For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
-2 Corinthians 8:9

He became poor.  He didn’t loose his riches, nor were they taken from him.  Philippians 2 says he humbled himself and took the from of a servant.  Jesus said in John 10 that no one takes his life, but that he has the authority to lay it down and take it up again.

He became poor.  He became small, weak, tired, hungry, thirsty, despised and rejected by men.  He was laid in a manger the night he was born and in a grave the night he died.  Why?  Because only he could.  Neither the Law, nor sacrifices, nor good works could make us righteous.  On our own, we could never have clawed our way out.  We were guilty, condemned, lost and… hopeless.  I have often said that when we could not come to God, he came to us.  C.S. Lewis said “The Son of God became man to enable men to become sons of God.”

God is in the manger.  And that is the best gift ever.

Merry Christmas!