“Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you.”
A.W. Tozer
The birth of Christ points to God’s ultimate plan of salvation for a sinful, lost, and dying humanity. Consider the words of the prophet Isaiah:
For to us a child is born,
Isaiah 9:6
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In the very first phrase, we see two significant clues to the identity of Christ. First, to us, a child is born. God chose to be revealed in the flesh of a baby boy.
In an earlier prophecy, Isaiah tells us –
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
Yes, he was born as a child, but even then Immanuel means “God with us”. That’s the point of the second phrase – to us a son is given. God gave His Son!
When I read that phrase my mind immediately goes to John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
A child is born. A Son is given.
While it is not a Christmas verse Paul sums up the humanity and divinity of Christ quite well in Colossians 2:9 – “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
That’s the significance of Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
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