It is Christmas day! Yes, I know this isn’t actually the day Jesus was born, but it is the day we have chosen to celebrate the birth. What happened that night in Bethlehem was far more significant than its impact on a young family and a small community. It began a series of waves that have spread around the globe. There is a sense in which the birth was the first scene in Act 2 of God’s redemptive play. Act 1 was the Old Testament. It set the stage for what was coming. It promised a Messiah, and blessings that would extend to all nations. The 400 years between the Testaments were like an intermission. Then, Act 2, Scene 1, the birth of the promised King. The birth is a key part of the story that extends from Eternity Past to Eternity Future. All history hangs on the truth of the birth of the King. Augustine wrote about this key point in time about 300 years later. Here is his poem:

Incarnation

Maker of the sun,

He is made under the sun.

In the Father he remains,       

From his mother he goes forth.

Creator of heaven and earth,

He was born on earth under heaven.

Unspeakably wise,

He is wisely speechless.

Filling the world,

He lies in a manger.

Ruler of the stars,

He nurses at his mother’s bosom.

He is both great in the nature of God,

And small in the form of a servant.

Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430

May you have a blessed Christmas as you contemplate the incredible truths captured in Augustine’s poem. Blessings!