December 15 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Philippians 2:5–11

Devotional

During this time of the year much attention is given to Christmas. The events surrounding the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world are portrayed as nicely as possible, but this birth would never have taken place if we had not sinned. We wanted to rob God of His honor. We revolted against God; we wanted to be independent from God. That is why the Son of God came into the world. Therefore, Christmas is not to our credit; it happened because of our sin. Had we not sinned there would have been no need for Christ to make Himself of no reputation.

When we fathom something of this and we, as it were, enter the stable, then the crown drops from our head. Only broken and humbled people can enter the stable. How can this Child mean anything for us if we are still proud and unbroken? By nature there is no place for this humbled Christ, because we ourselves stand too high in our own eyes.

As we fall before the Christ Child we, too, are humbled. Our humbleness earns us nothing, but in our state of humility we meet the Savior. Only in humility can we meet Him who, being God, became man and dwelt among us. In response, we see our depravity and are deeply humbled. As we bow before the humbled Christ, we see our shame and our guilt.

In the stable we see a poor Christ. There is much talk about a rich Christ, but in our text we see a poor Christ. He was born as one who had no rights; He came without any title, possession, or honor. He did have guilt upon Him. As a Child, He was under the law, under the demands of the law, under the curse of the law. And in His poverty we see our own poverty.

He is the One we need to live life in our place and to die in our place. We need Him dearly from our cradle to our grave. What do you think of Christ? How do you view Him against the backdrop of your own sins? What do you think: could you really despise such love? Could you really live on in life as if you did not need Him? Have you still not understood that in the humiliation of Christ you can see how great your sins are?

Or is this all not necessary for you? Do you not have any sin? Of course you do! How then can you live on comfortably without really considering the gospel of Christmas? Do you not realize that Christ’s birth had to happen for your sins? Believe the truth that you need a Surety from the moment of your birth, because from your conception on you are under sin and guilt. You were born under original guilt; evil lives within you. Therefore, you need to know the poor Christ who makes poor sinners rich.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.