Unto us a Child is born

The virgin born Son of the Living God

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

The Messiah that was to come into the world to save all of humanity from the deceiver, Satan, was prophetically foretold by the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah wrote that unto us, a child was born and the governments would be upon His shoulders. He was to be born of a virgin and would be in the lineage of King David. His name would be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

For some reason, people believed then as they do now, that the Messiah would come and did come to do away with the law, so that the grace of God abounds. Paul wrote in Romans 3, that God forbid we live in such negligence toward sin. 

Jesus came so that the law would be fulfilled. Therefore, we are not under the pressure of laws, but under the grace that living according to the law gives us, if we make Jesus Lord of our lives. 

John, the Apostle wrote that ‘in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jesus).’ John goes on to say that the world knew Him but knew Him not. They saw the carpenter’s son that moved to Nazareth when He was a young boy. 

Luke actually told the story that we now refer to as  ‘The Christmas Story.” In the days of Caesar Augustus, a decree came to all the people that the nations of the world should be taxed. Rome was the dominating empire and those who followed after one another as emperor were looked at as gods. So the tax was to pay tribute to Caesar.

So it was ordered that every family went to their hometowns to be counted for the census for taxation. Joseph had been betrothed to marry Mary, who was a virgin, but through the power of the Holy Ghost, became pregnant. 

Joseph considered divorcing Mary because of possible infidelity, The angel of God came before Joseph and explained that the baby she was carrying was the Messiah that Isaiah spoke of in the prophesy because Mary had won God’s favor. 

So when it was almost time for Jesus to be born, Joseph put Mary on donkey-back to make the estimated 80 mile trip to Bethlehem, because Joseph was from there in the house of David.  (Side note: When King David was a boy tending Jesse’s sheep, he did so in a place that he later wrote about in the 23rd Psalm, “Yea through I walk through the Valley of The Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” This same valley, between Jericho and Bethlehem, according to tradition in Jerusalem, is a place that Mary stopped to rest on hers and Joseph’s long journey from Nazareth.)

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, the city was filled with people who had come to register for the census as Augustus had commanded. Therefore, there was no room for them in any of the inns in the town. Joseph talked to an inn owner who told Joseph of the stable that was available next to his inn. There were animals in the stable, but the manger could be cleaned out so that the couple would have a place to lay their newborn baby.

I know you’re asking yourself, “What? The Creator of the Universe was born in a feed troth in a smelly stable where horses, cows and sheep ‘do their business?’”

Most definitely! See, Jesus didn’t come as a military conqueror as the Jews would have liked. They only wanted to get the Romans out of their business so they could continue corrupting the Jews and leading them away from the one God sent to save them. The Pharisees were the immediate law of the Jews and kept them under a tight fist, that is, when the Romans weren’t looking. 

Jesus came as a humble servant of man, who was there to do the will of His father who sent Him. He came to teach the Jews that they were to love their enemies and pray for those that spitefully used and mistreated them. It was a very inconvenient message for that time, as well as today. The truth usually is. 

The “Gift” came into the world to basically save it from itself. The contrite and self-centered heart is one that is like beast that is hard to tame. It is hard to convince a person that it is holier to give up one’s life so that other’s may see the love  of God through their actions when a person’s first instinct in a crisis situation is to save their own life by throwing others under the bus. 

But still, the “Gift” came to give life, and life more abundantly than most people are used to living. What do you want for Christmas this year? That’s a good question considering the unlimited possibilities we have as a civilization. As for me and my house, we choose Christ, the reason for this Christmas season to begin with. 

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.