Heaven's Light Breaking: A 5-Day Advent DevotionalSample

When the Son of God was born to Mary in Bethlehem of Judea, everything changed. Through time and eternity, nothing would or could ever be the same.

Christmas changed everything, because Christ changes everything.

God Himself entered the world in human form, and when the great Creator of the universe became a baby boy, planet Earth was transformed forever. And so were we.

Jesus, of course, did not begin life when He was conceived in Mary’s womb or when He was born in that Bethlehem stable. He has always existed as the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity.

The real story of Christmas goes way, way back before Bethlehem, before Mary and Joseph, before the shepherds and wise men and innkeepers and King Herod and all of the people who played a part on that best of all nights 2,000 years ago.

How could that be? How could there be a Christmas story before Jesus came?

The answer is simply this: The story of Christmas is actually an integral part of an even greater story that goes all the way back to the beginning. It is the story of our redemption. God had a plan to save humanity before it ever fell away from Him. God had a plan to offer salvation to you and to me before we ever saw the light of day.

Yes, at the right moment the Lord came to us, born on a back street in a backwater town of Bethlehem.

This is where He began life on earth, as the God-Man. This is where He first drew His lungs full of the air He had created. But the life of the Son of God goes back to the beginning of the beginning of the beginning. And before that!

The truth is, Jesus knew you and loved you before you were you. Before your parents met. Before your parents’ parents’ parents met. Before our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence. Before Columbus set out from Spain. Before Bethlehem. Before Adam and Eve drew a breath. Before the first star caught fire in the vault of space.

Before all Creation.

Never, never imagine that your life is random or without meaning. How could it be, when the Lord and Creator of the universe has loved you a million years before you were born?