| No doubt you’ve seen an artist’s rendering of the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger. The virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus who is the Son of God. “She brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). For the first and only time in history, a baby had been born who would never arch His back and defy His mother. A child would grow up without selfishly demanding attention. A teenager would live without ever demanding His own way. A young man would honor His mother without ever being thoughtless of her. A man would live without sin and have the personal right to live on forever. God had prophesied it years before: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Billions more have been born and died since that birth in Bethlehem. |