Have you ever wondered what was happening in heaven on the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem? I can picture in my mind the angel Gabriel gathering the angels in heaven around him to share the exciting news of the events happening on the earth.
The great congregation of angels around the throne was waiting for the moment called “the fullness of time” to strike when Jesus would be born. I can imagine them intermittently interrupting Gabriel with songs of joy, singing praise to the newborn King, His worthiness, and His glory. One might ask how it can be assumed that the angels were in readiness to be at that scene. The writer of the book of Hebrews says, “When He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him’” (Hebrews 1:6). This was a divine command, and the angels were quick to obey.
The people on the earth were oblivious to what was happening in the stable outside the inn in Bethlehem, but the innumerable hosts of heaven were waiting to worship, praise, and glorify, the newborn Baby. Why? “The fullness of time” had come! In heaven there was a farewell between the Father and the Son in a dialogue that dealt with the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world. The words of God are recorded in Hebrews 10:5-7 – “When He comes into the world, He (God the Son) says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You (God the Father) have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me . . . Then I said, ‘I have come to do Your will.’”
Let us now turn our attention from the conversation in heaven between the Father and the Son to the events that were about to happen in Bethlehem where the angels were waiting and watching. The first event to take place was the arrival of the holy family at Bethlehem. Mary pondered in her heart all the things that the prophets had foretold – which she incorporated into her song, the Magnificat. The fullness of her time had come, and the child was born. The next step was the appearance of the angels to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks in the fields outside Bethlehem.
Simultaneously, in a far-off nation, the Wise Men, studying the sky, saw the appearance of a new star. They were men chosen of God because of their search for truth. They began their long journey in search of Him who was to be born King. In them we have the forerunners of many Gentiles who were and are yet to come to worship the Christ Child.
All of the angels in heaven were watching and waiting. One can only imagine their excitement when the trumpet sounded and Gabriel announced: “The Savior has been born!” And just as He was born in Bethlehem, He is reborn in every heart and life the moment they acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord. It is why Paul wrote to the Galatians, “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19 NASB).
The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem took place for one reason: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NASB). The proof of God’s love is that “He gave.” Love reaches out, overflowing beyond the borders and boundaries of self. Love has within itself the desire to make some sacrifice, to do something for the sake of the one who is loved.
Huber, the Swiss naturalist, was standing one day with his mother watching a colony of ants. He was only a boy at the time, but he became deeply concerned, for as he walked closer, he noticed that the busy little creatures were alarmed. Stooping down, he looked more closely at them; then turning to his mother, he said, “They’re afraid of me, mother, aren’t they?” “Yes,” she said, “but they wouldn’t be afraid if they knew how much you love them.” Huber became thoughtful. Then he said, “Mother, how can I tell them that I love them unless I become an ant?”
The point is well taken. That is precisely why Jesus left heaven to become one of us: He loves us!
The Paper Pulpit 
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