This is the Beverly House Compound, located in Los Angeles, California: 17 bedrooms, 29 bathrooms and 75,000 square feet of living space. It is valued at $165 million, standing alone as the most expensive item on the US housing market. It’s not only beautiful, it’s pure wealth.

Imagine a life where you owned this compound. Even more, you pay for the house in cash – a transaction that barely hurts your bank account. And of course, the only reason you have such wealth is because you’re the most renowned neurosurgeon in the world. You spend your mornings drinking coffee in the parlor, trying to keep up with the letters you receive from doctors all over the world asking for your opinion.

Can you imagine it? You have the perfect life.

But this is only the beginning of the story. Now, change the setting from Los Angeles, California to Heaven, and you’re exactly where the gospel begins: Jesus Christ in perfect paradise with more power than any man on Earth. He is well respected by the angels who praise Him and His Father. He has everything you just dreamed of in your Beverly Hills paradise: authority, respect, power and even wealth!

This is where the Christmas Story really begins, not with a baby in a stable, but a king who left perfection. Have you ever thought of it that way? Christ had the perfect life, sitting at the side of His Father’s throne as the angels sing praises. But the thing is, He gave it all up for the sinners He loved far more than His own glory. 

It’s easy to put ourselves in His shoes while He lives in paradise. It was probably really natural to imagine yourself as the rich Beverly Hills doctor, wasn’t it? 

But could you picture yourself giving it all up? Probably not.

Let’s put this in a more realistic light, using Donald Trump as our example. Whether you like him or not, you can’t say there’s not at least one part of his life you wouldn’t accept if it was offered to you. He seems to have it all – wealth, success, a beautiful family, authority, fame, and even with the controversy around him, he is still respected by many people. 

But would he give all that up if it meant saving you from a forthcoming danger? Of course not. And if I’m being honest, I don’t think I could do that for him either. 

This is why the birth of Jesus is so insane, because we can’t even fathom doing what He did! Now, perhaps we would give up our wealth or perfect lives for certain people like our parents, children, spouses or close friends. But, could we really make that sacrifice for everyone?

Could you do it for the man who entered an elementary school, grasping a handgun as tightly as his grudge?

Or for the predators who rob innocent souls of their beauty and self-worth?

Could you sacrifice everything for the man who was supposed to protect you, yet built a safe house for his whiskey while you were left in the cold?

And, if we’re really examining hearts, could you even make the sacrifice for you? I mean, if you really dig deep, you know what your heart looks like. You know the hateful thoughts you’ve harbored and the selfish motives you’ve carried out. And I don’t know about you, but it’s not that pretty when you start digging.  

Honestly, I’ll never be able to understand how much Christ had to love us to leave his perfection. There’s this insane love and humility in the sacrifice He made. And frankly, no matter how apathetic we get from hearing the Christmas Story over and over, there is nothing cliché about someone dying for you. Sure, the Christmas Story is centered around the cute baby born in a stable, but it’s ultimately about why, and what Christ sacrificed to become the humble child born to a virgin. 

But even still, He made that sacrifice for you. Left his paradise for you. Endured this harsh world for you. Died for you. Because He loves you. 

I pray that you would really allow this to sink in and challenge you and that this Christmas season, you would be ever-grateful for our Humble King. Serve Him with gratitude and love with all you have, even if it requires making sacrifices. Because that’s what Christ did for you.