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The purpose of the manger was the cross.

Merry Christmas! Today, we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus!  Unfortunately, we were unable to meet last night. My goal was to briefly show how the Jewish people had been waiting for this day for hundreds of years, surveying a few key prophecies in scripture that pointed to the coming of the Messiah – both to his birth and to his life – all the while bearing witness to the perseverance they held throughout the centuries. All of this culminates at Jesus’ birth and its true purpose – a coming King to rule and a Savior to redeem his people.

Today, I want to zoom in and look at this event in more detail. This first advent is also called the incarnation, meaning, God became human in the person of Jesus Christ.

Just as we give gifts to one another on Christmas Day, so today, we celebrate the greatest gift… the ultimate gift: God gave His very own Son.

Let’s look at this gift up close so we can better appreciate its beauty and significance. Let’s look at the wrapping, wonder at its uniqueness, and marvel at how it connects to what’s contained inside.

Seeing how these two parts of the gift – the wrapping on the outside and the contents on the inside – will give us a great understanding of what the incarnation really is. And, as we unwrap it piece by piece, we will see how it applies to us today.

Outline & Passage

I – What happened?

II – Why did it happen?

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

I – What happened?

1. God became human

The incarnation happened. Again, the word incarnation literally means “becoming flesh” in Latin. The theological reality behind this word is that the eternal God, specifically the 2nd person of the Trinity, stepped into His creation and became a human being. We see this stated pretty clearly in John’s gospel:

John 1:1 ESV

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 ESV

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Of course, there is more to this, but that is what it means at the basic level. This is further verified by the way in which God became a human.

2. The virgin gave birth

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Jesus came into this world as a human by miraculous means and is the only one in human history to do so.

This is important because Jesus couldn’t have been born by normal means. If he was born via natural relations between a husband and wife, he would be fully human and not divine. He also didn’t appear out of thin air either, because then he wouldn’t be human at all. Instead, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and birthed through a human mother who was sexually pure. In this way, Jesus is fully God (having been born from above) and fully man (having been born of a human mother). He wasn’t a hybrid: 1/2 God and 1/2 man like Hercules, or some random ratio of the two. He didn’t lose any of his divinity when he stepped out of His heavenly dwelling, and the fullness of His deity didn’t diminish his humanity. That precious, tiny baby lying in the animal’s feeding trough was 100% God and 100% human.

So, putting these few verses together, we can see the testimony of scripture is that God put on human flesh by miraculous means. The eternal Word of God [Logos in Greek] became human, but not only that, he also dwelt among us. The word dwelt in this verse literally means tabernacled among us, which paints a vivid picture of the Jews in the wilderness and how God dwelt among them by making his dwelling place in the tabernacle (which was their mobile temple).

That is a beautiful picture of the incarnation and an intentional bit of imagery from John because he knew his audience well. We know that God cannot be contained by any part of His creation. We are told that the earth is His footstool, for example. Yet, in the Old Testament, we see a clear picture of His glory descending physically into and filling the tabernacle, dwelling with the Israelites in the wilderness. Likewise, God came and tabernacled among the 1st century Jews… not in the temple of wood and stone, but of the temple of the flesh.

As we will see as we go along, it is essential that we see this and understand the truth that it is God himself who stepped down from heaven, into his own creation as the anticipated Messiah.

3. The long-awaited Messiah has arrived

The virgin-born child was a son, and this son was given many names, one being the Mighty God. And this child has governmental authority. He is a King who will reign throughout the ages on the throne of David:

Isaiah 9:6–7 (ESV)

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

But being an authoritative King isn’t His only role. He also serves as a Savior. Isaiah details this role in chapter 53 of his book.

Isaiah 53:5–6 (ESV)

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

This aspect of the Messiah wasn’t as anticipated as His kingly and conquering attributes, as you can imagine, but it does speak to His ability to save, which is found in many other prophecies of scripture. Regardless of their inability to fully grasp the suffering aspect of their Messiah, The Jewish people faithfully waited for centuries because they believed that one day, this mysterious, anointed leader would rescue them from their oppressors, remove their guilt, and rule over them as their eternal King.

And finally on the first Christmas morning, at long last, this Savior had come. Freedom was within their grasp!

This is the meaning of the incarnation. This is the significance of the baby in the manger. This is who had finally arrived on the scene. This is why the Wise Men traveled so far to see Him, the shepherds in the field could joyfully engage with the angelic worship service, Simeon could go to his grave in peace by having seen God’s salvation, and the prophetess Anna could be full of Joy while looking at this child because she was looking at the very redemption of Jerusalem! God had come to rescue His people in person!

All of this is to answer the question, WHAT. We’ve inspected the gift’s wrapping piece by piece, but, we can’t fully appreciate the value of this gift until we understand why it was given the way it was given.

II – Why did it happen like this?

It’s not enough to have a head knowledge to comprehend what it is. For it to have any effect on our lives, we must also understand why. Not necessarily why it happened in general, but more specifically, why it happened the way it happened.

