He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:24

Christmas is here. The day that we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a happy occasion where we think about that day when God became a man and dwelt among us. While we consider this miracle, let us also consider why that miracle is so meaningful. While God becoming man is amazing enough, it is ultimately just another miracle if we don’t consider why he became a man. 

Peter in the passage above tells us that he bore our sins in his body. This is the epitome of injustice. Christ, the only man to have ever been perfect, fully God in every way and fully man in every way, took upon himself our sin. He then served our sentence. We deserved death and Christ deserved life. Instead, Christ died so that we may live. 

We are all wounded by sin. Sin has a way of creeping into our lives even when we seek to run from it. It is tenacious. Most of the time, it is our own failings and weakness that cause us to sin. We are human, after all. Because of this, we are unable to face the Holy God of the Bible as he is so perfect, the sight of him in his Glory would cause us to drop dead. 

These wounds are deep. Deeper than any bandage or surgery can fix. So deep that our very soul is stained by its presence. But God, being rich in mercy, became a man, took our sin, and died on the cross in our place. He bore our sins. Because he bore our sins, we can die to sin and live to righteousness. This means that we can leave our sin behind and follow Christ. 

But what about our wounds? Christ was wounded so that our wounds may be healed. All of our wrongdoing, sin, hatred, lust, and selfishness is gone. It is dead to us. The scars they left are gone. The guilt is cleared. The stain is washed away. All of this because a baby was born of a virgin, in a manger, in the small town of Bethlehem. 

This Christmas season, let’s reflect on the sacrifice of Christ. Let us thank him for healing our wounds and bringing us into a relationship with him. If you have not been healed by Christ, then place your faith in Him and he will make you whole.