The Greatest Gift Ever Received

You may have heard the Christian story of the birth of Jesus Christ. You may put up a nativity scene in your front yard or somewhere inside your house. But why did the story happen the way it did? Is is just a fun story for us to tell on Christmas or is there a deeper underlying point to why it happened the way it did. Why did it happen in a manger? Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem. When you think of the story of Jesus birth, you may think of a little barn. Well in truth, Jesus was most likely born inside a cave. When Mary had to flee Nazarene and go to Bethlehem, she most likely resided in a cave where she gave birth to Jesus and placed him on a manger of hay. They were forced to go somewhere like this because, the inn they went to in Bethlehem had no rooms left. This cave was most likely a place for sheep to stay. It probably smelled bad and wasn’t the ideal place for a baby to be born. (Luke 2:1-7)

But there is a purpose for the way Jesus was born. Let’s look at another scenario. What if Jesus had been born a prince like many Jews at the time were expecting? He would most likely been born in a palace and have many nice things. This would make people think that Jesus was here to have a great time! In reality, he was born a suffering servant. He came down from heaven and made himself man! Like a servant or a slave, he gave up his rights in order to serve humans. He emptied himself and made himself nothing.

Philippians 2:5-11 

In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. Christ himself was like God in everything. But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit, But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing . He was born as a man and became like a servant. And when he was living as a man, he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death – death on a cross. So God raised him to the highest place. God made his name greater than every other name. So that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus – everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and bring glory to God the Father.

If you asked the President of a country to go live in a hut, what do you think they would say? They would probably say no way. But you see God works in mysterious ways! God opposes the proud and embraces the humble. God’s power is demonstrated through weakness. He uses weakness and meekness to show his glory. Why does he do this? So that people won’t boast about their accomplishments. When we are weak and God helps us we don’t give glory to ourselves! When we feel useless God may do something great.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

Jesus was a normal guy (Isaiah 53) but he attracted people to him by what he had inside. His birth was symbolic of his sacrificial mission. His mission was to die on the cross for our sins! It’s pretty incredible to think that God sent his son to earth to live among humans and die among humans. During the Christmas time it’s important to remember this idea. Santa Claus is fun but be sure to remember to remember Christ’s birth and death. Don’t let commercialism destroy the true meaning of Christmas as a holiday. Please don’t forget the the greatest gift we have ever received!

Peace and Love,

The Editor