As we approach Christmas Day, it’s so very easy to get caught up in the preparations for “the big day” and forget to take in the wonder of what Christmas really means.

We’re a week away … seven days left to ponder a few life-changing truths about the first time God entered His creation. Why did God, wrapped in human flesh, plant Himself miraculously through the Holy Spirit in a young woman’s womb? This occurred at a specific moment in human time, yet in God’s eternal mind had already changed the course of human events.

Why?

Here’s the first reason.

Jesus was born so that we could be born again.

The first time God made man, he was perfect. There was no sin in him; Adam and Eve walked in harmony and unity with God as they lived in the garden He had made for them. They were “naked and not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25), as their habit was to meet with God personally in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). He gave them complete freedom, with only one restriction: Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…or you will surely die (Genesis 2:17).

God gave Adam and Eve many gifts, among which was the one that ultimately destroyed the relationship between the Creator and His creation – free will. They could choose to obey or disobey God, and as we know, they chose poorly.

Tempted by the serpent, the devil, Eve gave in to the lust of her flesh – the fruit looked good for food – the lust of her eyes – it was a delight to the eyes – and the pride of life – it was desirable to make one wise (Genesis 3:6).

1 John 2:16 – For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

When Adam and Eve took that first bite, their eyes were opened to the knowledge of sin, and they died spiritually. Their intimate connection to the Creator was severed, and they had no power to fix it. Eventually, they would also die physically, and every human born from their body would now be born with a sin nature – spiritually dead and cut off from all the promises and blessings that God intended originally for us to have. From the moment we’re born, we begin our inevitable trek toward death, and if we die in this spiritually lost and dead condition, we will never be able to spend eternity with the perfect, holy Father who created us.

That’s why Jesus came.

We needed a do-over.

We needed to be born again so that we could renew our relationship with God and be given spiritual life once again.

Jesus came to be the “last Adam.” As human beings, we are all “in Adam,” but because Jesus came in the form of a human, we all have the opportunity to be born again – to be “in Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:22, 45-49 – For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. … So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, because a living soul.” The last Adam because a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

Jesus talked with Nicodemus about this very concept – being born again. Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus struggled to understand, at first not realizing Jesus is speaking spiritually. We don’t enter our mother’s womb again, but we are born again by the Holy Spirit, becoming spiritual descendants of Christ with a new nature.

How does this happen?

According to God’s Word, it’s pretty simple. We ASK God to give us this new life. We can’t earn it by being good and it’s more than just making an intellectual decision to live by the tenets of Jesus. We are born again when we recognize that we are lost and separated from God because of our sin and we repent, putting all our faith and hope in what Christ did on the cross, surrendering our lives fully to Him. We believe and receive the gift of salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 – That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Mark 1:14b-15 – Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

1 Peter 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Do you know the real meaning of Christmas? Jesus was born so that we could be born again.

I pray that you have opened this gift – that you have been born again!