When Adam and Eve fell from grace, God promised that a Redeemer would someday be born on earth and through the centuries this promise was renewed. In the fulness of time, God fulfilled His word. Christmas is our celebration of this most wonderful miracle — the eternal, uncreated, pre-existent Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, was born in human form. The Creator of all life fit Himself into creaturehood. The eternal God fit Himself into time.
Why did God do this?
1. To Fulfill the Promises of God
As we have seen, from Genesis and throughout the Old Testament, promises were made by God of a coming Redeemer: of His birth, His life, His atoning death, His resurrection, His ascension to glory and His return. God cannot lie nor can He ever fail to fulfill any word He has spoken.
As Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, he testified that Jesus went to the cross, By the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23). Christ’s sacrificial death was proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before the birth of Jesus (in Isaiah 53). In that same sermon Peter quoted David’s prophetic words from Psalm 16:10, that the Holy One would not undergo decay — would triumph over death.
As Paul reminds us, For all the promises of God in Him (in Christ) are Yes, and in Him Amen (2 Cor. 1:20). Jesus is born in fulfillment of the promises of God.
2. To Show Us the Father
The writer to the Hebrews testifies, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance (brightness) of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:1-3).
The phrase exact representation (or express image) is the English translation of the Greek word charakter which was used of an engraving on wood or metal, a seal stamped onto wax or an image stamped onto a coin. Just as a coin bears the stamp or impress of something, so Jesus bore the exact stamp of God’s being. Jesus reflects, radiates, expresses the glory of God, the very being of God to us and reveals the nature of God to us.
The word nature is hypostasis and can be translated essence, person or substance. Hypostasis is the real essence of something. What God essentially is, was manifest in Jesus. He is the very image of God’s substance.
Whereas the radiance of His glory refers to the outer manifestation of the life of the Father in the ministry of Jesus, the very image of His substance refers to the inner essence of the Father in Jesus. Jesus was, is and ever shall be God in substance, essence and nature.
The Apostle Paul testifies of Jesus that, He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). This word for image is eikon means copy, stamp or portrait. Jesus is the portrait of the eternal God.
Jesus said it most simply, If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him … If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father (John 14:7,9). He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me (Jn. 12:45).
We know that God the Father and God the Spirit are non-corporeal beings — Spirit-beings. But in Jesus we see the fulness, the completeness of God, as Paul reveals, For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form (Col. 2:9). All the attributes of God are present in Jesus.
Jesus was the shining revelation of God’s glory. Every time He taught the truth He was revealing the wisdom of the Father. Every time He healed a lame man, gave sight to the blind or raised the dead, He revealed the power of the Father. Every time He cast out a demon, He revealed the authority of the Father. Every time He forgave sin, He revealed the mercy of the Father. Every time He pronounced woe upon His persecutors, He revealed the righteous judgment of the Father.
Also, in the sinless purity of His life, Jesus revealed the perfect holiness of the Father. Regarding the holiness of Jesus, Peter said, Who committed no sin nor was any deceit found in His mouth ( I Ptr. 2:22).
The writer to the Hebrews reveals, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin (Hebr. 4:15).
The Apostle Paul testifies, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus asked His persecutors, Which one of you convicts Me of sin? (Jn. 8:46). No one answered, for there was no sin in Him.
As the hour of the cross approached, Jesus testified of Himself, The ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me (Jn. 14:30). Even the devil could find no point of accusation against the sinless Jesus.
Even one of the most corrupt judges in history, Pontius Pilate, said, I find no guilt in this man (Lk. 23:4). Even Christ’s betrayer, Judas Iscariot said, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood (Matt. 27:4).
Jesus was born to show us the Father and in Christ we see the wisdom of the Father, the power and authority of the Father, the mercy and justice of the Father. We see the perfect holiness and purity of the Father. Jesus is the revelation of the glory of God in human form, though that glory was veiled in Christ’s first appearance. When He comes again, the full glory of God will be on display.
3. To Be Our High Priest and Holy Sacrifice
In the Old Testament, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat as atonement for the sins of the people. Jesus was born to be our great High Priest who offered Himself to God as the holy Sacrifice for our sins: Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation (appeasement, satisfaction) for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:14).
Jesus had to be born in human form so that He could be the holy Substitute for human sinners. He had to be divine in order to bear the full weight of sin and the eternal judgment of God on sinners. He had to be sinless in order to be the unblemished, spotless, innocent Lamb of God who bears our sins. Therefore the writer to the Hebrews says, For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself (Hebr. 7:26,27).
4. To Redeem Us From Sin
When Joseph was troubled by Mary’s pregnancy, the angel testified to him, She will bear a Son and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).
When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Jesus testified of Himself, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
The Apostle John testified of this, And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins (I John 3:5)
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (I Tim. 1:15).
Jesus took on our humanity so that as a human being, He could serve as a perfect atoning sacrifice for the debt incurred by human sin. A divine nature was required to make the sacrifice perfectly sufficient, for only God could bear the full weight of human sin and curse and the fulness of God’s eternal wrath against sin. Who but the God / Man could take upon Himself the immeasurable weight of the totality of human sin and the eternity of God’s judgment against sin? Therefore, Jesus, fully Man and fully God, offered a perfect sacrifice, sufficient, eternal, of infinite value for who will turn from sin and turn in faith to Christ. It was the perfect sacrifice because as a man, Jesus lived a perfect, sinless human life and as God, He offered that perfect life as a perfect sacrifice to atone for all sin.
