The climax of the Christmas story – not a great and mighty king riding down from heaven, but a humble and lowly baby, lying in a manger made for animals. A lowly baby, but a King nonetheless. Just not the kind of King people had expected.
The Lord over all things. Creator of the Universe. King of Kings. Mighty God – was born. He came in the messiest of ways. He who had been enthroned in the heavens, a baby who was actually, physically born. Not in a palace, but in a stable. Not in a robe, but in swaddling cloths. Not to riches and luxury, but to a poor, young couple. He was Immanuel, God with us.
The great juxtaposition of it all is overwhelming. That a God that great would come so far down for us. Nothing could be a greater picture of love.
If there is one thing that we learn from this story, may it be that God loves us. He stopped at no end, spared no expense, for our salvation. The King of Heaven stepped down to this messy earth in a messy way to save a messy people, because He loved them – loves us – with an everlasting love.
But though this is the main thing we should learn from the incarnation, may we not miss that we must respond to it. It is nothing to us if we just hear that God loves us and then go on with our lives. The love of God has the power to transform us – to save us, to give us life. But we must accept it. We must let the King of kings be the King of our hearts. We must put our trust in the baby born in a manger, for He was born for that purpose – for us. If we don’t, then we miss the true amazement of the Christmas story.
On top of showing us God’s love, Jesus’ birth also shows us the fulfillment of hope promised from the very beginning. From Genesis 3:15 onward, God had given glimmers of hope to His people. Promises to bring One who would make all things new. All the brokenness and sin created by the Fall would be eradicated in Him. And in the manger, that hope was born. On the cross, hope looked lost, but in the resurrection – hope shined through like never before. And we now await the day when hope will be fully realized, when all things will be made right. We can have confidence that this day will come because the day did come when God sent us a Savior. He gave us Hope then, we can await the great day of hope with confidence now.
