Why a Baby?

Merry Christmas! This is truly my favorite time of year. During this season, we celebrate the coming of the Kingdom of God. Now, there are multiple ways that God could have done this. He could have come as a king on a stallion. He could have brought an army of angels. He could have just done as He did in the days of Noah—wiped out everything and started again. There are probably many more ways He could have done it. However, He chose to come as a baby, in a small town, in a stable for animals.

The question is, "Why a baby?" Why as a human? If Jesus had shown up in His heavenly glory, it would have removed free will from the human race.

We see a glimpse of what that glory would have been like a few times in the Old Testament and a couple of times in the New Testament. One of those instances is when Jesus took three of His followers up a mountain and revealed His glory. Peter "ran his mouth" about building tabernacles. Then God speaks from heaven—and look at what happens to the disciples: "When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified" (Matthew 17:6). They could not say anything. They hit the ground.

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John sees Jesus in His glory, and look what happens: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead" (Revelation 1:17).

Because Jesus came as a human baby, it gave people the choice to bow down and worship or to completely reject Him as King. Luke 2 tells of how the shepherds went to visit Jesus. There is nothing mentioned about them kneeling or bowing. Maybe it happened, or maybe it didn’t; I don’t know. But when you look at Matthew 2, you will see the Magi came to visit Jesus. When they arrived at the house, they bowed down and worshiped Him. It was not forced. That was their response to Jesus. We see it several times throughout Jesus’ life, where people came and bowed at His feet and worshiped Him by choice.

Right now, we each have a choice—free will—to acknowledge Jesus as King or not. That will not always be the case. In Philippians 2, the apostle Paul tells us:

"5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Because Jesus chose to come as a baby and walk a humble life as a servant, the choice is ours to bow or not. But one day, like Peter, John, and the Magi, everyone will bow before King Jesus when He returns in all of His heavenly glory and establishes the Kingdom of God forever. I have done extensive research by watching a lot of medieval movies, and I can tell you with great certainty: it always goes much better if you bow before the king by choice rather than by force.

So, will you choose this Christmas season to celebrate by bowing your entire life down, dying to yourself, and committing to follow King Jesus?