A love like no other
Obviously, there are a lot of miraculous and impressive stories throughout the Bible. There is the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt by Exodus. There is Jesus walking on the water and calming the storm. There’s Paul’s conversion from being a murderous, hateful, Jewish zealot to being one of Christ’s primary apostles. I find all of them inspirational and exceptional. But the one that truly blows my mind, that tops all of them for me, is the birth of Jesus.
I don’t generally consider myself a selfish person, and I try my best to love and care for others around me even if I don’t know them well, but there are definite limits to what I will do for people. I will not move out of my house and give it to a homeless person knowing I will be homeless. I won’t empty out my bank account and donate my paycheck each month to those in need wondering where my next meal will come from. Heck, I even have a hard time easily forgiving people for slights that hurt or inconvenience me.
Which brings me to why Jesus’ Christmas birth is such a miracle. Literally, it is the story of God laying aside all of his power, his grandeur and his glory to enter into our world. In heaven, he had complete authority and the ability to create anything he could possibly want or imagine. He could insulate himself from anyone who would try to hurt him or perfectly satiate any whim or desire. All the difficulties and unpleasantries in my life that I spend so much time trying to protect myself against or distract myself from, he never had to face.
And in being born, he left all that behind. He moved out of his house to wander our world. He gave away all the “currency” he had in heaven to come be poor and “worthless.” The God of the universe literally laid down the unlimited power over everything he held through all of time to be laid in a manger.
Of all the miracles and triumphs in the Bible, this level of voluntary surrender to such an incredible sacrifice truly blows me away. And his commitment to this laying down of power by voluntarily going to the cross only proves how much of a sacrifice it was. To go from all-powerful God to a crucified criminal is a level of disparity I cannot comprehend.
Especially when I look at the selfishness in my own soul.
This level of love, this boundlessly gracious act of humility, is something only an all-powerful God defined by love could do. There is no story more beautiful, no miracle more impressive, or commitment more complete, than this. And, I would argue, there is no other act more completely divine.
It is because of this story of Jesus, God putting his very self on the table in pursuit of restoring a loving relationship with us, that I know he is worthy of following and calling King. This Christmas story is the reason we can know we are loved and valued beyond our wildest comprehension. Christmas tells us there is literally nothing else in the universe worth holding onto compared to reaching out to us in love and providing the possibility for us to love him in return.
This is what we celebrate at Christmas. It isn’t just a cute baby in a manger, the miraculous appearance of angels, the star in the sky or even the Magi from the East bowing down to worship a peasant child. We celebrate the miracle of the unlimited limiting himself, so we know we are loved.
That level of selflessness is so far beyond my comprehension and yet so joyful to my soul. It is a promise that truly brings hope, peace, joy and love to a world that desperately needs it even as it struggles to comprehend it. It is a message of peace on earth and goodwill to mankind. There is none greater.
This is Christmas and it is the greatest miracle the world has ever seen. May you live out the truth of it and love him back with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It is why he came.
Merry Christmas to you because it is!
--Trevor Owen
