The Night Love Was Born

On the night that Jesus was born, there were no earthly celebrations, no text messages, phone calls, Tweets, or FaceTime, and Joseph didn’t post “He’s here” on Instagram.

While the heavenly hosts sang and proclaimed His birth, the people of the earth did not acknowledge or even understand what His birth meant to mankind.

The Savior of the world had been born. Born in a humble stable, God became flesh.

“In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him”. 1 John 4:9 

It’s tempting to try to find our joy within the celebrations and traditions of Christmas rather than in God himself.

We need to come to a place where we love Christmas...just because it's Christmas...The birth of our Savior....nothing else...no expectations for the perfect day or present... The perfect present was already given and we can never top that.

This is the real meaning of Christmas. 

It's not about the holiday ham and cookies, Christmas lights and decorations, Santa and reindeer, or Barbies and Legos! It's about Jesus - coming in the flesh - He dwelt among us - He went from the stable to the cross because of His love for you and me. Our Hope came wrapped in swaddling clothes and was placed in a manger that very first Christmas. 

The Christmas story is more than just a story about the birth of a child into our world but is about the birth of the world’s Savior, the birth of Hope entering our world that long-awaited night so many thousands of years ago. 

What was God’s gift to us that very first Christmas? The gift of His precious Son...Our Redeemer...Our Savior...Our Peace..Our Hope for a better tomorrow. God gave the hopeless world the gift of Hope that first Christmas...and He continues to do so today. 

We need to sit back and take in what Christmas is all about...what really happened that night so long ago in Bethlehem and what it means today. Wonderment...Sparkle...Joy... Mystery...Anticipation...Excitement. Simplicity. Love. 

All of this intensifies the sense of peace and awe that come as we anticipate the most important birthday of all times; when we celebrate God, Himself becoming man. 

This was in a real sense, the birth of Love.

His birth proclaimed Peace on Earth...this Peace is the reconciliation of Man and God. This did not mean the end of earthly wars or trouble, but it paved the way for us to have peace with God.

This Peace brings us The Hope, The Joy, The Love of a Heavenly Father who gave his son for us. The Miracle of the birth of the Savior of the world. 

But...This baby we sing about came for a very specific, dark, and yet beautiful reason.

This baby was born to die.

Born to die that I might live.

He who was holy came to save the soiled and sinful. He who would live a perfect life, did so for those who cannot take one breath without sinning.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Matthew 2:21-23

Let’s put ourselves in Mary's life for just a few minutes, putting the birth of Jesus in perspective.

Most accounts have Mary between 14 and 17 years old... What were you doing at that age? Here is Mary, a young girl, who found favor in God's eyes and said "Yes, Lord I am willing. I am your servant.”

How did a young teenage girl find such favor with God? While her parents raised her with great wisdom and reverence for God, Mary had to choose to make wise choices. Mary had to choose to be set apart, paving the way so the Lord could use her. Much like today, we must choose to follow Jesus and set ourselves apart. 

Times were different, Mary should have been killed or at the very least removed and set out of society for this pregnancy, but God protected her. 

Mary went through all of this without her mother, a sister, or any female, and no girlfriends to share this great event with. She was abandoned by most.  Where were the women? There wouldn’t be a baby shower or fancy clothes, she wrapped Our Savior in rags. 

Think about the fear and unknowns of delivery with a man you barely know...such a very intimate private time. While the angel told Mary to "fear not", the reality of delivery must have been overwhelming. Mary walked or rode in a cart or on a donkey for approximately 65 - 80 miles depending on the route they took. A trip that would have taken about 4 days. At 9 months pregnant, I'm sure that wasn't on her list of things to do. I remember being pregnant and some days when I could barely walk across the kitchen, and forget about going on a bumpy ride or over RR tracks, let alone walking a long distance to a foreign town.

A husband and his young wife, are about to have a baby, and both of them are tired from traveling late into the night. Poor Mary and Joseph, nothing seemed to be going their way. Giving birth in a stable with “nowhere to lay His head”, I'm sure this isn't exactly what she had envisioned either when the angel appeared to her that special night nine months earlier. An unwanted trip, at an inconvenient time, to an insignificant town.

For the most significant event in history…

The emotions that must have been raging inside her. Presenting her new child and the excitement and the anticipation of that, let alone that child being the Savior of the world. 

And the heavenly host of angels proclaimed his birth. 

We all would have loved and wanted the stars to shine brightly and angels to herald the birth of our own child. In fact, I think they may have for some of us. 

It’s tempting to try to find our joy within the celebrations and traditions of Christmas rather than in God himself. 

On the night that Jesus was born the night was still.... silent... quiet... Except for the cry of a newborn baby. Jesus was born in a humble stable. In that stable, God became flesh.

The Angels sang and cheered, " Glory to God in the highest" as they appeared to the common man... the shepherds... the blue-collar worker of today. Not the rich and famous, no newspaper headlines, or National Enquirer. People Magazine or Time didn't cover this story. No news crews with breaking news stories. 

The angels appeared to The Shepherds; who were the insignificant people of their day, "the least of these", the blue-collar workers of today, proclaiming:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - the Messiah- was born today in Bethlehem, the city of David. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And the angel was joined by a vast host of others praising God and singing; Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth”. Luke 2: 10-14 

That the prophecy and scripture might be fulfilled:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”. Isaiah 9:6 

While the celebration of Christmas really is the celebration of the most important birthday to ever happen, our focus should not stop at the cute little baby in the manager. We need to always keep the cross in our minds because this is where God’s greatest act of love unfolded. God’s heart was so overwhelmingly filled with love for us, His people, that He chose to become like those He created, a needy baby completely dependent on sinful humans to care for and raise Him. He grew into a perfectly kind and compassionate man, knowing He would face the ugliness of betrayal, loneliness, suffering, and pain to rescue people who didn't even care.

This is real love.