Written by Rod Dempsey
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE BABY IN THE MANGER?
From the Angel’s mouth, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-12). Praise God. Jesus came to save us from our sins! As a result of Jesus coming to us and dying in our place there is another birth to examine and that is birth of the Church. Notice the pattern. Jesus is born and over time He grows and matures. After a while He publicly proclaims His mission in Luke 4:18-19:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
As He proclaims the Good News… He is the Good News. He heals the sick, feeds the hungry, has personal conversations with hurting people, teaches the people, gives sight to the blind, casts out demons, raises the dead and dies on the cross for all the sins of the world past, present and future! Before His death though He explains that He will “build His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:16-19). After His death and resurrection, the church is born in Acts 2. Continuing the birth motif… whenever a person believes in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for their sins they are “born again” (John 3) and this new creation is part of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). In Act 2 we see that the new followers of Jesus immediately follow His example and, “they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.”
The church has come into existence for the purpose of “birthing” little Christ’s (Col. 1:24-29). We are the mystery that has been hidden from past ages and generations who are maturing and using their spiritual gits, given to them by Christ, to build up the other members of the Body. Ultimately so that Christ’s body will become the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus in a hurting world. As each member matures and develops his or spiritual gift and uses it according to the plan of Christ… the Body matures and grows healthy (Eph. 4:11-16).
The Body of Christ then becomes the visible loving representation of Christ in a community doing the very things Christ did while here on earth. In Christ’s love, using His supernatural gifts, the Body meets the needs of a community, and the people not only hear about Christ they see and are impacted by His love through His disciples. The Good News of Christ is seen, felt, heard. The Gospel is visibly shown and verbally shared.
Fulfilling the mission of Christ to “make disciples” is actually making healthy members of the Body of Christ who look, think, feel and act like Christ and together through their gifts serve the world by preaching the gospel to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, and they set free those who are oppressed, while proclaiming the favorable year of the Lord.” Together they become the visible representation of Jesus on this earth and that is the ultimate reason of the Baby in the manger. The Baby in the manger has come so that multitudes will believe in Him and be born again to become the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus to a lost and hurting world.
disciplemakingblog 