“It was
fitting that God, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons
to glory, should make the Founder of their salvation perfect through suffering”
(Hebrews 2:10).
The very
first Christmas came as a surprise to the world, but Christ’s birth was a highly
anticipated good news of great joy in heaven (Luke 2:10). Jesus existed before
He created all things for Himself. To bring many of His children to glory,
Jesus chose to be in Mary’s womb in Bethlehem on that very first Christmas. He
chose that perfect time, perfect place, and perfect way in order to willingly
suffer, willingly lay down His life as a ransom for many (John 10:18).
Hebrews says
that it was fitting that Jesus who
created all things for Himself and founded our salvation was made perfect
through His suffering. That’s right, Jesus is made perfect. Not because Jesus lacked something, but the wording
is that it was fitting that Jesus perfectly fit into the office of High Priest
(Hebrews 5:9-10) by Himself being the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14).
Jesus was
born to suffer and die. Let us not forget this as we celebrate God the Son who
became a baby. He chose to be a baby, to grow up to be a man, the perfect man,
to suffer and die the death we deserve. The Founder of our salvation chose to
die our death when we deserved judgment and wrath.
Let us
celebrate Jesus by believing the whole Bible story. The Eternal Word chose to
become one of us. He chose to grow hair and fingernails, to know our pains and
temptations, becoming a Man of Sorrows to carry the heavy burden of our sins to
the cross of Calvary though He Himself was without sin, having been raised to
glory to give us hope of eternal life. The Christmas story is only part of the
whole redemptive story written down by the hand of Christ Jesus before
creation.
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in this good
news of great joy that Christ took our sin to the cross to be our perfect
sacrifice and High Priest. Bless our hearts and our homes with this joy.
Increase our joy by seeing and savoring Christ Jesus more. May You be glorified
in our lives, our homes, and our church. Amen.
