What Child is This?

Some 2000 years ago a baby was born.  This doesn't sound newsworthy to us; however this was no ordinary birth.  The birth I am speaking of is the birth of the Only Begotten of God the Father.  Only Begotten means that this baby was one of a kind, the only one like Him. 

What was so unusual about this particular baby?  Was it His name?  No, thousands of women named their babies Joshua, His Hebrew name.  They did this in hopes that their little baby would be the one who was the prophesied messiah.  Was it because of his wealth?  No, He was born in a manger at an Inn that would have housed the poorest of the poor.  Even then, this baby's earthly parents could not get a room, all the rooms were taken.  Later in His life he spoke of Himself and said that He had no where to lay His head.  Was He to grow tall and be more handsome than other men?  No, we are told that there was no comeliness or attractiveness that would lure us to Him; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 

Why, then do we celebrate this Man's birth that occurred 2000 years ago?  What made Him so unique, and what made His birth so special?  His birth is so special because His mother was a virgin when He was conceived.  He had an earthly step father but no earthly biological father.  That which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit of God.  This in and of itself makes this baby's birth very unique.  He is the only virgin born baby ever.  He is the only one ever who was born of woman and God.  He was very man of very man and very God of very God.  The only begotten of the father, the only one like Him. 

It is appointed unto man to die, but this baby's death was mapped out for Him before the foundation of the world.  Before Adam and Eve sinned, the sin problem had already been addressed in the mind of God.  This baby was born to die on a cruel cross for your sins and mine and for the sin of the world.  This baby was born the Savior of the world.  Oh praise His name, let angels prostrate fall.  This baby was God incarnate, the everlasting God.  This is the baby that God told Satan about when He said, "He shall crush thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." 

This baby would grow and one day He would be baptized in the river Jordan by John the immerser.  Following His baptism, the heavens were opened up to Him and He saw the Holy Spirit descend from Heaven like a dove and light upon Him.  And then a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  This baby was part of the triune God head.  Before His manifestation on this earthly coil as God incarnate, He was with God.  This baby was and is the eternal second person of the Trinity, the Son of God.  He didn't become the Son of God at His birth or at His baptism as some have said, but He was with God from the very beginning and He was God from the very beginning. 

Why would the Son of God come to earth, leaving angels who worship Him non-stop, to come to this earth to be mistreated and then crucified?  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  That's why He came, because He loves us, because He loves you.  We cannot enjoy a relationship with a holy God on our own.  He cannot by His nature tolerate sin to be present in anything around Him.  He cannot by His nature allow Sin to be present in those who communicate with Him. 

This baby who we celebrate this season, came that through His substitutional death on the cross we might have life and that more abundantly.  His death, if we accept it by faith, covers our sin.  We now are at peace with God through Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross.  When God looks at me, He no longer sees me, but He sees the blood of His Son.  I am clothed in His blood and because of this, God counts me as righteous.  It is not my righteousness, but His dear Son's righteousness that I wear.  My righteousness is as dirty rags.  All this is made possible by simple faith in the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross.  All one has to do to be saved is to put one's faith wholly in His sacrifice on the cross which is the only thing that can save a person's soul.  Jesus paid it all.  Our sin debt is paid in full.  Hallelujah to the Christ. 

This is why we celebrate this Baby's birth, because He came to give us a second birth.  Please don't let another day go by without claiming Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and acknowledging what He did for you at the cross to pay for your sin.

by Marty Griffith