by Chris Banescu –
The Feast of Christ’s Nativity is not only a cause for celebration that God is with us and true joy has come into the world, but it’s also an eternal reminder of our Lord and Savior’s great humility and boundless love for us.
At the appointed and right time, God sent His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ to save and redeem us. Christ the Lord, true God of true God of one essence with the Father, was born of the Holy Theotokos and Every-Virgin Mary, and entered into human history to bring salvation to mankind and free us from the bondage of sin. The Son of the Almighty, who existed eternally with the Father, humbled Himself and became a man, to reveal the fullness of God’s Truth; and then He suffered, died, and rose again to destroy death and give us eternal life.
Christ’s incarnation is a sign of God’s immeasurable love for man. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” writes Saint John the Evangelist (John 3:16). This is a sacrificial love. This is true love. God the Father eternally loved His Son, yet God still sent Christ into the world to save us; the fallen, sinful, rebellious, and ungrateful creatures that rejected Him, disobeyed His will, and made a mess of the magnificent earth He gave us.
Christ’s incarnation is also a sign of God’s great humility. The infinitely powerful and ever-existing Son of God, chose to become a human being for our sake. He who had all glory and honor; He who possessed all power in the universe; He who created everything out of nothing, willingly took on human flesh and became a baby to save us. The designer, creator, and sustainer of all life became a little child—vulnerable, defenseless, and fully dependent on his parents for nourishment, care, and protection—to help us become sons of God. This is complete self-sacrificial humility. This is unimaginable humbleness.
The hymns of the Church beautifully commemorate this incredible miracle. “Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One. Angels with shepherds glorify Him. The wise men journey with the star. Since for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child.” (Kontakion, Tone 3)
The infinite Lord became a finite man for our salvation. “The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a foetus inside a woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab,” explains C.S. Lewis. To put it another way, imagine a human being willingly transforming into an amoeba for the sake of helping and saving the amoebas. Yet the gap between Christ becoming a man is exponentially larger, infinitely greater than the gap between a man becoming an amoeba. This is immeasurable humility.
God reveals to us that true love and genuine humility are expressed in acts of service, that often take the form of self-sacrifice. God not only teaches us how to do this, but He sent His only-begotten Son to show us how to do it. “Love is expressed always in service and sacrifice, in sacrificial service. This is how God Himself expresses His love for man and the world, by serving and sacrificing Himself just to His ultimate act of love, the crucifixion of Christ. The Son of God humbles Himself and takes on human flesh. He becomes the ‘servant of all.’ … He gives His life on the cross. He fulfills His own words: ‘No greater love has any man than this that he lay down his life for his brother.’ (John 15:34),” writes Father Thomas Hopko.
Let this Nativity season be a reminder of real love and humility. Let Christ’s birth be a source of peace, joy, and comfort. Peace and joy, that God is with us and salvation has come to all mankind. Comfort, that the eternal Lord loves us so much that He willingly humbled and sacrificed Himself to redeem us and give us eternal life.
Let Christ’s love and humility be examples for us to emulate, each in our own way, to honor Him and love Him with every ounce of strength we can muster. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
