More than a Babe

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

I want to wrap up my 2014 Christmas thoughts with one more thing about baby Jesus. That’s how we mostly think of Jesus at Christmas, isn’t it? A babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. But we must never forget that He came on a mission: to be the perfect sacrifice so that your sins and my sins could be taken away.

Those little baby hands that reached out to Mary and helped Joseph in the family craftsman business, were later hammered with nails to a cruel cross. His little feet that stumbled while learning to walk and later walked the dusty roads of Israel, would eventually walk up Golgotha and be brutishly nailed to a cross. That little little face so adored by His parents, would be beaten, bruised, spat upon, and adorned with a crown of thorns. The precious body of the baby so carefully wrapped and lovingly laid in a manger, would be pierced. 

Dear Christ follower, Jesus came as the substitute in death for your sins — never forget that! It has become critical for us to affirm that great doctrine. He was not, as liberal theology and some emerging churches teach, simply a martyr for God’s cause or merely an example of God’s love. His death made it possible that we could live with, and live for, God. 

No wonder the shepherds and wise men came to worship Him. Let’s do the same! 

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 [New Living Translation - 2nd Edition]