The Glory of God in the Birth of Christ

God reveals several of His attributes in the birth of Jesus Christ. While I post this writing at a time when the world celebrates that glorious occasion when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14), my hope is that by reminding ourselves of the glory of God, we shall be encouraged to cling to Him with greater trust—for I believe that this is what is critically needed in the Church in the times we are living in. Though there would be several attributes that we could glean from scripture, I list out just six.

The first attribute that is revealed of our glorious God is that He is eternal and omniscient. God made known through the prophets of the Old Testament precisely what He was going to do to redeem man from their sins. As far back as to Adam and Eve, nearly 4000 years before the birth of Christ, God declared how Jesus would crush the head of the serpent though He Himself would be bruised (Gen. 3:15). From then on God showed this to other men down the ages—to Abraham and Moses and David and Isaiah and Daniel and many others. The word that came to these men, hundreds or sometimes thousands of years before it actually happened described exactly every detail with absolute precision—the Messiah’s virgin birth, His name, the place of His birth, the day and even the time of His sacrifice as the Lamb of God. Scripture even revealed details of what would happen at the time of His death—the mocking, the plucking of His beard, the tunic He wore, the gall He was given and even the fact that not a bone in His body would be broken—it all happened precisely just as God revealed so many hundreds of years before it happened.

The point I am making is this: We serve a God who is eternal. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows precisely what is to happen, how and when. Nothing takes God by surprise. Nothing is hidden from Him. What is more—He knows exactly what He wants to do well in advance and is fully capable of carrying out His purpose just as He desires.

God is encouraging us to trust in Him with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding. He invites us by saying, “Acknowledge Me as the One who knows your tomorrows and as One who is fully able to direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5, 6). I ask that the Church would be so trusting; in Him who can do a better job at directing our steps and our decisions without any mistake. May this character of God encourage us to hold nothing back but lean on Him completely. The God we believe in has our future safe in His hands.

The second attribute of God that is revealed in the birth of Christ is His unchanging, faithful character. Simeon waited for the fulfilment of God’s promises even though God was silent for nearly 400 years after last speaking through Malachi. Simeon knew God to be unfailing. He knew that God is dependable and trustworthy. God rewarded Simeon’s faith by revealing to Him that he would not see death until he saw the salvation of God (Lk. 2:25-32). 

Ever so often we go through times when it appears as though God is doing nothing. God’s silence perplexes us. It’s as though our prayers are in vain. The fact is that God neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is working even now (Jn. 5:17; Php. 2:13). Just because we do not see answers to our prayers at the time we ‘expect’ does not mean God is doing nothing. His word assures our hearts that the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry (Psa. 34:15).

The third attribute of God that we see in the birth of Christ is the limitless power of the Almighty. Never in the history of mankind has anyone ever been born of a virgin, save Jesus Christ. Mary herself asked the most expected question that any person would ask (Lk. 1:34). The answer to her is the answer to us too. “With God nothing will be impossible” (Lk. 1:37). Our Lord Jesus said the same thing in another context. “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God” (Lk. 18:27). 

We know and have confessed with our mouths that nothing is too hard for God. We sing songs with our lips that proclaim, “Nothing! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Nothing is too difficult for Thee.” Yet when it comes to dealing with our problems, we rely on our wisdom, our strength and our abilities. We run to people. We rely on the strength of horses and on princes (Isa. 31:1). God invites us saying, “You know that I am the King of Glory. Will you make me the King of your life? Would you let My rule and will have jurisdiction over your every decision?” Can we trust God’s leadership? Can we lean on His mighty power? Can we give Him control over our choices and decisions and say to Him in all sincerity, “I want Thee O King to have Thy way in my life. May Thy will alone be done”?

You know, when the Lord Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and dine with him,” He was not speaking to unbelievers. I have often heard Christians use this verse to tell the unsaved that God is waiting for us to open the door of our hearts to Him. While it is true that the Lord is waiting for all men to respond to His mercy and love, the appeal that our resurrected Lord made was to a Church. He was telling those whom He had saved and cleansed and redeemed, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” Are we like the Laodiceans where the King is ‘outside’ and not permitted to govern our lives? Where we have control over our decisions and imply indirectly to God, “Let me make all these important decisions, dear God. What I would like You to do however is bless my efforts. Do the extraordinary and sit quietly in the background as I give Thee my praise.” I wish it were not so, but I fear that many in the Church are like the Laodiceans. They are neither cold nor hot. They think that they are rich and wealthy and have need of nothing but fail to see that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked (Rev. 3:15-17).

