For half my life I believed that Jesus Christ came into existence 2,000 years ago in a faraway place called Bethlehem. I believed that he was conceived in the womb of his teenaged mother, Mary, in a mysterious joining of the human and divine.
But like so many things in the Bible, there is more to the story, much more!
Jesus has existed forever, and we learn from scripture — John 1:1-4, 14-16 — that Jesus came from eternity past and is literally God the Son:
“In the beginning (of all creation) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (the Word) was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it …
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and called out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’ For of His fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace.”
God could not have made it clearer — Jesus is God — the Word incarnate. And at just the right time, He moved into our neighborhood for a brief, but momentous period of 33 years. The Earth has never been the same.
Jesus was on a mission when He came, a deadly serious mission, as explained in Philippians 2:5-11:
“… Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason, also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Jesus DID NOT come to earth to give us an excuse for conspicuous consumption, singing sappy songs and ringing bells.
He momentarily “emptied Himself” of His heavenly privileges for one purpose — to die a horrible death — to rescue His beloved human children from the eternal effects of their own sinful folly.
He then ascended to glory after being resurrected from the dead, still bearing the physical scars from being our substitutionary sacrifice.
It was all prophesied 700 years before His arrival, in Isaiah 9:5-7:
“For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the throne of David and over his kingdom.”
The verse above speaks of a single individual who is “Child,” “Son,” “God,” “Father” and “Prince.”
The same prophet Isaiah had written earlier, in Isaiah 7:13-15, “… the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel (literally meaning God with us).”
The virgin birth and conception by the Holy Spirit guaranteed that Jesus would not inherit the sin nature that afflicts the rest of us — making Him the perfect sacrifice for sin.
How About You?
Hey, I’m just as much a sucker for all this holiday cheer as anyone else. But can you pause for a moment and look past the bling and commercial exploitation and grasp the profound eternal significance of this Christmas season?
God wrapping Himself in skin, personally entering the human experience, living a perfect sinless life of service, and then offering Himself as our substitute to satisfy the claims of eternal justice against OUR sins?
That made it possible for those who believe to be set free to join His heavenly family. Excuse me, but that’s something to celebrate!
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
— D.C. Collier is a Bible teacher, discipleship mentor and writer focused on Christian apologetics. A mechanical engineer and internet entrepreneur, he is the author of My Origin, My Destiny, a book focused on Christianity’s basic “value proposition.” Click here for more information, or contact him at don@peervalue.com. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.