“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (Read verses 1-18)

God did the most amazing thing: we, being totally dead in our sins and unable to please God or come to Him, God sent His only begotten Son (the eternal Word, true God with the Father and Holy Spirit, the Creator of all things visible and invisible) into His own creation as a man to redeem mankind and give us life!

God’s Son became flesh – a true man with flesh and bones and blood, like you and me – when He was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary through the miraculous working of God’s Spirit. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….”

Yet Jesus was not only a man, for the Apostle John writes: “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father….” John and the other disciples witnessed Jesus’ glory in His mighty miracles, in His glorious transfiguration, and in His resurrection and ascension. There is no cause to doubt – Jesus is the very Son of God come into this world a true man.

Jesus is “full of grace and truth.” In Jesus, we see the fullness of God’s grace toward us sinners. In Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, God’s undeserved love reached down and provided a way of salvation for lost mankind; and, in Jesus, God still reaches down to us lost and condemned sinners, offering us forgiveness of sins and life everlasting through faith in Jesus’ name.

In this sin-darkened world, God’s truth has been revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the truth – only in Him is there forgiveness and life everlasting! He is “the way, the truth, and the life” and no one comes to the Father but through faith in Him (John 14:6; Cf. Acts 4:12).

O eternal God, our heavenly Father, we thank you for the gracious gift of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and the only true way to life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from the King James Version of the Bible]

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 (Read Luke 2:1-20)

Far more than a quaint story, these verses from Luke, chapter two, describe a historical event which occurred at a real time and in a real place. It happened in the days of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Cyrenius was the governor of Syria.

Though Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, the ancient prophet foretold the birthplace of Messiah to be in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2ff.); and God, in His divine providence, moved Caesar Augustus to take a census at just the right time, making it necessary for Joseph and his espoused wife to be in Bethlehem when the days were fulfilled for Mary to bring forth her firstborn son.

When Messiah Jesus was born and laid in a manger, an angel announced His birth to shepherds living a field nearby and keeping watch over their flock by night. The heavenly messenger brought them good tidings of great joy for all people; for that very day in Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior was born, the Messiah, the LORD (Jehovah) Himself in human flesh.

And, as the angel choir said in its hymn of praise, this child brought about peace between God and man and God’s good will toward sinful man. How would this be? Christ Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of God’s holy law for us, and He suffered and died on the cross and paid in full the just punishment for the sins of the world that God might have mercy upon us and graciously forgive our sins when we look to His Son in faith for pardon and peace!

Having heard these things, the shepherds were not content to go back to their work of guarding the flock; they went to see the things of which the angel had told them. And, they found it just as the angel had said. They found Mary and Joseph and, with them, the Christ Child lying in a manger.

Nor did the shepherds keep the good news to themselves; they told everyone — they made known abroad — what the angel had told them concerning this Child born in Bethlehem. Mary herself treasured up the words of the shepherds concerning her Son and pondered them in her heart.

When the shepherds returned to their flock, they were glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, which was just as the angel had told them. They were rejoicing in God’s gift of a Savior who would redeem them and give them a place in God’s eternal kingdom.

Of course, these events in history have great significance for each and every one of us today. God’s own Son was born in Bethlehem on that historic day. His birth is good tidings of great joy to us as well, for He is the long-promised Messiah, the LORD God Himself; and He went to the cross for the sins of the world — for the sins of each of us — and He rose again in victory that each and every one of us might have forgiveness for all our sins and life eternal through faith in Him!

O dearest Jesus, we thank you for coming into this world a true man — that babe born in Bethlehem — and going to the cross to redeem us and make us Your own. Move us to take the time to see, to worship and to spread abroad the good news of Your salvation. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]