The Greatest Miracle Ever!
Isaiah 9:6 (LEB)
“For a child has been born for us;
a son has been given to us.
And the dominion will be on his shoulder,
and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
August 28, 2020, the day my son was born was a very special day for me and my wife, Shengxi. At first glance, it might appear that the verse above refers to that very special day, but read on, and you’ll find that it actually has nothing to do with him!
Early that morning of August 28th, Samuel was ready to emerge into the world. As ShengXi and I waited in the hospital room as the doctor and nurses prepared, we eagerly spoke of our excitement and nervousness for our son to enter the world. After hours and hours of labor, the time had come.
The doctor confirmed her complete dilation, and gave the command: push. Determined to help my wife successfully push this beautiful baby out of her body, I stood beside her, encouraging her to push with all her might. But as the labor went on, it seemed as if Samuel wasn’t progressing and our encouragement for her to push turned into desperate pleas.
I saw the doctor pull Samuel’s head out of the womb, but I noticed that his skin was a grey color, the kind of grey that brings storm clouds to mind, not vibrant, lively babies. Without hesitation, the nurses in the room shoved me aside as they jumped on top of Shengxi to push the rest of Samuel’s body out. I stood behind my wife, desperately urging her to push through, for Samuel, for me.
In a matter of minutes, although it felt like hours, the doctor pulled Samuel completely out of the womb and placed our eerily silent son on Shengxi’s stomach. Exhausted from the birth, my wife lay on the bed motionless. With no time to waste they rushed Samuel to the baby table to begin cleaning him and urging him to breathe.
“Why isn’t he crying?” were the first words out of my wife’s mouth. With no answer and no idea what was happening, we both started praying! That first wail of his voice pierced through our prayers and our hearts were filled with relief. Nonetheless, Samuel would spend the next four days in the NICU while the doctors and nurses ensured his medical and physical stability. In short, Samuel’s coming into the world was very traumatic, both for him and for us.
In that moment between his first cry and the relief that ensued, my first though was, “What a miracle!” Having a baby is certainly a miracle, but even in that glorious moment, I was quickly reminded of the greatest miracle of all: Jesus coming into the world as a baby to pay for our sins!
We tend to look at the Christmas story and see a baby in a manger and sing cute little songs, but Jesus was so much more than just a baby. He was God in the flesh!
John 1:1 & 1:14 (LEB)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The miracle is that the same God who created the universe and everything in existence dwelled in a mother’s womb for nine months. Let that sink in for a minute! God, who created man in His image, took on the form of a man, not even as an instant adult man, but humbly, as a baby growing inside of a virgin woman, Mary, and yet still fully in control of all things.
Philippians 2:6-7 (CJB)
“Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be possessed by force. On the contrary, he emptied himself, in that he took the form of a slave by becoming like human beings are.”
Why? So that He could completely satisfy the wrath of God that was justly placed on humankind from the sin debt of Adam’s original sin and, in turn, our sins also. The only payment for sin is death. Jesus was born to die for us! When he was born, He was given the name “Yeshua”, which translates into Jesus and means ‘Adonai saves.’
Matthew 1:21 (CJB)
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua [which means ‘Adonai saves,’], because he will save his people from their sins.”
That, my friends, is the greatest miracle of all! Jesus, submitting Himself to being born in the form of sinful man, yet never committing a sin in order to redeem sinful man, so that man might be made righteous to God through Him. As profound of a miracle as His birth was, that was not what Jesus told us to remember about Him. Rather, it was His death upon the cross and His glorious return one day soon that should dwell on our hearts.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (CSB)
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
It was that moment upon the cross that He proclaimed, “It is finished,” when all the sins of the world were laid upon him, that the hour for which He was born into the world had finally arrived. He lived a perfect life before God and accomplished the Father’s plan to completion, redeeming and reconciling those who place their trust in Him.
Corinthians 5:21 (CJB)
“God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.”
This is another profound miracle, that God would miraculously change us from a sinner to a saint through the finished work of Jesus Christ. The sinful nature that once flowed to us from Adam is now destroyed and we have now been made partakers of His divine nature and transformed into a New Creation. The pure righteous life of Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit now empowers us to live the Christian life. God did this so that He could welcome those of us who put our faith in Jesus and continue to trust in His saving work into His glorious Kingdom!
As tremendously grateful as we are for Samuel and everyone else who has been born since, the only true miracle is God in the Flesh – Yeshua, or Jesus! For if this did not happen, then we would remain eternally dead in our sins and without hope!
1 Corinthians 15:16-17 and 21-22 (CJB)
“For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either; and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins… For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive.”
Colossians 1:15-17 (CJB)
“He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were created all things—in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities—they have all been created through him and for him. He existed before all things, and he holds everything together. “
Jesus Christ – The Greatest Miracle Ever!