The Wonder of Jesus

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas. For many, the next two days will be filled with gifts, food, family, friends, and joy. For some there will be busyness and hurrying to relatives homes and making sure all the last minute things are taken care of. And there will be the danger that we forget about Jesus in the midst of it all. We run the risk of forgetting about Christ at Christmas.
In the first chapter of Matthew we read of how an angel came to Joseph in a dream announcing that a child had been supernaturally conceived in Mary. Matthew reminds us that this was done in fulfillment of a prophecy given over 700 years before this time when Isaiah wrote, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). The name Immanuel means "God with us." That is why Jesus came: to be God with us. To be God in human flesh.
The Apostle John would  later write that Jesus "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Jesus has always been all God, but a little over 2,000 years ago Jesus became all man. Jesus was all God and at the same time all man: 100% God and 100% man with two distinct natures in one person in a way that is beyond our  comprehension.
And Jesus becoming man and taking on humanity was necessary for Him to "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus came to save His people by dying on the cross in their place and for their sins. Jesus had to become a man to do this because it took someone that was fully human to be man's substitute. If He was to die for man, He had to be a man. But it also took one that was fully God to bear the full weight of God's wrath against sin. Salvation could not have been accomplished unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that while man owed it, only God could pay it. So the one that would "save His people from their sins" had to be both man and God.
This Christmas don't get lost in the busyness of the season. Get lost in the wonder of the salvation that Jesus came to provide. Get lost in the greatness of our Savior who took on human flesh so that He could save His people from their sins.