We come to the final post in this advent series. We’ve gone from prophets to angels to shepherds to Mary this advent season, and now we come to the One we’ve been waiting for, Christ the Lord.

He’s more than just a tiny baby. We can’t put Him in a box for Christmas as an adorable little boy because all that He Is is infinite. We can’t confine our understanding of Him to just the baby the angels spoke of and the shepherds searched for because Jesus has never been just anything. He Has Been for all eternities past, and He Will Be for future eternities.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets. He’s the King of the angels. He’s the Savior of the shepherds.

Long before the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. All things were made through Him, and in Him is life. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the triune God, the second Person in the Trinity. He’s been intimately involved in the history of the world since time began, and He’s been known by many names.

Yahweh.

The Almighty.

Adonai.

The Most High.

His coming was foretold for millennia, from the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15 right up to when Gabriel told Mary she would bear the Son of the Most High. There was so much expectation and longing and hope tied to His first coming. Earth and Heaven waited for the fullness of time to come, and when it came, they rejoiced. Zechariah and Elizabeth. Mary and Joseph. Angels. Shepherds. Simeon. Anna. Magi.

The Everlasting God took on the fragile, mortal flesh of man. The King of Heaven stepped down from His throne. The Ancient of Days chose to become a baby.

Jesus came here knowing that, in just over three decades, He would die here. He didn’t have to come; He’s never owed mortal man anything. But He came anyway. He came to reconcile His spiritually dead elect back to Himself. He knew how steep the cost would be to save the souls of men, but being loving beyond imagination, He paid that price.

Paul says this in Philippians 2: “Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus showed His supremacy and preeminence when He rose from the dead after three days in the grave. Then, He ascended back to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the throne of God.

He is the living One. He is the holy One. He is the true One. The Firstborn of the dead. The Faithful Witness. The Ruler of the Kings on earth.

I’m reminding you all of this because I needed to be reminded of it. I needed to remember that He’s far more than I usually think, especially around this time of year. I fall into the rut of “Baby Jesus”, and I forget all that He Is. He’s so far beyond my understanding that I won’t ever comprehend Him, but I intend to try because He’s Christ the Lord.

So that’s what I encourage you to reflect on now.

What about you? How do you typically view Jesus? Do you ever struggle to remember Who and what He Is? How does your view of Christ impact how you celebrate Christmas?