The entire Bible is about Jesus. That may seem self-evident, but the Christmas story is more than a fun narrative about a cute baby. The Old Testament predicts the coming of Christ. The gospels reveal the coming of Christ. The letters of the New Testament proclaim the truth of Christ. And the final book of the Bible, Revelation, anticipates the second coming of Christ. God’s redemption is the common thread tying the whole Bible together. The Bible is not a haphazard collection of religious thoughts. There are 66 books in the Bible: volumes of law, historical works, poems, first-person narrative accounts, wisdom literature, and apocalyptic literature. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. They are written by kings and outlaws, those rich and poor.
The Bible wasn’t thrown together without foresight. The Bible is God’s planned, intentional, strategic revealed word to us. One fundamental purpose of God’s Word is to demonstrate how someone is redeemed. To be redeemed is to be saved from your sins. The Christmas story is not disconnected from the rest of the Bible. It is a critical part of an ongoing narrative. Christmas is the announcement of God completing His plan of redemption. The angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” – Luke 2:10 (NLT)
Of all the grand entrances and ways God could come here, He chose a birth. No matter how different each of us may be, we hold one thing in common. We are all born. Like us, God was born. Now, consider Joseph’s dilemma. He could take Mary as his wife, adopt Jesus, and experience ridicule. Or, he could walk away free and clear. Joseph chose to commit to Christ. He adopted baby Jesus as his own. No amount of Joseph’s DNA could be found in the wood at Golgotha. Jesus’ blood was not derived from Joseph’s blood. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, but he was Jesus’ real father. Joseph would have taught young Jesus the Scriptures. I imagine both of them on construction job sites—Joseph teaching Jesus to work with his hands and love God’s Word. Theologically, sin is the tragedy that separates us from God. Everyone is born a spiritual orphan. But God brings us into His family through Christ. Joseph adopted Jesus, and God adopts us through Christ.