The Nature of the Nativity: Day 1 - Introduction

I inherited a nativity scene from my grandmother this year. No, she didn't pass away; my receiving this nativity was a product of her downsizing for a move coupled with my tendency to steal and hide baby Jesus during family events. I would like to say that this happened strictly when I was child, but in reality I did it quite often as an adult. My favorite episode was when baby Jesus was discovered inside my grandmother's roll halfway through Christmas dinner. So, because of my goofy sense of humor, I now have a breakable nativity scene.   And just a disclaimer, the above picture is not the nativity I inherited. Hopefully I don't inherit every nativity scene I vandalize, since I have a hard time refraining when I walk by one. My mom once found Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, and the Wisemen playing dice for Monopoly money. Mary was making a killing if I recall correctly.


How many nativity scenes do we pass on a daily basis during the Christmas season? How often do these displays become just another decoration fading into the mass of Santas, Rudolphs, and Frostys? What about your own nativity scene, the one in your home, office, or used as a wallpaper on your electronic device? If we're honest, and I always promote honesty, the happy emotions we associate with our nativities are more related to quality of craftsmanship rather than any spiritual uplifting they bring. Don't feel bad; I've fallen into this trap quite often myself. As I pass the Holy Family on any given day, it's the mess ups that catch my eye. I love the ones where Mary was painted slightly crossed eyed or a shepherd has a missing finger. As I drive at night, my eye is caught by the bright lights in the trees, and I completely miss the manger at the bottom.

Therefore, I have a challenge for you and for me. These next two weeks, lets spend some time looking at the nativity scene and the stories that surround it together. Each day, I want to spend a little time ruminating on each person or object to see what spiritual truth can be drawn out of their part of the story. As I take a cursory look, I easily see truths about God and His character, people I want to imitate, and people I want to be nothing like. So how about it; will you? Good, I'm glad that's settled.

Today, I want to spend the rest of this post looking at why there is a nativity scene. There is a specific reason that Jesus came. Grab your Bible and turn to the book of Romans, chapter 3, verse 23. I know that some of you have this verse memorized, but open your Bible up anyway...it likes to be opened! The God's Word Translation reads:

"Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God's glory." GWT

Now, I don't know everyone who is reading this personally, but I am confident that all of you would admit that you are not perfect. We all have done something that we know was wrong. God doesn't mince words; He states plainly that anything that goes against His standards of holiness and righteousness is sin. So be completely honest again; we all have sinned. Romans 6:23 tells us with certainty,

"The reward for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord." GWT

I heard a pastor put it this way, "If we want nothing to do with God while we live here on earth, then He gives us what we want after we pass away." When we sin, we make the decision to live our life our way instead of God's way. God gives us the freedom to make this choice, but making that choice has consequences. We can't turn away from God and still reap the blessings of His kingdom. Choosing to follow our path instead of His causes us to be separated from Him. The other unfortunate thing about sin, is that we can't fix it on our own. God demands perfection because He is perfect. Once there is a stain of sin in our life, there's nothing we can do to clean it. But God loves us sin much that He can't leave us. Since we have no hope of returning to Him, He has come to us. Since we can't handle this sin problem on our own, He came to handle it for us. He did all of this in the person of Jesus.

The nativity is the Creator of the universe leaving the glory of heaven to put on our human flesh and become like us. Ultimately, the babe in the manger becomes the man on the cross. He went to the cross and paid the penalty for your sin and for my sin even though He lived a perfect life. Wonderfully, the story doesn't end there; the man on the cross rose from the dead three days later. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven and is waiting to return for the second time to come take His followers to Heaven with Him. All we have to do to be assured a place in Heaven with Him is to make Him the Lord of our life. He already paid the price by dying on the cross; we just have to accept it. This is the beauty of the nativity. It is the beeginning of the story of God keeping His promise to provide us a way home. This is why the nativity scene that decorate our homes and our yards should be much more than simple decorations. They are beacons of hope and love shining out into a dark world. They proclaim that the Master, the Creator, God Almighty, cares for each of us and desires for us to come home. See you tomorrow!

"Mary was making a killing..."

*All Scripture taken from the God's Word Translation