Over 2,000 years ago, God the Son entered humanity as a mere infant – not as a grown man ready to minister but as a helpless baby.  He who was equal in power, majesty, and glory with God the Father and God the Spirit did not cling to that equality.  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges, humbled himself and became a human being. He who was the Creator willingly became created.  He who was infinite became finite.

This humbling He experienced was not an experiment or an exploration in curiosity.  His humiliation had a divine purpose – one we celebrate each December.  We celebrate the birth of the One who made the choice to become one of us, so we in turn can become one with Him.

For only by becoming one of us could God die for us, saving us from a destiny of eternal separation from His presence.  In fact, in just hours before Jesus was apprehended in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for us.  Yes, he prayed not only for his disciples who had been with him for 3 ½ years, but he prayed for all of us – we who would become his disciples centuries later.  Look at this excerpt of his prayer to God the Father:

“My prayer is not for them (the 12 disciples) alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me . . .  they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me . . .”  (John 17:20, 22 NIV)

So this Christmas, let us with renewed appreciation celebrate the plan of God the Father, executed by God the Son empowered by God the Spirit – a plan that makes it possible for us to become one with the One who became one of us!