THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS

We celebrate the births of those we love. We’re glad they came into the world. We highlight how they enrich our lives, help us, and give us great laughs. We celebrate not only how they have blessed our lives, but also the world around us. If they had never come into the world none of these things would have ever happened – watch the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” 

What would it have been like if Jesus never came into the world?  

Let that question sink in… 

Here are a few of the reasons why the birth of Jesus is so important. 

1. The birth of Jesus means that we can trust God and His Word. 

At the fall of man, God in judgment remembered mercy by promising a child who would deliver mankind from the serpent and sin (Gen. 3:15). This theme of the promised child developed during the Old Covenant times and Scriptures (Abraham’s seed; a King on David’s throne; virgin born; God would become flesh – Isa. 9; born in bethlehem, etc.). The One to come is summed up in the title “Messiah.” The hope of all Israel was the arrival of this Son. He would be the Governor of Israel, The King who would sit on David’s throne who would establish an eternal dynasty, the Hero and Deliverer of God’s people, the Suffering Servant, The RIghteous Emperor greater than Solomon, etc. 

The problem though is that it seemed like the more history Israel experienced the worse things were getting. There were rays of light after the Babylonian captivity, but then the Roman iron fist was clenching tighter than ever. “God, where are you? Where is your promised anointed one? Have you forgotten about us?” 

When the life of a nation could perhaps become no darker, that is when God began to fulfill his Word. God works at His own pace and in His own time. If the people were paying attention, and were guided by the Spirit of God, they would have known when God was going to do this work in history (the timeline in Daniel), and some did know it (Simeon, Anna and others). But whether we can see what God is doing or not does not dictate whether He is working or not. Whether the world was ready or not, He Came, just as He said. Jesus descended from heaven, was conceived in human DNA, developed blood, bone and flesh in the womb and then was born. This “Baby-God” was proof that God keeps His promises. God is faithful to His Word. You can trust Him at His Word. In the same way the long awaited anticipations of the Old Testament were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, everything else that those same Scriptures say (as well as the New Testament) that relate to us and the world around us are just as faithful, reliable and certain. 

God promised a Son – – – that Son came. 

God promised _________ (you fill in the blank) – – – _______________ (that promise will be fulfilled. 

  

2. The birth of Jesus marked the arrival of the Eternal King. 

The word “Gospel” in New Testament Greek is “εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion)” which means “Good News.” Related to this are the words “Evangelize, or Evangelist – a bringer of good tidings.” In the Greek/Roman world of the first century it had a deep, special usage that is carried into the story of Jesus in the New Testament. One instance of the word being used was in reference to a man running out of a battlefield home with the good news, “We have won the battle!!!” It’s not good news like, “Yay! I have enough butter for my toast,” but rather a triumphant, anticipated, world-shaking celebration.

This word was also applied to announce the installment of a new emperor. They didn’t have phones or the internet back then, so they would commission preachers, or “Evangelists” who would spread throughout the empire to proclaim the Gospel, or good news, that the new emperor was installed. Check out this one engravement that has been uncovered called the Priene Inscription, which was written about the birth of Caesar Augustus:  

“Since Providence… has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue, that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior (σωτήρ), both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar (and inherent from this Lord), by his appearance…. surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god (τοῦ θεοῦ) Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings (εὐαγγέλιον) for the world that came by reason of him…”

This inscription ascribes to Augustus the titles of God, Lord and Savior. His birthday, in their minds, marked the arrival of a great King who surpassed all others in bringing political deliverance and peace to the world. He came to “arrange all things.” All of this is called the Gospel or “good tidings” of Augustus. 

Now, all of this should sound super familiar to anyone who knows the accounts of Jesus well. The Gospel of Mark begins with, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The Scriptures give Jesus the titles of God, Lord and Savior among others. It is clear that he came to “arrange all things” and to be the fulfillment of the long awaited plan of God. His birthday marked the day when the unique Son of God entered into the world as the last and greatest King. Basically, the Apostles were saying, “Yeah, the way you guys feel about Caesar Augustus is the way the One True God and us Christians think about Jesus. Just we think Jesus was much greater than your view of Caesar. Jesus is not a god, but the God, the Logos, the Messiah, the final King. He will not only bring peace to peoples and nations, but peace between us and God. He is the conqueror even over the Devil himself. 

So, to our application. The birth of Jesus marked the dawning of a new era in world history. He came to transform it into a different and better place. He crushed the head of the serpent at the cross; He defeated death at his resurrection; he ascended to rule over the world as King of the Kings and Lord of the Lords. Mankind now has verifiable and a living HOPE: forgiveness of sins, eternal reconciliation with God and each other in a deep, real way. His birth was the beginning of this all. 

 

3. The birth of Jesus revealed to us something more about the true heart of God.

We knew alot about God before the incarnation: He is the infinite Creator and Sustainer of all things; He is highly Moral, loves righteousness, hates wickedness and will judge the world (the Flood, Sodom, etc.); He is the Providential Ruler of History and Nations. We also find the mercy, love and grace of Yahweh in choosing Israel, delivering them from slavery in Egypt, preserving them in the wilderness, giving them the Promised Land, exalting them to a great empire with David and Solomon, and even bringing them back after captivity and not forsaking them even though they had been stiffnecked and hardhearted since they came out of Egypt. 

However, what was now fully revealed with the birth of Jesus was the Humility of God. Yes, we knew that God is loving, patient and long-suffering. He was willing for his global reputation to be vulnerable because of his loyalty to his people Israel. But the fact that Yahweh, the LORD of Hosts, would arrive as a baby, lays bare to us a humility, vulnerability and empathy never seen before.

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation (literally emptied himself; divested himself of the outward form of his glory and divine prerogatives), and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men…” God condescended lower than any being could. He exchanged glory and worship of angels for obscurity, poverty, and dependence. They say that a human baby is the most dependent creature on the face of the planet.  

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) As though going from God-to-Man is not humbling enough, he became a servant to men. Not the form of a royal king, opulent and powerful, but a common man, a Jew, poor, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, a friend of publicans and sinners. The crown of which in the end was made of thorns- death by crucifixion: public, scandalous, shameful, and undeserved. 

God did all of this so that we could know Him more intimately and also so that He could know us more intimately: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man…Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour (help) them that are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:9,17-18) God not only knows about the temptations, heartaches, pains and sufferings of man, he feels them as well. God experienced dependence upon man to show us that we can truly depend upon God. 

All of Scripture reveals to us the full counsel on God’s nature, but we do find something very special about our God when we look to the manger. 

“Thank you, Father, that you sent your Son Jesus from heaven to come in the flesh like us. Thank you for fulfilling your Word and proving to us that we can trust every line in the Bible, that it is inspired and backed by you. Thank you for breaking into the world to bring a new Covenant and to establish your eternal kingdom. You are Almighty God, yet you understand a feel all of our troubles.” 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)