December 29

Born to Die

John 1:18 tells us Jesus came to the earth so that He might “make known” to us who God really is.  In the miracles Jesus worked, we see that God is both powerful and compassionate.  In the sermons Jesus preached, we hear that He is wise and authoritative.  In the interactions with His disciples, we see Jesus’ interest in growing us and using us in His work.  Truly, we learn so much about who God is by looking at Jesus’ life.

However, Jesus did not just come to explain God to people . . . He also came to reconcile people to God.  In Mark 10:45 Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His live as a ransom for many.”  By giving His life for the many, Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross to pay the ransom (the price necessary to set sinners like you and me free).

The death Jesus died was not a tragic accident, but an intentional plan.  Jesus was not the victim of a vicious plan by the Jewish leaders or Roman officials.  If Jesus had wanted to avoid the cross, He could have.  The fact that He can do anything, knows everything, and can go anywhere meant that at any time Jesus could have slain His enemies, outsmarted their plans, or avoided their pursuit.  But He chooses not to do that.  Instead, knowing what lay before Him, He walked directly to Jerusalem to offer His life on the cross (see Mathew 16:21-23, 17:22-23, 20:17-19). 

Seeing all this, reminds us that Jesus was “Born to Die” as Bebo Norman said in today’s Christmas song.  We cannot rightly understand the birth of Jesus without reflecting on His death on the cross.  As Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  That is the full extent of the incarnation.

Jesus was born to die.  And His death was a beautiful expression of God’s love for us.  “But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  Will we receive His love this Christmas?  This gift has been specially given just for us.  Don’t return or reject this, but embrace our loving God and allow His death to be the ransom to pay the penalty our sins deserve.

Born to Die – Bebo Norman

They never knew a dark night

Always had the Son’s light on their face

Perfect in glory, broken by the story

Of untold grace, come that day

Majesty had come down, glory had succumbed now

To flesh and bone

In the arms of a manger, in the hands of strangers

That could not know, just who they hold

And the angels filled the sky

All of heaven wondered why

Why their King would choose to be

Be a baby born to die

And all fell silent for the cry of an infant

The voice of God

Was dividing history for those with eyes to see

The Son would shine from earth that night

And the angels filled the sky

All of heaven wondered why

Why their King would choose to be

Be a baby born to die, be a baby born to die

To break the chains of guilt and sin

To find us here, to pull us in

So we can join in heaven’s song

And with one voice around the throne

All the angels filled the sky

And I can’t help but wonder why

Why this King would choose to be

Be a baby born for me, be a baby born

Be a baby born to die

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.