The fourth attribute of God that is seen in the birth of Jesus Christ is the fact that God is Sovereign, protective and caring. King Herod tried everything within his power to get rid of Jesus. He tried first with trickery to extract information from the magi. He then flew into a rage and used his power to kill innocent children in his attempt to destroy Jesus (Mt. 2:7-16). Yet through it all, God kept Jesus safe. There was no harm or danger that could ever touch Him.

God in like manner tells us that He is our fortress when we make Him our refuge. He is our Shield. He is our Defender. Hebrews 13:6 says, “…What can man do to me?” Psalm 91:1 tells us that God will cover us with the shadow of His wings when we make Him our shelter. I once shared this example with a congregation of saints. I said that the Prime Minister of a country is surrounded by special highly trained security guards. They are his shield and his defender. When this important person is in danger, he does not take it upon himself to defend his life. He trusts his security who is his shield and defender to take care of that. Why then do we say to God, “You are my fortress,” and still seek ways to protect ourselves. 

May God give us the faith to rest in His love and care, just like Jesus who slept at the back of a tossed boat in the midst of a raging storm surrounded by threatening situations. Seasoned fishermen feared for their lives, but our Lord rested securely in the love of His Father (Mt. 8:23-27).

There is another attribute that we often tend to ignore. This happens because we allow our physical senses to determine what is real and reliable. The truth is that though God is invisible to our senses, He is more real and more near to us than we can ever imagine. At the time of our Lord’s birth, shepherds were watching their flock by night. The Bible first tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to them (Lk. 2:8, 9). The angel was there. They just did not know it until their eyes were opened to see him. Later in that chapter we are told that “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God” (Lk. 2:13). This multitude of angels was there with the first angel. It is just that the shepherds could not see them. When Jacob met the Lord at Bethel he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Gen. 28:16)

May God open the eyes of our heart to recognise that though He is invisible to us, He is ever present. His word is true when He said, “I will never leave you nor will I forsake you. (Heb. 13:5)” It wasn’t exaggeration when He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20) We need to believe it and cling to this unseen God for in Him lies our safety and our help.

Finally, the attribute that we are all so familiar with is God’s love. The oft quoted verse, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” is not just for our wall posters. It is the very demonstration of God’s love—that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). In that is God’s love over us that endures forever (Psa. 136). In it is His love that never fails. Through that love we understand that nothing can separate us from God. His love for us is inseparable (Rom. 8:39). His love is also boundless or immeasurable or fathomless (Eph. 3:18).

Why then are you afraid O my soul. Why do you tremble within? Rest in Him for His love just goes on and on and never stops. Lean on Him who is dependable and trustworthy for He never fails. Cling to Him tightly and firmly for though His love is inseparable, it is easy for thee to stray. Know that you can cast your cares on Him because He cares for you (1Pet. 5:7).

I have written all the above attributes of God that we may believe in Him and let that faith in the person of God affect our very life, our decisions and our choices. How sad it is when we hear the word and take no action. It is like the seed that either falls to the ground, or on rocky ground or among thorns. I sometimes tell my hearers that we expect that every child will grow with each passing year—from infant to toddler to young boy to grown boy and then to manhood. If this growth does not take place we call this abnormal yet how complacent we are not to apply the same standards in the Church. How sad when men and women sit with the Church for years and are still not able to move beyond the milk phase. How sad that they are not ready for solid food (Heb. 5:12). 

Our Lord Jesus gave us a very solemn warning in a story He narrated in Luke 13:6-9. It should shake us from our slumber and bring us to our knees in repentance lest after years of toil and labour in the Father’s garden we should be found to have leaves only, bearing no fruit. Our High Priest, who intercedes for us, says “Sir, let it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.” He who has ears to hear, let him hear.