Christian Community Church

An Intimate Look at the Birth of Jesus

Are We Missing Some of the Truths of Our Savior’s birth

Key Passaqe: Luke 2:1-20

Every year around Christmastime, many believers read the account of Jesus’ birth. But perhaps we’ve let the familiarity of the story dull our awareness. More often than not, we skim over the well-known verses, telling ourselves we already understand all there is to learn from it. But without a deeper, more intimate look at our Savior’s birth, we’ll miss some of the truths the Lord wants us to hear and apply to our lives.

What appears insignificant can have great eternal consequences.

From a human perspective, there was nothing special about this scene. Mary and Joseph were just ordinary people having a baby. Because many people were poor, even the lowly setting of a stable as a birthplace was common. Yet this event was the most significant incident in human history. This baby, conceived by the Holy Spirit, was the fulfillment of prophecy—the Sovereign Creator of the universe became Immanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:20-23). The Son of God and Savior of the world arrived not in Rome, but rather in the small city of Bethlehem with only His parents, shepherds, and animals in attendance.
In the same way, events that seem ordinary in our lives may be occasions when the Lord is doing something awesome. You can never judge the importance of situations based on their appearance. Because God is continually working to achieve His will and purpose, every event and choice in our lives has significance. We just need eyes to discern the truth and to have faith that the Lord is working out His plans for us.

You can’t determine a person’s value by his or her environment.

One would think that when a king is born, he would be swaddled in silk and surrounded by the pleasant smell of perfumes and spices. But the King of kings was born in a stable filled with the smell of livestock. Mary wrapped the Son of God in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger (Luke 2:7). Nothing about this environment revealed the significance of that newborn baby.

All too often the world judges a person’s worth based on his surroundings. But in the Lord’s eyes, every person is significant. He created each of us for a specific purpose and loves us unconditionally. The ultimate proof of our worth is the fact that Christ considered us so valuable He died for us.

God often gives great understanding to unexpected people.

Since the birth of the Savior was the greatest news of all time, wouldn’t you think that the Lord would have announced it to important people like kings and nobles? Instead, He sent His angel to proclaim this momentous news to insignificant shepherds. Today, you probably won’t get a message from an angel, but God still speaks to those who are listening by whispering to their spirits in a still, small voice.

The real issue is what we do after hearing from the Lord. Like the shepherds who left immediately to find the newborn Messiah (Luke 2:15-16), are you quick to obey His instructions? By hesitating, you could miss the greatest opportunities of your life. The key to experiencing all that God has planned for us is to keep our spiritual ears open and be ready to obey.

When people have truly met Jesus Christ, they have to tell others.

The shepherds were absolutely awed by what they saw—the long awaited Messiah had finally arrived. They couldn’t keep it to themselves and had to let everyone know what they had heard and seen (Luke 2:17-18). They knew their message would seem strange to others and might even result in ridicule, but they believed and wanted everyone to know.

We need to become as bold as the shepherds. It’s our job to take the gospel to those who haven’t heard, yet so many believers lack the courage to share their faith. Sometimes we feel like we don’t know enough, but we know so much more than the shepherds did. They had a one-time experience with an angel, but we have the written Word of God available at all times. Don’t let fear of rejection or embarrassment keep you from sharing the only message that can change a person’s eternal destiny.

The Lord’s ways are not our ways.

Who could have ever imagined God’s plan—to send His Son into the world as a baby who would grow up in an ordinary family? It’s such an unimpressive way for the Messiah to make an entrance into the world. But Christ came to live among us so that He could identify with us in our sufferings, heartaches, frustrations, fears, and temptations. The Savior completely understands our struggles and weaknesses because He’s experienced them (Heb. 4:15-16).

God uses ungodly people to accomplish His purposes.

At the time of Jesus’ birth, Caesar Augustus was the ruler of the Roman Empire; he made important choices that determined the course of human history.When he decided to take a census of all the inhabited earth (Luke 2:1), he thought he was in control, but he wasn’t. The Lord was simply using him to accomplish His plan.

Seven hundred years earlier, the prophet Micah foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), but Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. This decree meant that they had to travel to Joseph’s homeland, Bethlehem, to register for the census (Luke 2:4-6). It was no accident that Jesus was born while they were there. By using an ungodly man to orchestrate the circumstances, the Lord fulfilled the promise He’d made hundreds of years earlier. In our limited understanding, we think God only uses righteous people to achieve His purposes, but He can use anyone to carry out His plans.

The birth of Jesus is primarily about God’s unconditional love for the world. Although Jesus taught and healed people, that wasn’t His primary purpose for coming to earth. He specifically came as the Lamb of God to give Himself up for us (John 1:29).

Christ had to take human form so He could one day bear our sins and die on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). Because He paid the full penalty for our transgressions, we can be forgiven and live forever with Him.

Christmas isn’t about gifts, shopping, and parties. It’s not even about manger scenes and shepherds. Christmas is about Christ’s love for you and His sacrifice on the cross (John 3:16-17). If you are going to honestly celebrate Christmas, you’ve got to truly understand Jesus. Ignoring His free gift of salvation has terrible consequences, but accepting it by faith will result in eternal life in heaven with your Savior.

Reprint from Life Principles Notes Intouch.org.

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