This IS possible
“That’s impossible! That could never happen!” ---But it did!”
Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. He is “the Reason for the season.” He is The Gift of God at Christmas. We celebrate Him and are thankful for God sending Him to us. Two especially relevant Christmas Bible verses are “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16), and “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
We celebrate the birth of Jesus. We acknowledge that God the Son became man and dwelt among us (John 1:14). We speak of the virgin birth almost as if we actually understood it. But it was “a God thing.”
Dr. Timothy Tennant, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, quoted something several years ago:
Someone once said, Jesus came into the world through a door marked “no entrance,” a virgin womb. He left through a door marked “no exit,” a tomb of death. Two great impossibilities made possible in Jesus Christ. Nobody had ever walked through those doors before: a virgin womb and a sealed tomb. In Jesus Christ, the world’s greatest impossibilities are made into possibilities. (emphasis added)
The angel Gabriel told Mary, “Nothing will be impossible for God.” (Luke 1:37)
Of all the billions of pregnancies in all of the countries throughout all the centuries of human history, only one single and unique time would a virgin become pregnant. Before this and after this singular event, it should be universally agreed that a virgin giving birth was totally impossible.
However, this impossible event was possible to God. In fact, it is an extremely clear indicator that this baby, Jesus, was so much more than merely unique. It proves the case that He was God’s only begotten (Gk. μονογενη, monogenes) Son (John 3:16).
To me, the biggest problem of our depictions and ideas about Christmas is that they are all too small!
This impossible birth was the arrival of the infinite God in the form of a very finite, physically-limited infant. I don’t think that we remember this. We tend to think of the birth of Jesus just like we think of every other birth of every other baby. But this was God the Son, the Creator (Colossians 1:16), confining Himself to one location of space and to one lifetime. Jesus was fully God and fully man, and as a newborn baby, God became one of us. A totally impossible event took place because God wanted to reconcile the entire human race to Himself (Colossians 1:20) – an impossible task! But He did it!
Christmas is so much bigger than we usually think. The Incarnation really is a big deal! It is both as simple as John 1:14, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,” and as astounding as Philippians 2:6-8:
(Christ Jesus) who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. (NASB)
Jesus had all power, glory, authority and “the fullness of God” (Colossians 1:19). He laid this aside, “emptied” (Gk. á¼?κÎνωσεν, ekenÅ?sen) Himself (Phil 2:7).
“That’s impossible! That could never happen!” ---But GOD did the impossible!”
Dr. Timothy McKeithen, NBC Hispanic Pastoral Ministries Program Director
Published: 12/20/2021
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