The Lord Jesus Christ did not begin at Bethlehem. He is the eternal Son of the living God! He, with the Father and the Spirit, has always been. Yet He took a body – a real, human body (Hebrews 10:5). That body would only walk this earth for thirty-three and a half years, but what an impact the God-Man would make…

• In that body He would live a perfect life and fulfill all righteousness. 
• On that body He would take the sins of the whole world and the wrath of God.
• Through that body He would secure a full salvation for those who will receive Him.
• With that body He would rise from the dead and ascend back to the Father.

What a body! What a Savior! Scripture does not tell us what He looked like – the emphasis of the Word is not on the physical, but on what was accomplished in that holy body.

At this time of year we especially pause to consider the way in which Christ came into our world. Isaiah 9:6 prophesied, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…”

Think of it: He not only came in a body, He came as a baby! Why did the son have to come as a child?

Adam, which means “son of God,” came into the world as a full-grown man. The second Adam, the Son of God, came as an infant. Obviously, this was a fulfillment of prophecy, but ponder some of the reasons the mighty Christ would come as a baby…

1. For the miracle of the virgin birth. From the beginning, His was a miraculous life! The miracles of Christ cannot be confined to His three and a half year public ministry. Never before and never since has a child entered the world in this manner. His arrival reveals much about the uniqueness of Christ. He is the One and Only.
2. For the purpose of revealing His humanity. The Son of God came as Son of Man. Not in strength but in weakness. Not in grandeur but in gentleness. Not in forcefulness but in tenderness. 
3. To experience ALL human seasons and suffering. Remember that our High Priest is “touched with the feelings of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). Though cut off earlier than most, His life was a whole life, a complete experience of human existence. He who was all God, was also all Man. In the unseen, untold years of His life He experienced all of the challenges of growth and temptations of youth.
4. To reveal to us more fully His nature as Son. “Unto us a son is given.” Mary’s son? Yes, but not Joseph’s son. He is the “only begotten Son” (John 3:16). The term speaks of eternal generation – not a word of beginning but of nature. He is the Son of the Father.
5. To show the power and perfect preservation of God. Isaiah 9:6 goes on to say, “…the government shall be upon his shoulder.” He would be kept through all of Herod’s hatred and all of Satan’s schemes to the moment of God’s choosing.He who would take the iniquity of every wayward sheep, came first as a little Lamb (Isaiah 53:6-7). The all-wise God chose the perfect time and place of our Lord’s birth and death. And He also chose the means – Jesus came as a baby. That little child was “the mighty God” in a human body! 

   Soon the Lord Jesus Christ will return in that same body. And He has promised to give a new body to everyone of those who have trusted Him as Savior. This is the continuing miracle and eternal message of Christmas.