Christ Born to You

"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. "

Luke 2:10-11

It must have been quite a shock for the shepherds keeping their flocks by night to be accosted by angelic messengers heralding the Messiah's arrival.  Imagine how you would feel to hear "There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour."  It would be easy to accept a baby had been born to Joseph and Mary but much more difficult to take personal responsibility for a baby that was not yours.

Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Because the Child Jesus was born to them, they were responsible to feed, clothe, wash and raise Him.  Parents are called to nourish, train, discipline and provide for the needs of the children God has provided by His grace.  Children are born to their parents, not for them.  This struck me afresh as I considered man's tendency to imagine the sending of God's only begotten Son Jesus is for us, not unto us.  While we do benefit from Jesus being sent as our Saviour, Him being sent to us means we have responsibility to take action by faith in Him.

The shepherds realised Jesus had been born to them and thus they responded in obedience to divine revelation.  Luke 2:15-17 says, "So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child."  If the Child was born for their salvation and redemption, they could shrug and say, "Cool."  Because Jesus was born to them, they immediately went with haste to find the Baby they were told about.  Having found Him, they believed and boldly proclaimed widely what was told them concerning Jesus:  He is a Saviour, who is Christ the LORD.

Friends, do you realise Jesus has been born to you?  On this Christmas let us realise Jesus does not exist for us but we do for Him.  Since He has been born to us, we all have personal responsibility before God to believe, seek Him and widely proclaim Him like those shepherds did long ago.  We have good tidings of great joy to all people, for unto us is born a Saviour!  Let us adore Him and glorify Him always.