The Birth

Life itself is a miracle. Hours before my mother died at the age of eighty-nine, she was able to hear the heartbeat of her great granddaughter in my daughter’s womb. Two months later, I sat outside the delivery room at the hospital and heard my grand daughter’s first cry. Sunrise and sunset cannot compare with the mystery and the beauty of birth.

Our greatest efforts at language, music, art and theology fall short of describing the miracle that lies beyond our comprehension. John described it this way, “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,2 14).

The Apostle Paul expressed it with these words: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His son, born of a virgin, born under the law.” (Gal. 4:4). “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Col. 1:15-16).

Birth and life is not about logic and reason. It is about passion and love, about hopes, dreams, aspirations, struggle, pain, healing and forgiveness. All of these are bound up in the birth of Christ. It is here that we see God’s passion and God’s love. In the life of Jesus God lifted our aspirations and our dreams to their highest potential. When Jesus was born, God embraced our struggles, our weaknesses our sufferings and our sins. In Jesus God made known His character and His nature in terms we can understand. “He that has seen me,” Jesus said, “has seen the Father.”

As miraculous as every birth is to every parent, the birth of Jesus was far more so. The Scriptures are clear that He was born of God, not merely man. He was fully human and fully divine. The Bible says that all the fullness of God was embodied in Him. “For God so loved he world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).