About That Babe in a Manger

The babe in the manger is only important if the rest of the story is told.  Celebrating the birth of Jesus makes no sense at all unless one also celebrates his death on the cross and his resurrection.  Perhaps Christians should be decorating their homes with the manger scene next to the empty cross, showing the importance of his birth and death.

The other day, I read an article by Dave Daubenmire about this.  He called his article, "More than a baby in a manager."

Here's some of what his article said.  I loved that he provided the links to the Bible passages he referenced (from Biblegateway.com, I believe).

For many, the recitation of the "Christmas Story" gives an almost-fairy-tale like feeling to those who are enamored by the season. If the only Jesus one hears about is the "Babe in a manger" is it any wonder that Christianity is so powerless to so many?

Almighty God humbled Himself and took on the form of a sinful man. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is so much more than a "Babe in a manger."

The Prophet Isaiah foretold "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,"

That Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, was almighty God Himself. It is high time we taught our children to look beyond the manger.

You see the entire Bible is about Jesus. In each of the sixty-six books there is a type or shadow, a picture if you will, of Jesus.

In Genesis He is The Seed of The Woman. In Exodus: The Passover Lamb. In Leviticus He is The High Priest. In Numbers The Cloud and The Fire, In Deuteronomy He is The Prophet Like Moses. Joshua presents Him as The Captain of Our Salvation, In Judges He is The Judge And Lawgiver.

The book of Ruth presents Him as The Kinsman Redeemer, in 1 & 2 Samuel He is The Prophet of The Lord. The books of 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles declare Him The Reigning King while in Ezra He is The Faithful Scribe. Nehemiah pictures Him as The Rebuilder of The Broken Down Walls.

In Esther He is Mordecai. Job describes Him as The Dayspring From on High. In Psalms, The Lord Who Is Our Shepherd, Proverbs & Ecclesiastes call Him Wisdom. The Song of Solomon declares him as The Lover & Bridegroom, and Isaiah says He is The Prince of Peace.

In Jeremiah & Lamentations He is The Weeping Prophet, while Ezekiel writes that He is The Wheel Turning. Daniel names Him The 4th Man in The Fiery Furnace, to Hosea The Bridegroom Married to The Backslidden Woman. Joel declares Him Baptized With The Holy Spirit And Fire while Amos calls Him The Burden Bearer.

The book of Obadiah speaks of Him as The Mighty Savior, while Jonah says He is The Forgiving God. In Micah He is The Messenger With Beautiful Feet, but Nahum prophesizes Him as The Avenger of God's Elect. Habakkuk speaks of The Great Evangelist, Crying For Revival, while Zephaniah describes Him as The Restorer of God's Lost Heritage.

In Haggai he is The Cleansing Fountain, Zechariah: The Merciful Father and Malachi calls Him The Son of Righteousness, Rising with Healing in His Wings.

Matthew: The Messiah, Mark: The Wonder Worker, Luke: The Son of Man, John: The Son of God. In Acts He is The Ascended Lord, In Romans The Justifier. In 1 & 2 Corinthians He is called The Last Adam, Galatians declares He is The One Who Sets Us Free. Ephesians calls Him The Christ of Riches, while in Philippians: The God Who Meets Our Every Need.

Colossians describes Him as The Fullness of The Godhead, 1 & 2 Thessalonians: The Soon Coming King, 1 & 2 Timothy: The Mediator Between God And Man. Titus calls Him The Blessed Hope, while Philemon: The Friend That Sticks Closer Than a Brother.

In the book of Hebrews He is The Blood That Washes Away My Sins. James declares Him The Great Physician. In 1 & 2 Peter declare Him The Chief Shepherd while in 1 & 2 & 3 John: Everlasting Love. Jude cries The God our Savior and in Revelation He is The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

This Christmas season teach your children about our Savior and God's marvelous plan to rescue the world from sin.

To read Daubenmire's entire article, click here:  More than a baby in a manager

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The story of Jesus' birth is one that many Christians can recite.  So can their children.  But each one of us should go beyond what we learned as children, should study God's word to find out what we missed when we memorized the words as kids.

Many Christians admit that they have not been to a Sunday school class or a Bible study since they were kids.  That's sad, especially if they have also not continued reading God's word every day and asking God to help them understand and learn and grow.

Imagine if what you knew about science or history or politics was only what you learned as a young child.  Imagine if you never watched any news or picked up a newspaper.  If that were the case, perhaps people would consider you uneducated.

What about if you've never studied the Bible since childhood?  Does that make one uneducated as well?  It's true that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  But we're not.  We develop new skills, new depth to our thought process.  But I wonder how that works if everything we've learned about Jesus came to us when we thought as a child?