When Everything Changes: The Transformative Power of Christ's Arrival

There's something profoundly beautiful about the Advent season—a time when we pause to celebrate not just a historical birth in Bethlehem, but the ongoing reality of what happens when Jesus steps into a human life. It's a season of dual anticipation: remembering His first coming and eagerly awaiting His return.

The Pattern of Divine Intervention

Throughout Scripture, we see a remarkable pattern. Consider the heroes of faith—not as they ended up, but as they began. David was a forgotten shepherd boy, overlooked even by his own father. Moses was a fugitive with blood on his hands, hiding in the wilderness for forty years. Paul was a religious zealot, breathing threats against the very people he would later serve. And Mary? She was simply a young woman preparing for an ordinary life in an ordinary town.

Yet when Christ entered their stories, everything changed. David became the anointed king of Israel. Moses became the liberator of God's people. Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles, through whom countless millions would come to know Jesus. Mary became the mother of the incarnate King, a faithful disciple who stood by the cross and continued in the early church.

This is the consistent testimony of Scripture: when Jesus steps in, everything changes forever.

The Weight of Seven Hundred Years

Isaiah prophesied it 700 years before it happened: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Immanuel—God with us. These two simple words carry the weight of eternity.

For seven centuries, God's people waited. They endured oppression, exile, and the heavy burden of a law they could never fully keep. Every sacrifice, every offering, every ritual pointed forward to something—to someone—who would make all things new.

And then, on an ordinary night in Bethlehem, heaven broke through.

The Shepherds' Story

It's striking who received the announcement first. Not kings. Not priests. Not the religious elite. Shepherds—ordinary working men on the night shift, guarding their flocks in the fields. Suddenly, the sky exploded with angelic glory. The armies of heaven appeared, praising God and declaring: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

Imagine the weight of that moment. These men, who society considered lowly and unremarkable, became the first evangelists of the gospel. They rushed to see the baby lying in a manger and then told everyone what they had witnessed. Their lives were never the same.

This is how God works. He chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chooses the weak to shame the strong. He takes nobodies and makes them somebodies—not for their glory, but for His.

The Rescue Mission

The baby in the manger came on a rescue mission. First and foremost, He came to rescue us from sin. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins—and that blood had to be perfect, spotless, without blemish. No human could provide it. We've all fallen short. But Jesus lived a sinless life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice, once and for all.

The manger stands in the shadow of the cross. The one born in humble circumstances would die in humiliating ones—but that death would purchase our freedom. As Scripture declares, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

But the rescue doesn't stop at salvation from sin. Jesus also rescues us from the brokenness of this world. He promises that in this world we will have trouble—but He has overcome the world. Neither life nor death, nor angels nor rulers, nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He even rescues us from our enemy. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. While we still face spiritual opposition, we do so with the authority and power of the One who has already won the victory.

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

When Jesus steps into a life, He doesn't just save us from something—He imparts something to us. He gives us a new identity. We become new creations; the old has passed away, and the new has come. We become children of God, royal priests, a holy nation.

But it goes further. He gives us supernatural power through the Holy Spirit. We're not expected to manufacture love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our own strength. These are fruits that grow from the Spirit's presence within us.

And perhaps most remarkably, He gives us a supernatural calling and purpose. Every single person who follows Jesus is an ambassador for Christ—representing the kingdom of heaven wherever they go. Whether at home, at work, at school, or in the community, we carry the light of heaven into dark places.

The Gift of Family

One of the often-overlooked gifts of Christ's coming is the gift of family. He sets the lonely in families. He heals broken family legacies, breaking cycles of dysfunction and establishing new patterns of righteousness. And He gives us the church—a spiritual family where we are members of one another, suffering together and rejoicing together.

Living in Light of His Coming

So what does all this mean for us today? It means we don't have to settle for ordinary, mundane lives defined by mere survival or comfort. We were created for something more—to live as kingdom ambassadors with supernatural purpose and power.

It means we remember that every blessing we have is a gift from heaven. Our salvation, our families, our healing, our purpose—all of it flows from the grace of God.

It means we worship the One who stepped into human history and changed everything. The baby in the manger grew up to die on a cross, rose from the dead, and is coming back again. And when He returns, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

This Christmas, may we not get so caught up in the busyness of the season that we forget to pause and worship. May we sit figuratively around that manger, filled with wonder and gratitude, knowing that the shadow of the cross falls over it—and beyond that cross, we see His glorious return.

When Jesus stepped in, everything changed. And He's not done yet.