The Christmas Story

Galatians 4:4, 5 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law…

The story starts with God.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Everything is perfect, beautiful, and right.  Man and woman are naked and not ashamed, fully in tune with the beautiful world around them, with each other, and with God.  Everything is good, very good.

And then sin enters.  Satan comes, armed only with lies, flattery, and questions about God, His love and truthfulness.  Man takes the bait and quits on God, going for the gusto instead, and falls farther than anyone ever could have imagined.  For this one sin, there is a stupendous price to pay.  Man, woman, the serpent and the world pass into the dark shadow of the curse. Man is expelled from God’s garden, God’s presence, and his close, harmonious relationship with God plunges into distance and dissonance.

You might think this is the end of the story.  It is not.  The Bible does not only have 3 chapters.

God doesn’t let it rest here.  He does not leave man trashed and trapped in the consequences of his lust, pride, and foolish naiveté.  God begins a cosmic rescue operation.  It will be a long story, because it is a big and complicated problem.

Man did not take God seriously, so God demonstrates that He is righteous and holy, that He means what He says.

Man thinks he can fix it, so God gives a Law that makes it clear that we simply can’t be good enough ourselves.

And then, at just the right time, when all the preparations are completed and the stage is set, when the fruit is ripened and ready to be picked, when the bride is ready to walk down the aisle, God sends His Son.  He sends His Son to rescue men from their sin and all its tragic and terminal consequences.  “…You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21).

To save men, the rescuer must be a man, so he is “born of a woman.”  The rescuer will save by substituting himself for the men slated to die an eternal death.  Only as a man could he be a viable substitute for other men.

Yet to save men, the rescuer must be God, for only infinite God could step up to absorb the infinite wrath of God incurred because of human sin.  So it is God’s Son, very  God, who is born of a woman to become the God-man.

And this Rescuer, this Substitute, must keep the law perfectly throughout his human existence or else when He comes to die, He would have to die for his own sin, rather than for the sins of those whom he came to save.  So as man he is born under the law (rather than over the law, as God himself is).  The law has requirements upon him (Thou shalt, Thou shalt not), but Jesus keeps the commandments, every one, in every way, all the time.

So Jesus, the Rescuer, comes to redeem men who are guilty, hopeless and helpless.

This is the Christmas Story.