The Story Begins with Christmas
Our God is a storyteller. As a writer of stories myself, this fact has always made me feel like what I am doing actually matters — like every little word that I manage to jot down on a page really can change the world. After all, I am mimicking my Father’s own craft. Perhaps I am only creating pseudo-worlds, while his Word takes on Flesh, but there is something so beautiful in being able to reflect God’s own creative nature in such an intimate way.
When you think about it, the story God has written is more bizarre, more fantastic, more mysterious, more mystical than any fantasy epic you could ever dream up. And His story is true. It happened.
It all started one cold, blistery night. A young girl, probably around 13 years old, was traveling with her betrothed to a small town called Bethlehem. She was pregnant, and they were searching for a place to rest their feet after their journey. Again and again they were turned away, until at last, they took shelter in a stable, bedding down with the animals in the straw.
It was there, in that stable, that this young girl went into labor. After many painful hours, she gave birth to a son. Together with her betrothed, she swaddled the infant and laid him in a feeding trough filled with hay. This baby — wrapped in rags and lying in a dirty manger — was something spectacular. He was the son of God.
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.”Christ’s life (and Salvation history as a whole) is filled with elements we typically associate with fiction — and with fantasy especially. His birth was prophesied. It was foreshadowed. It was woven into the very fabric of history — intricately and masterfully.
We may associate these things with fiction, but in reality, fiction — and all storytelling — merely reflects the story that God has already put down. Stories are powerful because they reflect God’s master work, and because, at their core, they reflect deep truth.
At the moment of Christ’s birth, God himself came down and placed himself inside of history — inside of the very words he wrote. The Word literally became Flesh.
At the manger, God’s story began.
