What child is this?

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:10-14

Is there anything more amazing than those words? “Today . . . . a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.”

So often I bypass the impact of Christmas for the bang of Easter. I guess in my search for a moment to really solidify the ‘why’ behind my faith, Easter gives the most straightforward answers. This was the commemoration of Christ’s mission, this was His sacrifice, and this was the act that we were to put our faith in for our salvation. But as I ponder faith, what it means, and think about the “who” being more important than the “what”, I realize that Christmas is a celebration of faith.

Think about it, we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, the BIRTH of a sovereign, holy, eternal, perfect Deity. BIRTH. That right there is faith, an amazing act of faith. Because when you think about it, the cross was the culmination of Christ’s work here on earth, but His birth was the inception of that work. He CAME to earth. He took on the form of MAN. Christ, part of the triune God, present at creation, reigning in Heaven at the right hand of the Lord, came to earth as a BABY.

A few posts back I asked people what their definition of faith was, and I came up with one simple word, ‘knowing’. With that definition in mind, then I know this baby; I know He alone will be my answer, my salvation, my life. I don’t even need to know all the miracles He will perform, or the wonderful teachings He will give, or the unconditional love He will show, because all that is wrapped up in this one act that He begins His life on earth with. He is born, as a man, into this earth. God comes down and meets us in ourselves. He comes just as we come into this world, naked, helpless, small, and living mortally in the body of flesh.

Christ could have easily come to earth as a grown man. He could have descended from the clouds in glory and begun His ministry with a bang. Think of the impact, the immediate reaction that would have occurred if Christ would have just appeared on earth and started preaching. But that wasn’t the way that God wanted salvation to come to man. He wanted a Savior that could relate in all ways to those He was saving. God wanted Christ to be fully man, to experience all that man experienced, and to be the perfect substitution for the price of our sin. So Christ came, not as a man but as a baby, as a helpless, innocent, newborn. He was born into this world and He was taken from it by death. He lived as we live.

It isn’t the man at this point, it isn’t the miracles, it isn’t the visible sacrifice. It is a baby, wrapped in cloth, lying in a place of humility, this is where my faith begins, and this is who my faith is placed in.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas. I pray that you will be filled with the peace and wonder of the celebration of the birth of our Lord. I pray that your faith will abound as you remember that Christ came to earth as a baby, as one of us, as our salvation wrapped in cloth, lying in the arms of His mother, helpless, small, and yet worthy of our faith and our love.

Some of the greatest sermons have been given in this season. Some of the most wonderful words of truth are spoken to commemorate the day that Christ came down to man. And while I could have posted great words by great theologians I decided to go with something much simpler. I hope you take from this the truth that is so humbly given and that it touches your heart in the same way it touches mine.

I found this video on another blog, and unfortunately I closed the window before getting the address so I could properly give credit to the man who made this. So this is a thank you to Mr. Dixon for putting together this little video.