The answer to this question wasn’t so well known to the 1st Century Jews. They actually had a false expectation of what this Messiah would accomplish, and I don’t want us to fall into the same error. They thought He would be a military ruler who would overthrow Rome and establish His own kingdom in Jerusalem as if Israel would be the next global superpower after Rome, and that misunderstanding muddied their thinking and kept many from accepting Jesus as the Messiah. Since he didn’t fit the mold they had created for themselves, He was rejected.

 Answering the question of why it happened the way that it happened will keep us from that error, and to help us grasp the answer, I want to offer three main reasons why the incarnation occurred the way it did.

1. To be made like us

First, Jesus had to be made like you and me in order to save you and me. The author of Hebrews goes into much detail on this, but below are two main verses that sum it up pretty well:

Hebrews 2:17 ESV

¹⁷ Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Do you see how both passages reference a High Priest? In their day, a High Priest represented the nation before God. The High Priest brought the sin offerings to the temple on behalf of the people. He was their advocate and representative as a Jew from among the Jews.

Jesus, likewise, is our High Priest, but was unique in that he was both the Offerer and the offering. The author of Hebrews further explains how the blood of bulls and goats (the sacrificial offering) was never sufficient to cover all sin, but only that current sin. So, you smash your thumb with a hammer, spew a string of expletives, and therefore sin. Your offering covers that instance and only that one. If you hit your thumb and cuss again, another animal goes down.

Jesus, however, was the ultimate offering of a sinless human to cover the sins of all those who put their faith in him. How?

a. He was the offering. He lived as we live. As a human being, He was made like us in every way, tempted in every way, just like we are… but unlike us, He never sinned, and was therefore blameless and innocent. That means, He was the unblemished version of humanity that was the only appropriate sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath.

b. He was the Offerer. Experiencing life as we live it (save the sinning part), makes Him the only High Priest who can fully sympathize with us. He knows the struggles you face and the heartache sin brings. So, as He stands in the gap between God and us as High Priest, he can represent us in a fullness of compassion and understanding.

Therefore, Jesus had to be a man and experience life as we do, so that he could be the perfect sacrifice and Advocate for us as our heavenly representative.

That’s reason #1. But, baked within that reality, there is another truth we need to discuss.

2. To fulfill the law

Jesus had to fulfill the law every moment of his life for as long as he lived.

If he failed at any point, he would not be the perfect sacrifice.

One of the broad strokes of the Old Testament is that humans are completely incapable of fulfilling God’s requirements to be righteous. No one was able to live a blameless life. To be in God’s presence, we have to be sinless, and as we have proven many times over, that is the one thing we are incapable of.

Romans 8:3–4 ESV

³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

That is just one of the reasons why Jesus is such an amazing person: He did what no other human could do… live a sinless life. Just think about that for a moment. Jesus never failed to avoid what is wrong and to do what is right; every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year for 33 years! No human being could do that.

This is where His divinity becomes so essential. Why? Because no human being could do this. Only God could perfectly fulfill His own righteous requirements, and this is where Jesus’ two natures come into play.

• Jesus had to be a man to be the sacrifice for mankind.

• Jesus had to be God to live a perfect life and be the perfect sacrifice.

Being 100% God and 100% Man was necessary to complete the mission. He had to be both! This is why it had to happen the way it did. Jesus wasn’t planning on marching into Rome and overthrowing Cesar and the Roman government. That was not how he was going to establish His kingdom. But make no mistake. His kingdom would be established and eternal, but Jesus didn’t need to pick up a sword and fight. His plan from the beginning would be to humble himself and die.

3. To die

The purpose of the manger was the cross.

Jesus was the only person who could be our perfect sacrifice and advocate. He was fully human, so he could ransom humans. He was fully God, having the power to live a sinless life and fulfill all aspects of the law.

This means that by his sacrifice, he could do what the entire sacrificial system could not. He could die once as a redeeming ransom for all of his people, as scripture verifies:

Mark 10:45 ESV

⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

III – Why is this important for you?

Can you begin to see why Christmas day matters so much and why the incarnation matters for you today? God’s unfolding plan of redemption from Genesis to Malachi came to fruition at the manger. Jesus – God in the flesh… the promised Messiah… the Savior of the world, has come!

The final stage in God’s redemptive mission had begun at the manger and was fully consummated at the cross.

Only a man could die to redeem mankind, and only God could keep the law perfectly, so in the incarnation, we have the only unique person in history who could achieve the mission.

And this matters for you because it wasn’t just the 1st Century Jews that needed a Messiah. All fall short of the glory of God. You and I also need a Savior, and because Jesus lives, He can be that for us. That means we fall short too, but the good news is… that verse doesn’t stop there. It goes on to say that though we all fall short, we are also…

Romans 3:24–26 ESV

²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

You and I have reconciliation and peace with God, sonship status as His children, and are co-heirs with Jesus because of what we celebrate today. The purpose of the manger was the cross. And the purpose of the cross was the empty tomb because He rose from the dead to be our living redeemer forever!