Merry Christmas

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…” (Genesis 1:1, 31a)  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-5, 14)  ...“‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger’... ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.’” (Luke 2:10b-12, 14)

Those are words that never cease to amaze me.  God created the whole universe out of nothing; he just spoke the Word.  Then we read in John that the Word was Jesus himself!  That just boggles my mind.  Even more wondrous is that God would humble himself to become like us.  Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, our very nature has been changed.  People are born sinners, and we continually sin as part of our nature.  Our reflection of God’s image has been marred by sin.  Sin cannot exist before a holy and righteous God, thus the reason Adam and Eve no longer had communion with him in the cool of the evening.  Though animals were offered in sacrifices, they could never be a full atonement for sin.  Animals are not the same as people.  They could not take our place or the wrath that we deserved.  

Jesus was fully man.  Though conceived supernaturally by an act of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was still human.  An angel came to Mary to reveal the news to her, as she would have no physical reason to expect to become pregnant.  Joseph also was given a dream to clarify to him that Mary had not been unfaithful during their time of betrothal.  From all outward appearances, by Joseph taking Mary as his wife while she was pregnant, it seemed that they just couldn’t wait for their wedding day and were probably the talk of the town for a while.  The baby born to Mary seemed like a normal boy.  He was fully human, and only those divinely informed knew that he was more than that.  As a man, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for sins.  He was a person, like we are, and thus an acceptable substitute for us.

Jesus was fully God.  Though he became a human, he did not lose any of his divinity.  He allowed himself to be confined to a physical body and limited by the constraints of that, but he was still God.  I’m not claiming to fully understand the incarnation or exactly how Jesus existed as both God and man, but I know that he did.  As God, Jesus was eternal, and thus able to atone for all sins of all of his people for all time!  He was the perfect, sinless substitute that was fully acceptable as the payment for sin.  “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.  For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his race as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.  This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26)

Christmas is a time we celebrate Jesus coming to earth to die for our sins.  He was born of the virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified, died, and was buried.  He then defeated sin and death by rising from the grave.  “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jeus every knee should bow; in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-10)  May you find peace, grace, and hope this Christmas!  Merry Christmas!