“The mystery of Godliness is great, which is Christ in you.” 

St. Paul in the letter to the church at Colossae

“He has bestowed on us His most precious and significant promises, so that you might become partakers in the divine nature.” St. Peter in his second epistle.

When and was Jesus born?

How was Jesus born?

How do you celebrate His birth?

The answer to that first question has generated some debate.  People often-times get caught up on the exact date of Christmas.  Many claim that it would be impossible for the Christ to have been born on December 25^th.  That in fact the date was chosen in order to “convert” the Roman practice of worshipping Sol Invictus, or welcoming back the sun during the darkest time of the year.  I think that misses the point.  It’s not a question of when Jesus was born, at least not historically, but how.

We’re told that the Spirit came upon Mary and she conceived within her a son.  This son would be named Jesus, who is also the Christ.  This Christ is the divine element of God.  This Christ would take on human flesh, and be born as a human and in a human, as the first chapter of John’s Gospel makes so clear.  This, dear reader, is the point of the Incarnation, which we call Christmas.  The divine was coming to be with humans as a human! 

Jesus, who is the Christ, embodied and exemplified the best possible aspects and elements of what it means to be human.  You know those Advent themes that we are reminded of, Such as peace, joy, and hope?  Jesus was the epitome of those.  As well as love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and so forth.  Jesus revealed these true qualities of God, and the best qualities of being human, in himself, for all the world to see.  But it was a brief glimpse.  For the life of Jesus didn’t last long.  And it was only a small part of the world that saw Him. 

That means that there was need for second incarnation of sorts.  The first incarnation of Christ took place in a very unique way in the womb of Mary and in the world at that time.  But the second incarnation of Christ takes place in each of us.  Christ is born now, and in you! This is the good news of great joy that is indeed for all people of all time, that Christ is born personally in us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This is perhaps an even greater mystery than the first one; that the divine Christ would dwell in each of us!  It is not a heresy, as some might believe, but rather a central teaching in the New Testament, as we see from the writings of Paul and Peter, those pillars in the church.  Paul repeatedly spoke of the mystery of Christ IN YOU.  Not only did he speak of it, but he experienced it.  In his letter to the Galatians Paul says that Christ was revealed IN him, not just to him.  And Peter, as we see in the above verse, speaks of Christ putting his divinity in his people.

Thus, the need to be born again.  Not for US to have a religious experience in which we experience a new birth in God, though there is nothing wrong about that.  But rather for God to be born again in each of us.  Not just one time but over and over and over again. Every day.  So that in some small way we can embody the best qualities of the Christ, and what it means to be human.

It also changes our perspective on Christmas.  The observation of the incarnation is not an ancient historical event that happened “once upon a time”, but an ongoing celebration of the life that Christ lives not only for, but in and through us.  And not just us, but others.  What a gift!