I know we’ve all heard it before. We’ve all seen the Veggie Tales version and we have most likely all played an angel or a wise man as a child in a Christmas play. And I know you probably make an effort to make your holiday centered around Jesus with Advent wreaths and Nativity scenes under the tree. Or maybe you don’t consider yourself a Christian, and instead consider Christmas nothing more than a time to give gifts and be joyful. But now, in the midst of the decorating and the lights and the sales and the presents and the flannel pajamas, when was the last time you sat down and truly took in the Christmas story for the incredible, baffling, and unbelievable masterpiece that it is?

So I want you to stop what you’re doing right now. Turn off the Mariah Carey. And read this, whether it is your first time reading it or your 100^th. Really read this. Go slow. Pause if you need to. Take it in for what it truly is, the story of the birth of Jesus, the Savior and redeemer of this world.

The Christmas story begins in the first few chapters of each of the gospels, located at the beginning of the New Testament of the bible. But the true beginnings of the story of Jesus, of a savior of a fallen world, starts muchearlier. The first mention of Jesus is contained in one of the first chapters of the bible, in Genesis 3:15 which reads:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (NASB)

This passage is God speaking to the Serpent after he tricks Eve into eating the apple, so he is the “you” here. As my old youth pastor drilled into our heads, “the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.” If you hadn’t figured out by now, the seed is Jesus. From the moment that humanity fell out of favor with God and sin entered the world, God was already planning and promising Jesus, the forgiver and forbearer of our sin.

Let’s skip to Isaiah. In this book, an enslaved nation of Israel is crying out to their God for hope and deliverance - which God provides in the form of a continuing promise:

“For to us a child is born,

To us a son is given,

And the government will be on his shoulders.

He will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV 1984).

The reality is that everything about God’s words and plans and actions since the garden of Eden have been leading up to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

So now that we have some background, let’s jump back to Luke, the gospel, to hear the story of Jesus. Hebrews 4 calls the word of God “living and active”, and I’m a firm believer that His word is able to teach us something new every time. Again, read this as you’ve never read it before.

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and the line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to a firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you; you will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’” (Luke 2:1-14 NIV 1984).

Good stuff, right? I truly hope that impacted you as much as it impacted me. I hope you saw how from creation to the Roman Empire, God was constantly and actively making way for the Savior of the world, for our savior. I hope you see His incredible ability to use the mundane, the ordinary, and the rejects and outcasts of the world to carry out His biggest plans, including his biggest plan of all: Jesus.

Oh, how I hope you see Jesus so evident in this story. Adam and Eve missed it. The Israelites in Isaiah missed it. Throughout the rest of the New Testament, so many others missed it. Don’t let another second of this Christmas season go by without missing it. Read the story of Jesus. Make it more than just words in a Christmas Carol or a nativity scene or an Instagram caption. Live the story of Jesus.