The Power of God in the flesh

With the advent season now over a week in, I have been thinking a lot about Jesus and what His birth actually means. During the Christmas season we tend to think most of the time about Jesus in the manger and the story around His physical birth. We picture a tired Joseph having walked days leading a donkey with Mary on it. We picture Mary, exhausted, ready to give birth at any moment. We see and smell the stable with the animals all packed in around Mary and Joseph, as she cries in labor. We hear the Angels and see the faces of the shepherds in amazement. And we might even picture the Wise Men a little later, showing up at Jesus' door to bring the new born baby gifts. 

Some others of us will realize that Jesus physical birth to Mary happened so that He might then 33 years later have a physical death to save His people from their sins. We can see in our minds eye the shadow of the cross laying over the baby in the manger. We hear the cries of the crowd over the noise of the cows. We hear see the agony of Jesus in His death clearly in the agony of Mary in her labor. We see the blood of the Cross clearly visible in the blood of a birth. We connect the dots from the pain of labor to the pain of Jesus labor of love. 

Some others will even contemplate about the fact that His physical birth in the manager sets the stage for His physical 2nd coming on the white horse with His people mentioned in Revelation 19. We see the beauty of life on the quiet cold night and see the beauty of our returning King. We hear the cries of the babe in his first breath, hearing even louder the battle cries of victory over death complete. We picture the birth of a king, so small and helpless, and then see the coming of our King in all His powerful glory supreme. 

But I have been reminded of an amazing truth that I seem to forget about Jesus and a verse from Hebrews that goes along with it.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.

I forgot an important truth that this verse points out. Jesus is one person with two natures, divine and human, such that He upheld the world by the word of His power while living in His mother's womb. The baby born in the manger with the physical blood and screams of a new born was at the same time caring for and loving them, in His powerful sovereign way, the women and man present as His birth. The baby being born was at the same moment in supreme control of those events. Wow. The incarnation of Jesus is an amazing mystery that we should be praising God for everyday, because without those divine truths we are all hopeless.