Every year around Christmas, so many people see the depiction of the Baby in a manger and celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth. But, have you ever given thought to where He was prior to being born in the manger?
As the Son of God, He didn’t just begin to exist at that point in the account. The title “Son of God” doesn’t mean that He was God’s baby son, who had just been created, in the sense that we people would have a son. In the era which the Bible was written, having the term “Son of (someone)” applied to you, could mean that you weren’t necessarily the physical son of that person, but that you shared the same characteristics or attributes with that individual. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is an eternal being and a part of something wholly unique apart from our realm of experience. The Bible says that this was actually God, stepping down into our timeline to take on the form of human flesh to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, which is live a life free from sin, so that He could offer Himself as a sacrifice to die on the cross on our behalf and take the punishment we deserve, if only we’ll accept His free gift of Grace. What makes it so hard for many people is that they think THEY have to do something to work their way into Heaven. There is no way to do it on our own, so we must get over ourselves (and “religion”) to understand that it has already been done for us, if we’ll just receive what He has already done on the cross for us!
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is part of an entity called the Trinity: Father, Son & Holy Spirit. It’s a hard concept to grasp, as it is unknown in our created state. Remember, what we’re describing is the creation trying to understand the Creator. In the Bible, which has never been proven to have any errors, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all called God, individually. They have distinct roles and are distinct persons, yet they are all the same one God.
Here is the best parallel that I’ve ever heard to describe the Trinity: We’ll start with a bowl of water. From that water inside the bowl, you can take some of the water and freeze it and it will become ice. You can take some of the water and heat it and it will become vapor. So, the same water now exists in three different forms (liquid, ice and vapor) and it can do three different things, yet it is still the same water. So, for this analogy, you could say the Father is liquid, the Son is ice and the Holy Spirit is vapor, yet they are all still the same God, or water in this description.
There are multiple instances in the Old Testament, where the Son of God came down and interacted with people. These are called Christophanies, which are pre-incarnate (before He became the Baby Jesus in the manger) visitations from God the Son to the people on Earth. According to Scripture, the eternal Son of God was the Creator of the universe. (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16 & Hebrews 1:2) So, “Baby Jesus” was obviously very busy before being born in Bethlehem, over 2,000 years ago.
The greatest gift is not the one that you’ll find under your Christmas tree, waiting to be opened. It’s one that has already found you and is available to anyone who humbles themself and agrees to accept it. This gift is already open: His arms were stretched out on the cross just for you. Receive your true gift this Christmas!