
Before ever there was the town of Bethlehem, there was the One and Only Unique Son of God. The life of Christ did not commence in a crude farm stable.
The story of Christ’s birth is all about the awesome wonder that the eternal Son of God stepped into the span of time that governs planet Earth. Christ’s birth is about the arrival on our planet of our Creator. He came down from heaven to be our Savior. The Son of God became what He never was before (a human) but never ceased being what He always was — God.
The biographies that make best-sellers are the rags-to-riches stories — from poverty to wealth; from obscurity to fame. But the story of Christ becoming a man showcases the complete opposite trajectory. The Sovereign of the universe became an infant. The mighty God stepped into a human body and was born in a little Bethlehem stable. While a poor young mother held the newborn child, He upheld the world.
His companions were not the elite nobility of Earth. His entourage consisted of broken hearts He had mended, weakened bodies He had healed and broken lives He had salvaged and transformed. Rarely did He dine at tables sumptuously spread — fish and bread were His common food.
Second Corinthians 8:9 says it beautifully: Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.
The story some call the Christmas story does not start in Bethlehem.
His riches-to-poverty story is not yet over. He was to stoop down even further. From the brightness of heaven He travelled — all the way to the darkness of the old rugged cross.