Receiving the news from a family member or a close friend about a newborn baby is good news.

Some of you reading this will have been the bearer of this good news to the world on the announcement of a child that has been born to you. That is good news to share.

We see the babies and children of elite players paraded around the pitch/court/track as victory is celebrated. Thousands of babies and children each weekend arehanded on to friends and family to look after, minutes before the whistle blows as amateur adults take to the field.

The news of a baby coming into the world, or the opportunity to look after one, is good news and we want to celebrate it.

But this baby is different. Significantly different.

The significance lies in who this baby is and what this baby came to do.

Here is what the angel said:

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Who is this baby born in Bethlehem?

Do you see the two titles given?

Messiah

Not just ‘a Messiah’ or ‘a kind of Messiah’ but he is THE Messiah. The term suggests that this baby is not an anointed child of God but THE anointed child of God. This is the one Messiah, sent by God to fulfil a special, God-given task.

The word ‘Messiah’ would have been very familiar to the Shepherd boys. The Jewish nation had been waiting for their messiah for thousands of years. They would have known exactly who this newborn baby was.

The Lord

This word is the game changer. It was an “angel of the Lord” who appeared to the shepherds, and it was the “glory of the Lord that shone around them” but the anointed one, sent by God was God himself. The Lord has initiated his rescue plan for the whole of mankind and he himself has come down to earth to fulfil it.

This is captured in the word “Saviour.”

Saviour

We see here what he has come to do.

He has come to save people from the consequence of their sinful and shameful selves. This is the wonder or all wonders. The creator of all, the Lord of all, the highest of the highest, has become the lowest for us.

It’s worth dwelling here for a moment. Stop and consider how desperate your sinful state was that the only solution to deal with it was for King of Kings to become flesh and blood, to dwell amongst and then to die in the place of and at the hands of rebels set against him. That’s remarkable!

Think about that in your sport.

Every bitter thought against an opponent - the baby Jesus came to deal with.
Every act of aggression and anger - the Messiah came to die for.
Every nasty word spoken to a teammate - the Lord himself took upon himself.

May these words from the angel be wondrous again for you this Christmas or perhaps for the first time you’ll consider the significance of the baby Jesus and like the shepherds, praise him.

Let these words from the carol ‘Hark the Herald’ compel you to praise him:

“Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the new-born king"

Pray for yourself

Father God, thank you for sending Jesus to rescue me. Please give me a heart that overflows with thankfulness this Christmas-time. Amen

Pray for your friends

Finally, take a few minutes to pray for those in your sport - that God will open a door for his message in your club or team this Game Day.