Birth or Conception?

Yesterday I started getting a verse for the day in email.  I’m going to try to close my day with that verse.  This was the verse for yesterday.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.  (Luke 2:6-7 NIV)

Which is more important, Jesus birth or His conception?  I want to make an argument for His conception.  Last night as I meditated on the verses above it struck me that we wonder at the God of the universe becoming a baby.  It is the Christmas season and we make a big deal about the birth of Jesus and I think we should.  It is amazing that God came to earth and somehow put Himself inside a baby.

I believe that life begins at conception.  If that is really the case then when the Holy Spirit fertilized the egg inside of Mary the Son of God for a brief time existed as a single cell.  If I have my biology incorrect, I apologize.  I know that egg began to divide immediately and very soon there would have been many cells, but it just struck me how small God became to fulfill the mission of saving humanity.  All the information required to create Jesus existed, but there would have been no ability for Him to think or act.

I think this means that Jesus’ life began in a similar way to the way it ended.  In the beginning, at conception, there would seem to have been some separation of consciousness from God the Father.  In the end, on the cross, there also seems to be a brief separation from God the Father.  I can’t begin to imagine the love for me that motivated this incredible plan.

As you celebrate the birth of Jesus please don’t forget how it all began.  To me it makes the story even more amazing.