You and I are the same. I was conceived and born in sin. So were you. My fundamental problem is not so much that I commit sins, but that I am born a sinner. That is your problem too. We are sinners. We could say it is in our flesh and blood. That means we can’t get rid of sin by trying to be a good person.
Trying to solve our sin problem by doing good works is like trying to get rid of cancer by volunteering at the library. That is just silly. Sin is part of our fallen human nature. I cannot get rid of that on my own. Neither can you. I was born a child of wrath (Eph 2:3). So were you. From the moment you were conceived you were already on the road to perdition. So was I. You and I are the same.
Jesus is different.
Jesus was not conceived and born in sin. Jesus was conceived by the Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. Yes, Jesus shares our human nature, our flesh and blood, and in that way he is like his brothers in every respect (Heb 2:17); he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and temptations, yet he was born without sin (Heb 4:15). Jesus does not share our fundamental problem. He is not born a child of wrath. He is born the Son of God.
Jesus is true God and true man, in him there is no sin (1 John 3:5). You and I are the same. Jesus is different.
And that difference makes all the difference. Because while Jesus does not share our fundamental problem, he does come to fix it.
This is what Christmas is all about.
From the moment he was conceived Jesus was not on the road to perdition but on the road through hell to heaven. He is not silly; he is the Saviour.
The incarnation is Jesus getting ready to save us from our sin. The baby in the manger is Christ getting ready by taking upon himself the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary. Ready to bear in his human nature, by the power of his divine nature, the burden of God’s wrath against our sin. Jesus didn’t come to volunteer at the library. He came to hang on the cross. Not so he can become a good person, but to declare you a righteous person in the sight of God.
You and I are the same. Jesus is different.
Merry Christmas!