It was an eternally effective sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus is unique and sufficient because of His eternal, divine nature, making it a one-time event that atones for sins forever, But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebr. 9:10,11).
But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God (Hebr. 10:12). Jesus was born to redeem us from sin.
5. To Destroy the Works of the Devil
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8). The works of the devil are to tempt people to sin and then accuse them before God; to bind people in demonic oppression and fear and shame and depravity; to enslave people to a fear of death; to persecute God’s church from without and plant false teachers within.
The writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus took human form and died an atoning death to break the power of the one who had bound humanity: Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives (Hebrews 2:14,15).
Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah, Surely our griefs (sickness) He Himself bore, and our sorrows (pains) He carried (Isa. 53:4). Jesus, in His atoning sacrifice, bore our grief /sickness, our sorrows / pains, as the Apostle Peter testifies, And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed (I Ptr. 2:24).
Jesus took upon Himself the curse that came upon us because of our sinful inability to obey God’s law, as it is written, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).
Jesus destroyed the works of the devil by taking upon Himself, on the cross our sin, our curse and all the brokenness of our sinful humanity and as the God / Man, He died the death that should have been ours.
Paul testifies, When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him (Col. 2:13-15).
The certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us refers to our sin which was placed on Jesus on the cross. Often, the crimes of a crucified criminal were nailed to the cross and in figurative language, Paul says that our sins were placed on Jesus. This has the effect of disarming the rulers and authorities — Satan and the powers of darkness. Our sins are forgiven in Christ and therefore the powers of darkness have nothing more with which to accuse us.
Jesus understood the cross as His place of victory over Satan and in the days approaching the cross He said, Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out (Jn. 12:31). Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
6. To reconcile us to God:
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-19).
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Col. 1:19,20).
Our sin separated us from God and to die in this state of separation results in life lived apart from God forever in the hell of absolute separation from God. But through faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, we are redeemed from sin and reconciled to God forever.
7. To Prepare a Holy People for His Return
Christ, also having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him (Heb. 9:28).
When the high priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat, the people waited expectantly for his return. When he reappeared, the people knew that the sacrifice for his sin and theirs had been accepted by God. Surely that resulted in great rejoicing.
How much greater our joy at the return of our great High Priest. He entered heaven’s Holy of Holies, presented His blood as the sacrifice for our sin and has promised to return, but without reference to sin. The sin problem has been dealt with. When He returns, it is for a church that has been made ready to spend eternity with Him.
How are we made ready for the second coming of Christ? Faith in the blood of Christ released God’s forgiveness to us, reconciled us to God and enabled the righteousness of Christ to be applied to our lives.
Now as we yield to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the Lord progressively works His holy likeness into our lives. Paul reminds us, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren (Rom. 8:29). It is our destined to become conformed to the image of Jesus.
Only God can do this but He does as we yield and cooperate with Him in the discipline of the holy life. Paul exhorts us, Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phlp. 2:12,13). Paul proclaims, And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified (Rom. 8:30).
These whom He called refers to God awakening us to repentance and saving faith.
He also justified refers to God declaring us to be just, righteous, through faith in Christ’s sacrifice.
These whom He justified, He also glorified refers to our resurrection and perfection in the heaven. And though we are not yet in heaven, Paul uses a past tense verb — He also glorified. Our future glorification is so certain that Paul speaks as though it has already taken place. Our future is certain, it is established in heaven, For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebr 10:14).
Jesus appeared to prepare a people, Holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Col. 1:22).
The goal is that He will someday, Present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27).
(Jude 1:28)
Jesus is returning for a holy people and we celebrate with our brother Jude, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:224,25).
In summary, Jesus was born,
1. To Fulfill the Promises of God
2. To Show Us the Father
3. To Be Our High Priest and Holy Sacrifice
4. To Put Away Sin
5. To Destroy the Works of the Devil
6. To reconcile us to God:
7. To Prepare a Holy People for His Second Coming
We might illustrate the reason for the birth of Christ with this simple, imaginary story:
As God the Father beheld the universe He had created in loving partnership with His Son and with the Holy Spirit, He wondered, “How can I express my love for my Son? What can I give Him — He owns the universe? Ah, I will give Him the one gift He does not possess — a Bride who will love Him forever.”
And so the Father created Adam and Eve, gave them the capacity to know Him and His Son, to experience their love for them and love them in return. But in order for this to be an authentic love relationship, these beautiful human creatures were given a free will. They were free to experience God’s love for them, free to refuse His love; free to love Him, free to withhold their love.
The Lord knew that this freedom would eventually be misused, knew that the human creatures would in time reject their Creator and in this separation, would create their death. The Son said, “Father, in the fulness of time I will take their form onto Myself, I will enter time and creation and I will take upon Myself their sin, their death — anything that would ever separate them from Me.”
So it was — the Son was born as a human being though still Son of God — the God / Man. He showed the people the heart of their Creator, His kindness and mercy, His justice and holiness. Most of the people rejected Him. They beat Him and nailed Him to a cross. But there on that cross He bore their sins, their betrayal, their curse, bore the judgment which should have been theirs. He died their death. He took upon Himself everything that could ever separate them from Himself.
Then the Father vindicated this amazing sacrifice by raising His Son from the dead, exploded death from the inside out. Now this risen Lord calls to Himself all who will believe in Him. He calls us to His banqueting table, spreads His banner of love over us and awakens us to our true identity — we are the everlasting Bride of the Bridegroom Messiah.
This is why Jesus was born.