Christmas celebrations are filled with retelling the historical facts surrounding the Savior’s birth. Celebrations recall the story of a young couple’s arduous journey to an unfamiliar city, of an overcrowded inn, of them finding shelter with the animals in a cave hollowed out of a hillside.
No Christmas celebration would be complete without stories of angels, shepherds and wise men following a brilliant, never-before-seen star that led them to Bethlehem. Most of all, the Christmas story tells about the birth of a baby, a baby named Jesus impossibly born of a virgin.
To be sure, some question these historical facts. No reference to any of them exists outside the Bible, and some are prone to question any single-source assertion. The human impossibility of a virgin bearing a child only adds to some doubters’ skepticism.
For Christians, the single source of the Bible is not a problem.
We believe the Bible is the Word of God. It is truth and we believe all that it teaches. That is why we describe the details surrounding Jesus’ birth as historical facts. That is why these colorful details have been faithfully retold for more than 2,000 years.
At the center of the Christmas celebrations is another historical fact. In the birth of Jesus, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This historical fact is the center of present-day faith for every Christian.
The Bible teaches the eternal God revealed Himself in human form so that from within mankind, He might declare His eternal love.
Theologians refer to this as “Incarnation.” The Bible explains it this way: “Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6–7).
One writer observed that Jesus’ reduction of Himself from the supreme end of creation to the supreme means for humanity’s salvation is the greatest demonstration of the nature of God’s love.
Consider that after describing Jesus as “the Word,” the apostle John said of Him “and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
The apostle added, “Through Him, all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of men” (vv. 3–4).
The apostle Paul repeated this theme in Colossians 1:16–17.
There he wrote, “For by Him (Jesus), all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.”
The Bible clearly teaches as historical fact that Jesus is the source of all creation. When God willed to call humanity into being, Jesus was at work. It is in Jesus’ creative power that “all things hold together.” All things were created not only “by Him” but also “for Him.”
Even life itself has its roots in Jesus as the source of life, and that life is sustained by His encompassing presence.
As mysterious as it is, that is the One who laid aside the form and privilege of deity. That is the One who was born of a virgin. That is the One in whom all the fullness of God dwelt (v. 19). That is the One through whom reconciliation was made possible (v. 20). That is the One who became obedient to death, even death on the cross.
Only love could cause such action.
God’s love for humankind is an everlasting love. That is how God described His love in Jeremiah 31:3. From creation forward, God’s heart has throbbed in love for His prime creation, that being in whom He entrusted His likeness.
Jesus’ declaration that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son” (John 3:16) was not a new revelation about God’s love. Rather it was another evidence of God’s love that has been a historical fact for eternity. God loves so much that He was willing to become the remedy for the sin that mars humanity.
That is why Paul could write the doubters in Corinth and confidently declare that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).
Jesus’ words as recorded in John 3:17 read, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.”
Historical fact — that is how the Bible presents the Incarnation. And that historical fact is the reason for the eternal hope that beats in every Christian’s heart.
Our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is in the love of God, who loved us so much that Christmas happened. God became flesh and dwelt among us.
As you retell the Christmas story this year, rejoice in all the details of the historical facts surrounding Jesus’ birth. Most of all, rejoice in your present faith in “the Word (who) became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Share with others: