O, The Wonder of it All!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).

As is my custom, I am presently listening to what I believe is the greatest musical composition ever written, Handel’s Messiah, composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741. I make it a point at this time of the year to listen to it in its entirety, all two and one half hours of it.

The lyrics of the Messiah are word for word passages from the 1611 King James Bible. The music is Handel’s creation. Together they are marvelous! As I listen, I sense the Spirit of God speaking to my heart from the declamatory opening chorus “Behold the Lamb of God” to the very last word and note.

I was listening to the composition during a trip to town and back this afternoon. What was playing as I pulled back into my driveway was the verse that is listed above. I don’t know how much attention you have personally paid to that verse, be it as you read it in scripture or hear it in song. It is precise and profound and demands our attention.

What we celebrate on Christmas Day is the fact that, “A Child is Born to Us.” Note that the Son is not born, He has been given. The Child, the baby, the earthly dwelling of God Almighty comes into existence. Having been conceived by the Holy Spirit in a virgin’s womb and then, in the fullness of time, coming forth into the world through the wonder of natural birth. This baby has never existed before. This baby will grow in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). The Son has been eternally in existence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The eternally existent Son is now manifested in a brand new way, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This is Immanuel, the God who is now with us (Isaiah 7:14. Matthew 1:23).

This is the wonder of the Incarnation. This baby is at the same moment fully human and fully divine. The fullness of Deity dwells in this infant. Suckling at Mary’s breast, in that stable is the Son of God! One of the earliest titles given to Mary was theotokos, literally “the mother of God.” Not that Mary has given birth to God almighty but that Mary has given birth to the only begotten Son of God.

My friends, do not let the wonder of this story escape your notice. Let it place you on your knees before the manger. How easy it is to get familiar with the constituent elements of the story and lose the wonder of it all. Stop what you are doing, take time to breathe it in once again and be filled with the speechless wonder of what took place in Bethlehem. Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth, entered human history to redeem those created in His image from the wages of sin that we inherited from Adam and Eve when they fell in the Garden of Eden. He was born, He lived, He died, and He rose again. “This is the promise

hat He Himself made to us: eternal life” (I John 2:25). This is what Christmas is all about!