That word was given to us by Jesus himself during the latter days of his ministry, when he declared that our view of the law and the prophets be reshaped and stripped down to their intended revelation: that putting everything else aside, we should love God with every fiber of our beings, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  (Matt. 22:38-39; Mk. 12:30-31)

And as Mark makes clear (Mk 12:31), “there is no other commandment greater than these.”

We marvel not that the word was made flesh, because if there is one truth that is  universally shared by all who believe, it is that nothing is too hard for God. (Gen. 18:14; Jer 32:27)

Only one whose essence was so clearly God-like could even hope to have his words redefine God’s words.  (“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,…”  Matt. 5:43-44).  To impart new understanding into old commandments and statutes and laws, the Word had to be made flesh.

From Adam until the coming of Yeshua (the name Jesus would more likely have called himself), men had received God’s word and preached God’s word, but it was not enough. Someone had to become that word– be the full embodiment of that word so that the Word would itself become the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind But because redemption cannot occur without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22), the Word had to become flesh.

Somebody had to live the word, to be so full of the purpose and the presence and the power of the Word that he could actually BE the word.   Somebody had to be thre sacrificial lamb for the sins of all mankind. Someone pure had to die. Someone without blame had to be put to death. Somebody’s blood had to be shed. The word had to be born. The Word had to become flesh.

The word by itself had been given to many men, had been preached by many men, but mankind still seemed not to understand what God expected of them.   So the Word was dispatched to do what no one else had been able to do– to show the rest of us what we’re capable of doing; what we’re capable of being.

Having the word is wonderful, seeing the word is revelation, but becoming one with the word is God’s purpose for our lives.   (John 17:20-21)   And to as many as are able to make their way to actual and true belief, the Word gives power to become sons and daughters of the most high God. (John 1:12)

The Word was born into the world that He might be born in us, and to show us by his example what it actually means to be a child of God.

So, yes, we celebrate his birth and his coming into the world, but perhaps more importantly, we celebrate his coming into us.

Because with that word inside us, we will each of us be able to go into the world, and one by one, according to the power within, begin to change it into a place of peace and love and great joy.

@Copyright. CMBC Ministries, excerpt from book “Who Are You?” by Minister Kevin Seraaj