We find ourselves in another Advent season. The church year begins with Advent, and the story of Jesus’ miraculous birth is replayed on our consciousness in the songs of Christmas, the few and familiar scripture passages, and the decorations that highlight the main characters. In the Advent season we are asked to remember that Jesus was born and prepared for the time of His birth by reflecting on our sins—the things we know that God would rather us not do. We tell God we are sorry and receive His full forgiveness. We also think about His second coming and prepare our lives for His return. It will be repeated again and again for many years to come.

We get so focused on the particulars of Jesus’ birth that sometimes we don’t take the time to think of why He was born. He was God, part of the Trinity. Now don’t ask me to try to explain the Trinity—eventually, as you come to know and love God, you begin to understand that He reveals Himself to us in ways we can grasp and still not fully understand. The Trinity is something that He slowly revealed, not completely until Jesus came in the flesh, and then fully when the Holy Spirit was promised. From eternity past, God, the Son, and the Spirit existed. The Son and the Spirit were mentioned in the Old Testament, but they were kept a mystery until Jesus was born. Prior to the first Christmas, the Son had never been born. There was no reason for God to be born. God existed in His godliness and created angels who served and rejected Him. He remained firmly the three in One, no birth to bring back those fallen angels. Jesus was born as the Son of God and of man for a reason. Jesus tells us the reason in John 18:37 in a discussion with Pilate:

“You are a king, then! said Pilate.”

“Jesus answered, You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Jesus was born to establish that God’s Kingdom cannot be demolished in spite of sin’s ferocious hold on mankind. Jesus was born to be the King of Kings. He died by the hands of man because He was who He said He was. The Magi showed us that Jesus was born to be King. The whole reason that they set out on such a long and arduous journey was to celebrate the King. Jesus’ Kingdom is not easy to comprehend. The Magi expected Him to be born in a palace and set up an earthly Kingdom. That makes sense to man, who can only see the need for a Peace- ruling Kingdom on earth. We don’t take in, without the help of Scripture, that the Kingdom Jesus rules is higher than any earthly kingdom. His kingdom trumps all spiritual kingdoms too. The present ruler of darkness—Satan—has fallen, and Jesus’ kingdom is firmly established. Jesus was born to establish the kingdom that we all long for. He reigns in a kingdom where there can be peace on earth. Jesus was born to become King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I pray that you know Him as Your king and that you believe that this is the truth.