What is the heart of the Christmas story?
Ask a child and he/she might say, “Presents.”
Ask a teenager and he/she might say, “Seeing my family and friends.”
Ask an adult and he/she might say, “Humility. Love. Peace. Joy.”
I’m speculating, of course, because I am not a mind reader. 🙂 I know there are some who know and can articulate what Christmas is all about.
The heart of Christmas is more than just one answer. Philippians tells us that “Jesus gave up His divine privileges (emptied himself) and he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.” Jesus ate. He drank. He worked. He slept. He relaxed-just like everybody else. And yet, He was more than just a man. From birth to death He proved His humanity. He also showed His divinity from birth to death. He controlled the wind and the waves. He healed. He turned water into wine. He brought back people from the dead.
At the heart of Christmas is the truth that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. There are some heretics who say Jesus was born human, became divine at His baptism, and then became human again before His death. That is heresy! Although we cannot grasp it, Jesus being fully God and fully man is at the center of Biblical truth. Strip Him of His divinity and He is just a man. Strip Him of His humanity and He is untouchable.
I like the way I heard it put: He who was somebody became a nobody so that we who are nobodies might in Christ become somebodies. What the church requires and what the world requires is that we would not seek to be somebodies but that we would embrace being nobodies who have found their life in Christ and Christ alone.
Be a nobody (in the real sense of the word).
I love the description in your last paragraph, Bill, and that’s one that will resonate with me from here on out. Jesus is the Somebody all of us nobodies need to truly live. Blessings!
That resonated with me as well Martha. I plan to write it down elsewhere and remember it.
Your last paragraph reminds me of a song that I really like from the Casting Crowns, called Nobody. Even though we may be a nobody to a lot of people, we are always somebody to Christ. We are someone He loved, cherished, and died for so that He could save us. Like the song says, I want to be a nobody, who tells everybody about Somebody, Who saved my soul.
I’m not familiar with their music very much, so I’m not familiar with that song Gail, but I do like the message it gives. Thanks for sharing that with us.