When God Was Born

            “Heresy! God always was and will be!” shout some readers.

            Believe me. I know that. Almighty God (Father/Son/Spirit) has no beginning and no end, but stick with me while we travel back to nine months pre-Bethlehem Birth. Yes, I realize we’re in Holy week with only days till Resurrection Sunday; but in my mind, I cannot separate Christmas and Easter.

            This marriage of Holy-Days came about by my wondering years ago why God had to send Jesus the way He did and why God the Son needed to suffer and die such a horrific death.

            It’s my fault actually. Some say, “Let’s blame Adam and Eve for the whole mess.” But truth be told, if they hadn’t sinned and no one else had up till I arrived on the scene, I blew it. Yes, I sinned. More than once.

            But God loved me so very much that He wanted me one day to come live with Him. (Romans 5:8) Problem? I couldn’t because there’s no sin in Heaven. Only perfect God—sinless and incapable of such. No sin allowed.

            God being God already knew I and all the others before me (after too) would mess up (Romans 3:10), so He made one Way possible to bridge the sin gap. Here’s where the story gets messy. God said blood needed to be shed for forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9:22)

            Jesus—God the Son—would be the Redeemer. (Romans 3:25) But the Son was spirit and a Part of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit). Spirit doesn’t contain blood. How can Spirit take on blood and become the Cure?

            That’s where Mary came in. God chose her to be the agent. Jesus (God the Son) needed to be human for Him to become blood—actually 100% God and 100% human. So, Jesus, was born through Mary—her bloodline. Necessary for what was to come! Thus, that Part of God—the Son—was born, even though He plus the Father and Spirit were One and have always been.

            This Newborn, though, was born to die. Imagine the mix of emotions for post-partum Mary who knew all this! The joy of birthing her Baby, the grief knowing He would one day die—His end already defined before He was even conceived. (Isaiah 53:4-9)

            That’s why Christmas and Easter can’t be separated—not really. They’re one complete story. Jesus would be unjustly accused, tried, and put to death because, in order for the Messiah to be able to cleanse us from sin, He needed to die through means of shed blood—the Perfect Sacrifice.

            God already knew Jesus wouldn’t stay dead, even though his followers and friends on earth grieved His death as if that were the end. But there’s more to the story. (Romans 1:4)

            Resurrection! Proof Jesus was 100% God, the only One Who could rise from the dead. (Job 19:25) And that’s why Heaven is open for me, you, and anyone who asks for forgiveness of sin and invites Jesus into their hearts and lives.

            Maybe you’ve heard this explanation a thousand times. Maybe you’re reading it for the first time. You know what? For those of us who’ve embraced the Savior, this news is as exciting now as the first time we heard it!

            The eternal God was born through a human so He could shed blood through agonizing death on a cross to atone for our sins. (I John 2:2) No matter what, He’s willing and ready to forgive us. This astounds me—this wondrous Love!

One day when heaven was filled with His praises—One day when sin was as black as could be,

Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin—Dwelt among men, my example is He!

 

(refrain) Living, He love me; dying, He save me; buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely, forever—One day He’s coming: O glorious day!

 

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain—One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;

Suffering anguish, despised and rejected—Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He…

 

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer—One day the stone rolled away from the door;

Then He arose, over death He had conquered—Now is ascended, my Lord ever more…

 

(refrain) Living, He love me; dying, He save me; buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely, forever—One day He’s coming: O glorious day!

 

(from hymn “One Day” by J. Wilbur Chapman, 1910, public domain)

 

#Christmas #Easter #ResurrectionJesusChrist #blood #Redeemer #Trinity #sin