A child is born. Nothing new right. It happens every day. And to those who are not in the family, it's not a big deal. Oh they will ooohhh and aaahhh over the baby when he is here, but quickly they will go back to their lives, and the parents will move on to parenting with love and logic.
But 2000 years ago something different happened. Luke 1 is a great version of the story. 1st John was born. The parents were very elderly and had no kids. They were not shunned in the community, but many people (including themselves I'm sure) thought they had done something wrong or something against God since He had not blessed them with children. Yet one day when Zechariah was performing his priestly duties, he was visited by the angel Gabriel who said he would have a son. A blessing, prophesy fulfilled.
Then 6 months later, another blessed miracle. A virgin is visited by the same angel and is told she will be pregnant and give birth to the savior of the world. The miracles never cease. The elderly woman gets pregnant and the virgin gets pregnant. What's more is the 2nd baby will be the savior to all mankind. He will be called the "Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David and he will rule over Jacob's house forever. His kingdom will never end."
But why? Why would the Son of God (God himself) come to be part of creation? He could easily have wiped out the powers that be and set up shop. To understand, we have to go back to Genesis 1. You see, in Genesis 1, God made man and woman. We were his creation. We were (are) children of God. But the problem came when we listened to someone other than God. On that day so long ago, Adam and Eve listened to the snake who talked them into doing the ONE thing God said not to do. They had so much freedom. Being in the family and so close to God was freeing.
I'm not sure the snake talked them into eating the fruit, as much as he showed them the fruit and they talked themselves into eating it. However it happened, they ate. And punishment was swift. Childbirth is painful for the woman (I wonder what it would have been like without the Fall) and work is toilsome and painful for the man. The snake is cursed (I probably would have done the same to the snake without him being bad. I hate snakes).
So we are now cut off from paradise and alienated from God. Does any of this sound familiar. Painful childbirth; check. Toiling away at work; check. Hating snakes; double check. Feeling like there is something just outside your grasp that you catch glimpses of here and there but never see the full picture; big check.
So after the separation and alienation between God and man, something needs to happen to bring them back together. It's those friends you have that were a couple but broke up and you know they were meant for each other and you know they need to be together, so you will think of ways for them to do it. That's our way of doing it. Daniel 9 is kind of like that. A god-like person comes into the world and sets up shop. He takes over everything becoming a great ruler. He lets the Jews start to sacrifice in the temple again. If you want to get on someone's good side, let them do what they love. But just a few years later, this ruler is ready to go the next step. He sets up shop in the temple. He made himself God and king. Isn't that how we would save the world too? The rich and powerful rule over everything. We need to become one of them to change things. But that's not how God did it.
To reconcile his family and bring his lost children back to him, he invaded their world. Not as a mighty conqueror but as a little baby. Something that would never be expected, and for sure something none of us would think of. Because of this little baby, our family was reconciled. We as children can go back to the Father, and the Father will open his arms wide and accept us in.
Many times it's the same with our earthly families. Sometime in the past, the parent screwed up and turned his/her back on her children alienating them. And the children with all their emotional energy ran as fast as they could. Of course the child had help. Those around him/her helped push her along that road farther away from the parent.
But then a miracle happened. A baby was born. The once child has to grow up in 9 months and become an adult. She has a baby, and the muck and dirt and pain and suffering are cleaned off the hearts of the parent and grand-parent. The past is put in the past and the future is a bright almost paradise. The pictures of the beautiful glorious family we have gotten glimpses of in the past are coming to fruition. Although this earthly paradise is not perfection, it is a start.
That's how it happened for me. Our child was born. I wiped out the past regarding my dad and started fresh. There are some things I can tell you from my experience. One is your parent has changed. He is not the same dumb-ass he was before. She is not the same selfish mother you remember. Two is you have changed. Your not that bundle of emotions you were before. You are now mom (or dad) and you had to grow up.
Your experiences have made you who you are; your decisions will make you who you become.
