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Promised Son,

Miraculous Birth

“What Child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?”

The lyrics from this traditional Christmas song herald one of the most resounding questions the world has ever known. A promised son and miraculous birth stirs the heart to ask: What child is this? Like a baby first learning to walk, this wonder is only the first step of the heart in a journey that ends at the greatest question of all: Who is this man?

It is at the beginning, after the fall, that God makes the initial announcement of this man to come right there in the middle of the garden. God tells Satan that He will “put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you [Satan] on the head, and you [Satan] shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen. 3:15). This man who will crush Satan’s head will be born from a woman just like the one Satan tempted. At this triad meeting of a Holy God, a man and woman with sin in their hearts, and a deceiver, judgment is pronounced, and so is the hope of redemption. God Himself will provide a man, born by a woman, who will destroy Satan, and as God will reveal in His Word, this man will also save His people from their sin. But first, he will be a baby.

The first cry of a baby to disrupt the dismal reality of Eden lost was soon born, a baby boy, no doubt wondrously held in awe by parents who had seen other baby animals born, but now had a youngling of their own. As Eve held her baby son in her arms to warm him and feed him and as Adam set about protecting and providing for his family outside the guarded gates of the garden, perhaps each wondered if the infant would be the one. Would this baby be the prophesied son to defeat the serpent? However, the innocence of the child was soon lost, as was Eden. As with his parents, Cain’s sinful desires conceived within his heart brought forth the fruit of sin. In rebellion to God, the first son killed the second son, Abel. With the first son a murderer, the second son, dead, Adam and Eve dared to hope again, a hope based on the promise of God’s word. Then, a third son Seth, whose name means: “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him” (Gen. 4:25). Seth, the substitution, was born.

Hundreds of sons recorded in the book of Genesis would be born until God spoke another promise of a son. Isaac would be born to Abraham and Sarah, an old, barren couple. This second son, the promised blessing of all the earth (Gen. 12:1-3), would he be the one? As this favored child grew, it was part of God’s purpose for him to be placed as a sacrifice. God told Abraham to go up to a mountain in Moriah and build an altar there (Gen. 22:2). A sacrifice must be made, and the only lamb Abraham is told to bring is his beloved son, the life that prevailed over time and barrenness. At the brink of death, as Isaac lay submitted, the still living sacrifice is saved by the Lord. Would this be the one to conquer death forever, this lamb?

More sons were promised, and more sons were born miraculously to hopeless, barren couples. Jacob, born to Isaac, became Israel, the father of the twelve tribes. Samson, announced by an angel, was to be a Nazarite to God. He was set apart from birth for the Lord’s purposes as a judge to deliver Israel from its Philistine enemies. Samuel was given to the sorrowful and barren Hannah. He was devoted to the temple as a child and grew up to be a prophet, judge, and high priest.

Eventually, a son is promised who would be a king (2 Sam. 7:12-13). God promised David that He “will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Solomon, born at the height of Israel’s glory, was the wisest king on the earth (1 Kings 4:30), and yet cradled in his heart was desire that turned his heart away from the Lord (2 Kings 11:9).

Babies were promised and sons miraculously given. They grew up appointed and anointed by God to serve His purposes, but they also grew up as every man since the beginning of time, sinners every one of them. Liars, deceivers, adulterers, coveters, even idol worshipers. These mortal men delivered Israel from many enemies, but none delivered from Satan, nor from the indwelling corruption within, the corruption that caused Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the first place, the rebellion that rules the kingdom of every man’s heart: the sin of pride.

Finally, one night in Bethlehem, in a Jewish kingdom split and conquered, another baby was born when hope was scarce. “His name is to be Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). A whole host of angels burst upon the dark skies around Bethlehem declaring the glory of God. He is born! The promised son, born of a virgin, was Emmanuel (God with us). In the child Jesus, the divine and the holy became a human being, both flesh and Spirit of God.

Jesus, a blessing to all the earth, the hope of both Jew and Gentile. Jesus, the substitutionary lamb, who will be the sacrifice to atone for the sin of man. The holy and anointed Son of God, who will live a sinless life. The righteous judge, who will turn the hearts of His people back to God and His Word and will Himself be the justice of God. The eternal high priest, who will forever be the intermediary between man and God. The prophet who will only speak the words of His Father, and who will become the King of all Kings.

Jesus was never given any of these titles by men during His earthly ministry. Instead of recognized, the Son of Man was hated by most and crucified by his own Jewish people. At the cross, Satan and the Jewish ruling class rejoiced at Jesus’ death, but at His resurrection, death was defeated, and we receive forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life! His life for ours. Jesus is the payment for our sin. By His resurrection, the serpent, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14) is crushed, and death is defeated!

But first the Promised Son will be born a baby, the one foretold at the beginning of time.

What child is this, who, is laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Amy Ingram