Little Baby Jesus gets us all in our feels because he’s new and precious. Our hearts understand the celebration of newness. It’s why we tear up at weddings, births and transformation stories. New babies especially represent all that’s good in the world. The innocence, trust, joy and pure love that so many of us wish we could go back to. A life before pain, betrayal and the knowledge that so much brokenness exists.

But Jesus’ purpose was not to come to earth. His purpose was not to be born to Mary in a miracle birth. His purpose was not to be God in human form because his purpose was not to be born.

It was to die.

His birth ushered in hope. It gave people a tangible piece of faith they could hold. It brought light into a dark and broken world. And we celebrate Christmas because hope and light and peace and joy are certainly all things we can use more of. There’s not one among us that doesn’t need a tangible piece of heaven that we can cling to. Without the beginning of the story, there can be no ending. Without a birth, there can be no death. And without a death, there can be no resurrection. Of Jesus, of the world, of us.

But this is just the beginning of the story. Jesus’ purpose would not be fulfilled for more than 30 years. A lifetime. He would struggle and face confusion as he began to see the world for what it really is. He would ask God for wisdom and learn to manage his emotions & behaviors when things didn’t make sense. He would face heartbreak when his friends and family were disloyal or their lives ended before he left this earth. He would speak truth to those who wouldn’t hear it and try to influence those who wouldn’t follow him. He would face criticism, ridicule and loneliness. And then he would pick up every pain, mistake and feeling the world would ever have to change the ending of the story. Of your story. By conquering death so that life always wins.

Because God saw you and couldn’t live without you, He sent his son, a baby that is so easy to love. Not so Jesus could live with you, but so he could die for you, in order that you could live forever with Him.

Celebrate this Christmas because of life. Not the new life of a baby, but the hope of a lifetime and the ending of a story that death never wins. Yours.