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Devotional by Thomas A. Tarrants.

Image: Bethlehem is located five miles south of Jerusalem. During the time of Jesus, it was an unwalled, small town surrounded by hills used for agriculture and grazing. The sheep, goats, and harvests from Bethlehem may have supplied offerings for the Temple in Jerusalem.

Bethlehem was a very small and insignificant town in Israel. It was so small that it was not numbered among the clans of Israel, groups of about 1,000 within each tribe. Yet Bethlehem was the town God chose for a very special role in His kingdom. It was to be the birthplace of the One whose days were from time imme- morial and who would come down from heaven with a special mission.

Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, was the image of the in-visible God, the firstborn of all creation. He created all things in heaven and earth. He was wor-shiped by angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. Yet love compelled Him to leave heaven, take on human flesh, live among us and ultimately give His life as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Through His life, death, and res-urrection, He purchased forgive-ness and eternal life for everyone who believes in Him and trusts Him as Savior and Lord.

What a glorious spectacle to ponder, that “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 hu-man form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on across. 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 he Father” (Philippians 2:5–11).

He gave His all for us; can we give any less for Him? “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all” (Charles Wesley). As we await His sec-ond advent, may we in gratitude follow His example of sacrificial love, humble servanthood, and costly obedience.