3. Now we are going to get a little technical. As perfect Man and God, Jesus was our perfect representative. When Adam disobeyed God he passed that sin to all of us (Romans 5:12), for in some way we were all in Adam. Jesus had perfect obedience. When believing Him, we became a new creation and were placed in Jesus. The old us from Adam went into the grave (Romans 6:4), and we in Jesus went into the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:5–6). Adam passed his death on to us, but Jesus passes on His eternal life. Adam passed on his disobedience, but Jesus passes on His righteousness (Romans 5:17). Now we read our Bibles to learn how to “put on the new man” (Colossians 3:10), this amazing new persona God created us to be, now with new privileges, a new life, and a vastly improved future.
4. He becomes our example in all things (1 Peter 2:21). He is the light and the life. Through His life with the Father lived out on earth we learn how to live before the Father as children of God. He showed us how a dignified human being should act. He was God clothed upon with flesh so we also see what God is like, because He moved in human society responding to the familiar things we go through. So His character and actions are understandable and relatable.
5. Finally, He has become our Mediator. We finally have someone standing beside God for us. First John 2:1 tells us “we have an Advocate.” Perry Mason is taking our case, so we know we are going to win! Jesus will fight for us. Jesus has the ear of the Father. Our side will be told. The Lord is standing against the accuser of the brethren, the Devil (Revelation 12:10). We are already conquerors through Him (Romans 8:37). When we believe these promises, we live the overcoming life.
Next to the wonder that is the God-man Christ and His exceedingly fabulous gifts, the earthly glitter of the holiday season pales in comparison. This season comes with many distractions. Satan will use it to push our buttons, filling us with worries and cares God never put on us. Be watchful and read this post again and again as often as you need a boost. Share it with others.
Don’t let the holiday rush pull you down in stress or depression. No Christmas light show can outshine His glory as that of the only begotten of the Father. No wrapped present can compare with God’s indescribable gift. Our fleeting warm fuzzies can’t hold their own against the eternal privileges we have as the children of God.
