It was God in the manger!I can’t begin to understand the mind-blowing concept that GOD was born in a manger…not a warm, cozy bed…A feeding trough in a BARN! How can the baby worthy of receiving gold, frankincense and myrrh have, as His first bed, a food bin for cattle?
I believe the dismal, dirty circumstances of Jesus’ birth serve to remind us about how amazing and incredible it is that the God of the universe chose to become human! How can that be? I don’t think our minds will ever be able to comprehend the realities involved. As John MacArthur writes in his book The Miracle of Christmas:
“[No one can] explain how God could become a baby. Yet He did. Without forsaking His divine nature or diminishing His deity, He was born into our world as a tiny infant.The good news of Christmas is that God has spoken in the person of Jesus!
He was fully human, with all the needs and emotions that are common to us all. Yet He was also fully God--all wise and all powerful.
For nearly 2,000 years, debate has been raging about who Jesus really is. Cults and skeptics have offered various explanations. They'll say He is one of many gods, a created being, a high angel, a good teacher, a prophet, and so on. The common thread of all such theories is that they make Jesus less than God. But the biblical evidence is overwhelming that this child in the manger was the incarnation of God.”
One Christmas memory from my teenage years is related to sports. My sport of choice was wrestling. Now, you might be wondering why in the world I had a desire to dress up in odd-looking underwear, weird shoes, and foam bowls on my ears so that I could roll around on a mat for 6 minutes with another sweaty guy! The key factor was that the other guy was always about the same size as me…very important for an American high school kid who only weighed 119lbs! (I’ve grown a bit since)
So…it was my Senior year. Semi-finals of the Christmas Wrestling Tournament held at my high school. Overflowing stands filled with fans. Final period. Thirty seconds left. Down by one point....
These were the conditions that I faced as I stood face-to-face with my opponent. Me knowing I had to take him down to win. Him knowing he just had to hold out thirty more seconds and he was in the finals of the biggest mid-season tournament in our town. In the midst of the thunder of the cheers and the thoughts inside my head, there was one voice that stood out. One voice that I had been trained to listen to and listen for. That was the voice of my wrestling coach. The words I heard were “SHOOT, SHOOT!!!” And so I did, I dove for my opponent’s legs. It was the only way for me to possibly win the match...
I wish I could say I got the take down, but I can’t. I shot for his legs, but time ran out and I didn’t score. Instead, I became a missionary! The thing that will always stand out to me, however, is the loud, clear voice of my coach...and his later congratulations for an excellent match in which I tried my best.
Do you ever feel like you’re in the final period in your Christian life and everyone is shouting at you? Do you ever feel confused by all the many voices? Don’t you long for a clear, definitive voice of guidance in your life as a disciple of Christ?
As Christians, I know we need a clear, guiding voice at Christmastime! We’re swimming in a sea of secularism and other religions in places where so much of ‘Christmas’ seems to involve shopping and Santa Clause! We’re truly in danger of missing the true meaning of Christmas!
In Hebrews 1:1-4, the author tells us that because God has spoken finally and supremely in His Son, Jesus Christ, we must listen to Jesus’ voice above all others in addressing the concerns of daily Christian life and the concerns of God’s church. In the next few posts, we’ll take a look at what God is saying in these verses and how it relates to our lives.
Hebrews 1:1-4Go to Part 2
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (ESV)
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