How could we doubt?

About 700 years before Jesus' birth, a prophecy was recorded in Isaiah about a child who would be born of a virgin and who's name would be Immanuel. From Jeremiah, the people learned that He would be a descendant of David. In Micah, we are told that He would be born in Bethlehem. Throughout the Old Testament, prophesies were written about a Messiah who would save His people and rule wisely over them. The Jews believed that. They hoped in that. In the book of  Malachi, about 400 years before the birth of Christ, it was written that a messenger was being sent. And then there was silence. For about 400 years people waited for a messenger. Waited for a Messiah. Waited for prophesies to be fulfilled. And then came Someone who fulfilled every single prophecy about the birth of the Messiah and lived a perfect life and died a painful death just like Scripture said He would. How could we doubt that Jesus Christ is our Messiah?

In a small town that hadn't ever been mentioned in the Old Testament, Nazareth, an angel appeared to a 15 or 16 year old girl and told her not to be frightened. He told her that she would bear a Son and His name would be Jesus. This girl was naturally shocked and confused. Her name was Mary, and the Bible tells us that she had found favor with God. She was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph, so how could she have a child? She was surprised because this, to say the least, was not normal. So when she bore a son, there is absolutely no question that this child was the Son of God. If His father had been Joseph then Jesus would not have been God incarnate, He would have only been man. And if He was only man, then He could not save. And if He could not save, then our faith is a hoax. And if our faith is a hoax, then we are hopeless. But His father was God. Jesus was miraculously born of the virgin Mary. Fully God and fully man. Looking at all the strange and intricate details of His birth, how could we doubt Jesus was the Son of God?

A choir of angels heralded His birth, bringing good news of great joy to all people. Shepherds left their sheep and came to worship their Lord. After His birth, wise men brought gifts from afar. Jesus Christ humbled Himself to be born in a manger.  He was protected from the king who decreed that He be killed for simply being born. He was born to fulfill a promise and save us from ourselves. For the first time, humanity held God in our hands. The Sovereign king of all was born in the night in a small town to a young girl. Born because man had turned their back on God, but God hadn't forsaken man. The Giver of light entered the world like any other child, the savior the world was held in Mary's arms. God gave His own Son to save us. How could we doubt that we are loved?

Romans tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It also tells us that the wages of sin is death. We know that God is just and therefore cannot tolerate sin. But we also know that He is loving and merciful. So He sent His only Son to die for our sins. Fully God, Jesus lived a perfect life doing God's work on earth. Fully man, Jesus struggled through temptations of the flesh but never once sinned and then He bore the punishment for our sin. 1st Timothy says, "For there is one mediator between God and man, that man Jesus Christ." He is the only mediator for us because He was the only Son of God and son of man. Because Jesus lived perfectly and then took our punishment on His shoulders, how could we doubt that our every sin has been forgiven?

2,000 years after His birth, families gather together, united because of Christ whether they acknowledge it or not. Every year, we celebrate the fact that we don't have to doubt. Christmas is about the certainty and confidence we have in Him. It's about the hope He gave us on that night in Bethlehem. It's about His unconditional love for us. Now we wait for His second coming, when He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more pain. We don't have to wait in sorrow and despair, rather we know that God fulfills His promises, loves His people, and will return to take us home. So we wait with joy and excitement. Since God sent His own Son to earth for us, how could we doubt that there is hope?

My favorite Christmas song: Who would have dreamed. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LbzC0pii-s