Jesus Isn’t Just a Cute Baby in a Manger

It’s a dangerous thing to be confused about Jesus.

Dec 14, 2022

Tis the season to be jolly! It’s all in the air this time of year. And people who once filled the malls and big box stores are now doing their holiday shopping on the internet. UPS and FedEx trucks are everywhere you look.

The truth is, I’m not much of a shopper at Christmastime. But before you accuse me of being a Scrooge-like character, let me assure you of one thing — I truly enjoy any time of the year where millions of Americans are taking time to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. Once a year is better than never, I suppose.

Of course, millions of believers around the globe don’t wait for holidays like Christmas and Easter to remember the birth and death of Jesus. While the world may be singing “Joyful, joyful we adore thee” during December, we are adoring him all year long. We worship him because he’s not just a harmless little Christmas baby but the God who appeared in human flesh 2,000 years ago.

It’s true that our Jesus did come as an infant, but he wasn’t a baby before he came. He was a mighty god who created the universe and everything in it. But as he grew into manhood, he matured into the same Jesus who healed disabled people, people who were blind from birth, and those who were possessed by demons. He is also the same Jesus who raised the dead. He is the same Jesus who died on the cross only to be raised from the dead himself three days later. And he is the same Jesus who now sits at the right hand of God.

Yes, he’s all of that. But he isn’t finished with his work on this planet yet. He is also the same Jesus who will later appear as an imposing figure when the universe comes to an end. Check this out:

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
—2 Thessalonians 1:6-10

It is a dangerous thing to be confused about Jesus. He’s not our bellhop, ready to tote our bags to our rooms. He’s not our personal assistant who helps us find parking places. Instead, he is the God who came to serve us by doing for us the one thing that we couldn’t do for ourselves — he came to pay the debt of sin that we are unable to pay.

Furthermore, he is the same Jesus who will come again, not as a cute baby in a manger, but as a fearful and mighty being who will be revealed “from heaven in a blazing fire.” He will come to be glorified in those who believe and to be “marveled at” by those who love him.

In fact, his presence will be so overwhelming that at the mention of his name, “every knee will bow, in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

You may have successfully resisted testifying to his majesty so far, but once he comes again, you will be compelled to admit that he is Lord. It will be impossible for you to resist. He will not come to terrorize, but those who don’t know him will be filled with a shrieking.

Personally, I’m a lot like the thief on the cross; I’m looking forward to his return. But it’s not because I’m a good man — it’s because he promised that I belong with him in heaven. All I did was believe it and give him control of my life. I simply agreed with him that he was better at deciding how I should live and then asked him to mold and shape me into whatever he wanted me to be.

So, as Christians around the globe enter into this season, I pray that we will remember that the majesty of his birth was not that he was simply a cute little baby, but that he was “God in flesh appearing.” That’s the beauty of Christmas, that the God who created us in his image was willing to humble himself and come as a vulnerable newborn baby.

I also pray that we will worship him in “humble adoration” as the God of all Creation. If you ask me, this is the meaning of Christmas.

O Holy Night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine
Oh night divine