I know I was there when I was born, but I don’t remember it, so I have to take my mom’s word for it. The day I was born, everyone knew I was a son of Jerald and Nancy Brooks. When our children were born, I stood in awe of the miracle of life. Eve’s amazement became ours: “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”
John writes about God the creator, the living Word becoming flesh. God was born so that we might be born again. Jesus came to live among us, shining God’s light in our dark world. When Jesus walked on the earth, he walked on his own creation. The whole universe bears his fingerprints. You would think the world would have rolled out the red carpet to welcome God when he came. But for the most part, save a few shepherds and wise men, the world scarcely noticed. Even the very religious leaders of Israel missed it when he came, failing to recognize him.
Only those who receive Jesus by believing in him receive the right to become children of God. All are God’s creation by virtue of our birth into the world. But we only become God’s children through faith. We are children who are born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will. We are born of God. No wonder Jesus looked at Nicodemus and said to him three times, “You must be born again.” Phillips Brooks captured it in his great Christmas Carol, “O holy child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born in us today.”
