The Christmas Story is Your Story Too

When most of us think about Christmas we think about baby Jesus born from the virgin Mary, the manger, shepherds and angels, and three Wise Men from orient far. We probably think of songs like ‘Away in the Manger’. ‘O Holy Night’, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, and ‘Joy to the World’. Our Christmas memories include presents under the tree, lights and decorations, family gatherings, and lots of food. For some Christmas is a time of loneliness and sadness.

Whatever Christmas means to you, you probably don’t associate Christmas with Abraham. But you should because Abraham, Jesus, and you are all connected by this amazing story of a miraculous virgin birth that brought the Light into the world.

The story begins with the covenant God made with Abraham. In this covenant, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. God spoke to Abraham in a vision:

“Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward”. But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezar of Damascus” . . . Then the word of the Lord came to him: This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir”. He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them”. Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15: 1, 2, 4, 5 NIV).

And:

“When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am almighty God; walk before me and be blameless. And I will make a covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly . . . As for Me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham (in Hebrew meaning ‘Father of a Multitude’); for I have made you a father of many nations” (Genesis 17: 1, 2, 4, 5 NKJV).

God’s covenant with Abraham promised that he would be the father of many nations, of multitudes. How could this be? Abraham was 99 years old and his wife Sarah not much younger and they had no son. But God fulfilled His covenant.

“And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God has spoken to him” (Genesis 21: 1, 2 NKJV).

They named him Isaac. This miraculous birth, done according to God’s covenant and in His power, would ultimately lead to the nation of Israel through Isaac’s son Jacob and his offspring. Not quite as numerous as the stars, but certainly a multitude.

Sadly, Israel rebelled against God and was taken into captivity first by the Assyrians and later the Babylonians. It seemed that God had indeed broken or abandoned His covenant with Abraham.

This is the context for Christmas, the miraculous birth of Jesus, a descendent of Abraham. Against all earthly odds, God’s covenant was fulfilled in Jesus, the Messiah. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we celebrate the Light that came into the world. But we also celebrate the faithfulness of God to His people. He has not forgotten us; we are not alone. Today there are 2.6 billion Christians in the world! He is with us; He will return.

Like Sarah, Mary conceived through the work and will of God.

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary . . . Then the angel said to her, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Joshua in Hebrew, ‘The Lord is Salvation). Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And, the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you” (Luke 1: 26, 27, 31, 34, 35 NKJV).

Jesus has brought salvation, freedom, deliverance, hope, joy, and peace to hundreds of millions of people over the ages. Much more than multitudes. God, through Jesus, “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1: 13, 14 NIV).

And God is not done. His covenant is to a thousand generations. We have yet to see the end of His work in this world.

We are alive today, freed from the power of sin and the flesh, given eternal life, and victorious over satan and his demonic realm of evil and death because God fulfilled His covenant promise to Abraham that began with the miraculous birth of Issac about 3400 years ago. This is the deeper meaning of the Christmas story. But there is more.

Are you born again? Do you know that your spiritual life is your real life? Sure, you experience the world around you through your 5 senses. But you are more than your body. You have a spirit and a soul. The soul contains your heart, and your heart is the center of who you are, the ‘control room’ of your life. Whoever controls your heart, controls you. Before you were born again, your heart was under the control of self or your flesh. You were literally in bondage, slavery really, to satan.

Now you are free. How did this happen? You were born again by water and the Spirit.

“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3: 5, 6 NIV).

And:

“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (Jesus, the seed) (1 Peter 1: 23 NIV).

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made (the covenant). He does not say, “And to seeds”, as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed” who is Christ” (Galatians 3: 16 NKJV).

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, (born again), then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3: 27 – 29 NKJV).

You were born in the same way Isaac and Jesus were born. From the will of your heavenly Father by the power of the Holy Spirit, from a spiritual seed, who is Jesus. Do you see? Jesus is not the only miraculous birth we celebrate at Christmas. Because of the birth of Jesus, we celebrate your own miraculous spiritual birth. God’s faithfulness to His covenant has been fulfilled in YOU! You are a child of the covenant.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1: 12, 13 NKJV).

Issac was conceived through a holy, supernatural seed. Jesus was conceived in the same way. And you, if you were born again, the very same seed gave you new life. You have the spiritual DNA of Abraham, his descendants, Jesus, and even Paul.

Because God made a covenant with an itinerant sheep and goat herder, miraculously gave his wife a son; because God did not abandon His covenant and gave virgin Mary a Son named Jesus; and because of God’s miraculous birth for each of us – you are saved. You are a child of God, filled with the light and life of Jesus, if you live a repentant life in the power of the Holy Spirit. All the joy, peace, power, faith, and authority God gave Jesus is available to you, in Christ, as a child of the King!

You are passionately, unswervingly, and deeply loved by Jesus, the Son; your heavenly Father, God; and the Holy Spirit. Celebrate and enjoy this Christmas season – but take time to thank God for your ‘virgin’ birth. That is why the Christmas story is your story too.