Nuggets for Life in the Christmas Story

Stumbling across a Miracle of Christmas audio (I have lots of alone time with my husband deployed), I thought it would be simply another version of the well-known Christmas story: an angel appeared to a virgin (Mary), she became pregnant without sleeping with her soon-to-be husband, and they have the baby in a dirty stable because no inns had any room for them. While those highlights are true, I am so refreshed at having found new nuggets of truth in a very old, very familiar, story. And it’s not simply a story, it’s history.

Jesus really is part-human and part-divine

Do you ever wonder how Jesus could be “fully God, yet fully man”? I’ve heard this said so many times, and it’s almost a cliché in some groups. But, how is that possible?

This question often remains unanswered, and while not a difficult topic, is critical to my core beliefs as I label myself a Christian. If I can’t explain this concept, I can’t explain why I believe anything else about my life.

After listening to this, I better understand how Jesus could be both human and God at the same time; how the Holy Spirit inseminated Mary in an incredible way. It’s not dark and weird like so many movie rituals we see where women are chained and violated mercilessly against their will. The Bible uses the words “overshadow” and “come upon” (The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you – Luke 1:35).

I’m an animal person, so this analogy resonated with me – if you’re not, you might Google and read a little more about it. When horses are bred, it’s called “cover” – the stallion “covers” the mare. The idea here is similar. The word overshadow literally means “to cast shade or a shadow on, which leaves a natural result” (ref: BibleHub). It really was a supernatural insemination, not in the way we understand it. Mary’s egg was used, so Jesus would be fully man, but she was inseminated by God’s Holy Spirit, so Jesus would also be fully God.

Why is the virgin birth so critical?

It is paramount that Jesus be born with God as His Father, because that’s the only way He would be born sinless. If Joseph or any human had been his father, he would have been born with the original sin that came down through the man Adam. It is essential to our Christian faith that Jesus be born without sin, without being a slave to the devil, otherwise His death and resurrection would not be sufficient to deliver us from sin and eternal death. This would be why the devil kept tempting Jesus His whole life to try and get him to sin – who was in every sense tempted like we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 MSG). At His crucifixion, He was spotless and blameless, so a true and adequate sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world.

Know what you believe

In this Christmas story, I’m learning the importance of Mary first believing what she was told by the angel and then becoming so full of joy that she rejoices –

“And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

And Mary said, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord.'”

– What you believe matters, what I believe matters! I know this to some degree – I mean, sure, what I believe affects my faith and life’s doctrine, but even more, what I believe spurs my emotions and feelings. When my emotions betray me, it signals a weakness in what I believe. I’ve said this to myself a few times to really let that sink in. Sometimes I struggle with my own situation of trying for years to have a baby, and wondering, “do I really have faith for God to give me miracle children or not?” This simple concept has made it easier for me to understand where my faith really is.  Yes, I do have days where I am sad, but overall, I’m not too worried about it. Maybe there are other areas of my life where this “tell” would be helpful in indicating to me what I really believe. I’d love some comments on this if you have any that come to mind for your own life.

I highly recommend the 43 min play on this message. There’s even more that I learned from listening to this (1.5 times!), but it’s too much to write. Be blessed this year, no matter what Christmas holds for you.

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