BY GREG CRUM
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12
Here in Luke Chapter 2, we read of the true Christmas story. The legitimate reason for this season and the only way anyone’s holidays could be happy this, or any other, year. This is the story we have heard once and again, and for most of us, hearing it brings visions of a cute baby body and his mother nestled amongst a manger full of docile farm animals, all aglow with the glory of God.
It’s an idealistic scene, but perhaps our vision of this most monumental moment in history keeps us from seeing the significance of the sacrifice of God the Son in this moment. You see, Jesus’ birth was more than a “postcard” moment; it was also an unimaginable sacrifice by the Co-Creator of the Universe.
We have often been reminded that we should appreciate the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, and truly we don’t appreciate it as much as we should, but have you ever been reminded to appreciate the sacrifice of Christ at the Cradle? Well, we should because years before the Cross, Christ Jesus eternally gave of himself at the Cradle so that we would have a chance to become sons and daughters of God.
Now, you might be thinking, “Sacrifice at the Cradle, what are you talking about?” Well, let’s think about this for a moment. What are we celebrating this time of the year? The birth of Christ into the world, right? Yes, and why is that significant? There are many good answers to that question, but a couple would include that it was significant because it was the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of the Messiah coming to the world and that the remedy for our sin problem had arrived on the scene. Yet, before Christ could provide the solution to our sin sickness by his sacrifice on the Cross, he had to sacrifice his nature as the Almighty to become one of us—a human. Elohim (the Hebrew word that essentially sums up the Godhead) gave up the infinity of God to become something less in order to bring the lesser closer to Himself.
Philippians 2:6-7, in speaking of this sacrifice said of the Son, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” As we read on in Philippians 2, we see that Jesus had to humble himself, in other words, lower or humiliate himself, to become human. Have you ever considered that? Most of us probably haven’t. Why? Because we’re human, and we’re at the top of the “food chain” in our estimation. Being human is better than being anything else on this planet, and that’s all we know. Jesus was so much more, so much beyond human, and he gave that up so he could die for humanity!
“Well, yeah, sure, but now he’s lived and died, and risen again and he’s back to being God again, right?” Yes…and to a degree, no. He most definitely is, and will always be, the Son of God. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and will always have preeminence among his brothers, but have you read the rest of the Bible post-resurrection? What does it say about Jesus? How does it describe him?
In Luke 24 we read his own testimony as he says post-resurrection that he is still flesh and bone, glorified for sure, but human flesh and bone! Can you see what a permanent sacrifice that is? It wasn’t like Jesus just came down and “dressed up” like a human for a while, and now it’s back to all that he was before. That sacrifice to become human is permanent. There was no going back. Permanently humbled in his current form.
Maybe it’s hard for us to understand it in our finite minds, but it would be like one of us choosing to become an ant to save the world’s ant population. Would we do that? Of course not. Why would any of us give up the glory of man for ants? Yet, because he loved us, Jesus chose to forever become a man so we could become sons and daughters of God. Just one more reason to appreciate our Savior and celebrate this time of year when God was found as a babe in a manger!
Greg Crum is pastor of Calvary Temple Church in Lovely.