Steven Johnson, DDS | December 21, 2025
As I am sitting at my desk tonight on the eve of the first anniversary of my wife Michelle's homegoing. I was thinking about the article I wrote 2 weeks after her Death. “Hope for the Holidays, you can go back and read the article in the archives in Bellator Christi. Everything I wrote last year is still true today. Has it been an easy year? No, but I know where she is, and we serve a Risen Savior. Before we can have a Risen Savior, we need a God who would humble himself to come down to earth and be born in a manger. This article is about why God would choose to be born in a manger and why He left heaven to come to earth.
Why do we need a Savior?
Genesis chapters 1 and 2 describe how God made the heavens and earth and everything in it. God said in verse 31, “And God saw everything He made, and behold, it was good.” Also in chapter 2, he describes the Garden of Eden and how beautiful it was and every tree and plant that was there, including the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, in the center of the garden. Then He placed Adam, the first man, in the garden to take care of it. God in Genesis 1:16 and 17 commanded him what is a very strong response from God, “ you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” Later, He made Eve and placed her in the garden with him. Chapter 3 of Genesis describes the fall of man. How Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent and gave in to those temptations and sinned against God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. God punished them by driving them out of the Garden of Eden, making childbearing painful for Eve, and making Adam’s work difficult. But even here God showed His love for them by clothing them with skins of animals, a symbol of His future shedding of His blood for us. He also, by driving them out of the garden, protected them from eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which would have made them live in their sin forever.
Old Testament Prophecy
The One and only True God is completely holy and perfect, and after Adam sinned, sin entered the world, and mankind could no longer be in God’s presence. God, in His gracious caring for us, started to make a way for us to come to Him. Even as early as Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring….”, Isaiah 7:14 “ Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel, Isaiah 9:6,7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; the government shall be on His shoulders, and His name shall be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end …., Lamentations 3:21-39….. therefore I have hope; the steadfast love of God never ceases…. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord…., Micah 5:2-5 “ But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel….
Why the Virgin Birth?
Jesus needed to be both fully man and fully God. How does that work? To be fully human, He had to be born of a woman, and to be fully God, He needed to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. Sin came through Adam and his offspring, and with sin being in Adam’s genealogy, Joseph was a sinner, Matt 1:1-16 shows the genealogy of Adam to Joseph, and Jesus couldn’t be born to Joseph and not have a sin nature; however, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus would not have the sin nature and as such would be the perfect, sinless sacrifice we needed.
Why the Manager?
In the New Testament, Matthew 2 and Luke 2 describe Jesus’ birth. Jesus being born in a stable was important for several reasons: 1) that anyone could come to Him, since He came from humble earthly beginnings. By not being born in an inn or other better housing conditions, He showed that you could be poor and still have access to Him, 2) The stable would have had animals, mainly sheep, and sheep in the Bible represent God’s chosen people, and sheep were one of the animals sacrificed for burnt offerings in the Old Testament, 3) Sheep need a shepherd and Matt 2:6 says “…., O Bethlehem….for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Luke 2:8-20 talks about the Angels appearing to the Shepherds and the shepherds going to see Jesus, 4) Also, Matt 2:1-12 talks about the wise men from the east coming to see Jesus, it was later, and Jesus may not have been in the stable. “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews. For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled.” The wise men symbolize several things: 1) By not being Jewish and not from Jerusalem, this symbolizes that Jesus’ saving power wouldn’t be restricted to the Jews, 2) Rich people could come to Jesus too, 3) They brought gifts of gold (representing Jesus as King), frankincense (represents Jesus as the Son of God), and myrrh (represents Jesus death), and 4) The wise men were warned in a dream not to go back and tell Herod where Jesus was because Herod was going to kill Jesus. This shows Satan wanted to stop Jesus from being our Savior.
Jesus at Christmas
Jesus came down from Heaven, humbled Himself to be born as a baby, lived a perfect and sinless life, died on the cross for your and my sins, rose from the dead on the third day, was seen by many people after His resurrection, and now He is interceding for us in Heaven. If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, consider asking Him into your heart today. You don’t know when He will return for His own, or when you will die, and if you don’t know Him, you won’t get to be with Him in GLORY.
About the Author
Steven Johnson served 36 years as a dentist in his hometown of Buffalo Center, Iowa before retiring from his practice. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa Dental School in 1987. He currently resides in Mankato, Minnesota. Dr. Johnson is a devout disciple of Christ. He faithfully attends Wooddale Church of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Steven was the husband of our late beloved Dr. Michelle Johnson
Dr. Johnson’s desire is to continue to honor Michelle with the passion she held so dear--writing articles that glorify God. He hopes to offer believers further reasons to trust in the risen Savior and desires to share the gospel with the lost, prompting them to accept Christ as their Savior.
