When God became man: The promise to a groom

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:20b-21).

Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph when she became pregnant with the Son of God. Joseph knew he was not the father. Betrothal was more binding at this time than engagement is in our day. Because Joseph apparently had grounds to issue a divorce certificate, he sought to break the betrothal while at the same time guarding Mary and her reputation by discreetly sending her away.

God intervened. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and assured him he should take Mary as his wife. She had not been unfaithful. Instead, the child she carried was from the Holy Spirit. The angel told Joseph to name this son Jesus as an explanation of one of His purposes in coming to earth -- "He will save His people from their sins."

Two verses later (Matt. 1:23), the writer spelled out the meaning of the title, Immanuel, spoken in Isaiah long before: "God with us."

When God became man: The promise to a maiden

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:31-33).

The angel Gabriel delivered the next promise to a young woman named Mary in the Galilean city of Nazareth. It was the sixth month of Elizabeth's unfathomable pregnancy, but the conception and birth the angel promised Mary would be even more unbelievable. She would give birth though she was a virgin as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit, Gabriel said.

The son Mary would bear would be called "the Son of the Most High," the long-awaited Messiah. The virgin prophesied in Isaiah 7 as the mother of Immanuel was now revealed, and God would become man through this young Hebrew woman. To Mary's astonishment at how this could occur, Gabriel ultimately said, "For nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).

When God became man: The promise to a priest

"It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17).

After hundreds of years of no revelation from God to His people, the angel Gabriel spoke to a frightened priest in the temple. This priest, Zacharias, and his wife Elizabeth were not only childless but without any realistic hope of becoming parents because of their age.

That changed when Gabriel told Zacharias his wife would not only bear a son to be named John but this miracle child would be a great man with a great mission -- to go before the Messiah and to prepare the people for His coming. God had again spoken. His promises from long ago were about to be fulfilled. A miraculous reproduction would prepare the way for an even more miraculous birth.

When God became man: The promise of His birthplace

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2).

An earthly king would want his son to be born into elegance and prominence, but God promised His Son would be born in a location so insignificant it would find no place "among the clans of Judah."

This one whom God would send to be "ruler in Israel" would not reign over a temporary kingdom, however. Nor would He begin His existence on the date of His birth in the little town of Bethlehem. He also would not begin to exist at the moment of conception in His mother's womb. No, He had existed "from the days of eternity." There was no beginning to His existence. The One who would appear on that future day in Bethlehem would be the God of all ages who had made all things.

When God became man: The promise of a unique ruler

"For a child will be born to us; a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace . . . " (Is. 9:6-7a).

God promised he would establish a never-ending government upon the shoulders of a tiny child. How could a baby bear such weight? The question is a natural one; the answer is a supernatural one.

This is God in the person of a little boy -- a child bearing one-of-a-kind titles. From the moment of His conception, God indwelt this embryo turned boy turned man. Because this was God in the flesh, we can trust His rule will never end. He will reign as a benevolent monarch, bringing a peace that will go on throughout eternity.

Notice to whom this son is a gift. This prophecy certainly applied to the Hebrews whom God had set apart for Himself, but it also is a particular promise to all of us who have received the gift of salvation -- He has been given to us.

When God became man: The promise of a unique birth

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Is. 7:14).

When God became man, it was through a conception and birth like no other. Isaiah prophesies a virgin -- a woman who has no natural means of procreation -- will give birth to a son. This impossible pregnancy and birth will constitute a sign -- a sign of the most miraculous kind.

The father of this child is not mentioned in this verse. Only later is it spelled out this son has God as His Father, but we certainly can deduce this reality from Isaiah's prophecy. Only God can do something so impossible. This child will be human and divine. In this baby boy, God would fulfill His promise from long before.

When God became man: The first promise

(In this Christmas season, I plan to post daily a revised version of each devotional Linda and I compiled in a booklet as a gift to the church in 2004.)

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel" (Gen. 3:15).

The initial promise of Christmas came at the moment when humanity's greatest need was realized. God pronounced judgment on the tempter, whose beguiling ways had persuaded the first woman and man to rebel against their Creator. But in His sentencing of Satan, God presented what is known as "the proto-evangelium," the first gospel.

The seed of the woman, not the man, promised by God was His own Son, who would appear in fulfillment of this promise thousands of years later. In humanity's darkest hour, God provided hope for a fallen race. He fulfilled that hope through an unborn child in a virgin's womb, through a baby born in Bethlehem, through a man who lived a perfect life, and through a suffering servant who delivered a crushing blow to the evil one -- though He would not escape unharmed -- through His crucifixion and resurrection.

-- Photo by Aleks Dahlberg on Unsplash