Born with Purpose

Christmas time is always a battle between remembering the ‘Reason for the Season’ and the ‘ever growing commercialism’ of the holiday. And truth be told, in many lives, even my own more than I care to admit, the latter seems to win out. We dread having to go to the store even if it’s not for gift shopping. Tempers are short, you have to be careful which holiday greeting you use (if you care to be politically correct), and then there are the myriad of parties that seem to book up the entire month.

As the day approaches, we’re not thinking much of a young teenage girl nearly nine months pregnant having to walk or ride a donkey while carrying a story beyond belief. The nearly 100-mile journey would have been arduous for any normal person let alone being a back-aching nine months pregnant. Her incredible story was a culmination of stories and sacred writings she had heard all her life.

Isaiah 7:14 — Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Every young girl hoped to be ‘the one‘, but if their lives were any like ours, they may have treated the whole prophecy much like a far-fetched fable. You know you’re supposed to believe it, but the longer it takes to come true, the bigger our doubts can sometimes grow. It’s hard to see the miraculous in the everyday life.

People of that time were as aware as we are that virgin births aren’t the norm. Quite the contrary. They’re impossible. They were as impossible then as they are now. So, when she had the encounter with the angel who gave her the pregnancy test results early — that she would become pregnant after the Holy Spirit overshadowed her — she probably thought she had eaten some bad mutton nachos or maybe drank a glass of goats milk a day or two beyond the sell-by date. This young girl, Mary, wasn’t from Bethlehem where the prophecy said the Messiah would come. But the timing of the Roman decree was in God’s hand of providence to align the birth of Jesus to the prophecy given some 700 years before their trek to Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2 — But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
    whose origins are in the distant past,
    will come from you on my behalf.

Many are aware Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus while His actual birth probably took place closer to September than December. And while many will look at the Christmas story as Mary and soon-to-be-stepdad, Joseph’s, encounter at the Barnyard Bed & Breakfast, it really began in Genesis when God spoke prophetically of the redemption of mankind.

Genesis 3:15 — And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

The future was clear: Satan would wound the Redeemer, but that very Redeemer would defeat His enemy once and for all. All of the prophecies from the first in Genesis and all through the Old Testament wove a tapestry of the coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This great Ruler would come to bring justice, hope, mercy to a nation who was always fighting for its very survival. But His heart and gift of redemption would extend beyond just those of Israel.

Genesis 22:18 — And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

Being part of the Holy Trinity, Jesus was well aware of His purpose — the redemption of mankind from the grasp of sin. He would bridge the gulf between man’s sinful nature and a holy God. He was also aware of other prophecies that foretold of His life here on earth as the Son of God.

Psalm 22:14-18 — My life is poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
    melting within me.
¹⁵ My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
    My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
    You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
¹⁶ My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
    an evil gang closes in on me.
    They have pierced my hands and feet.
¹⁷ I can count all my bones.
    My enemies stare at me and gloat.
¹⁸ They divide my garments among themselves
    and throw dice for my clothing.

But His relationship to His Father was deep and He completely trusted Him.

Psalm 22:9-11 — Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
    and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
    You have been my God from the moment I was born.

¹¹ Do not stay so far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and no one else can help me.