What the Christmas Story Reveals

The Deeper Significance of Advent

Each Gospel opens differently. Matthew begins with a genealogy, linking Jesus to David and Abraham and rooting Him in Israel’s story. Mark jumps straight into the action. Luke, with a historian’s approach, shares details about angels, censuses, and the lives of an old priest and a young woman. John does none of this.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John leaves out the genealogy, the manger, and the shepherds. He starts his story before Bethlehem, before Israel, and even before creation itself. John begins before time, with the Word existing with God. Why does he do this? He is answering a different question. The Synoptics narrate Christ’s arrival; John grounds its meaning in eternity. This deepens the significance of Christmas. God did not merely arrive. He revealed Himself. In Christ, we see God's face at last. Christmas is about God’s revelation.

The Hidden Face

"You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live" (Exodus 33:20)

Hebrews makes the same point in a single sentence. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Notice what the opening line assumes: God speaks. He is not silent or distant; he is not leaving people in the dark. He spoke through creation, through promises to Abraham, through a burning bush, through prophets, dreams, visions, laws, songs, and throughout Israel’s history.

However, the Greek phrase for “at many times and in many ways” is polymeros kai polytropos. Polymeros means “by many parts” and polytropos means “by many turns.” It is like a mosaic, with pieces scattered around. Each piece is true and valuable, but none alone shows the whole picture. Old Testament revelation was real, but it was also partial, spread over centuries and shared by imperfect people.

Why was God's face hidden? The answer starts in the garden. In Genesis, before sin and exile, there was close fellowship. God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8), and they experienced His presence without barriers or shame. But after the Fall, Adam and Eve broke the covenant and hid from God. In both judgment and mercy, God hid them from Himself. He sent them out, placed cherubim at the entrance (Genesis 3:24), and closed the way to the tree of life. Their communion with God was lost, and from then on, a new pattern began: God revealed Himself but stayed hidden. He spoke through mediators and lived among His people, but always behind a barrier they could not cross.

Now consider Exodus 33. Moses spoke with God and received the law. He saw the cloud of glory on the mountain, but he wanted more. After experiencing God’s presence, he asked, “Please, show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). God’s answer was both generous and limited. He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you... But you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:19-20). God hid Moses in a crack in the rock and covered him with His hand as His glory passed by. Moses saw only God’s back, not His face. Even God’s chosen prophet could not see Him fully.

In the Old Testament, this idea meant more than we might think. The Hebrew word for “face,” panim, means more than just a physical feature. It stands for presence, access, and closeness. Seeing someone’s face means being with them, sharing a relationship, and truly knowing each other. The priestly blessing says, “The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25). When God’s face shines on someone, it is grace. When He lifts His face toward His people, it brings peace. God’s face turned toward you is the greatest blessing anyone could receive. But when God hides His face, it means judgment, exile, and silence. The Psalmist feels this longing: “Your face, LORD, do I seek” (Psalm 27:8). The closeness of Eden was gone. God still spoke, but His face was hidden, and the longing for more continued through the centuries.

The Revelation

"He is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15)

But that changed with Advent. Hebrews 1:2 marks a turning point: “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Notice the change: God spoke through prophets before, but now He speaks by His Son. The prophets were messengers, but the Son is the message. This is not just another revelation; it is the ultimate one—God Himself in human form. Now, all the puzzle pieces fit together. Many words become one Word. Many ways of speaking are united in one Person. What was scattered is now whole; what was partial is now complete. John says the same thing in different words: “In the beginning was the Word.” This Word was with God and was God, the eternal second Person of the Trinity through whom all things were made. Paul adds his voice in Colossians 1:15-17: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created... And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Three voices, one testimony. Paul’s phrase succinctly sums it up: “the image of the invisible God.”

The God whose face Moses could not see now has an image. It is not a statue or painting, but a Person. The eternal Son perfectly shows and reveals the Father. But this raises a question. John says, "no one has ever seen God" (John 1:18). Yet the Bible says God walked with Adam, spoke to Moses, and appeared to Abraham. How can both be true? From the earliest church fathers, theologians have answered it this way: when God appeared in the Old Testament, it was the Son who appeared, a Christophany. The Father dwells in unapproachable light; no one has seen Him or can see Him (1 Timothy 6:16). But John tells us that in Christ, "the light shines in the darkness" (John 1:5). The unapproachable light has become approachable. The Son, the eternal Word and the image of the invisible God, has always been the one who reveals God's presence to people who could not bear it otherwise. John supports this in chapter 12, where he reflects on Isaiah's vision of the Lord high and lifted up in the temple. John says clearly that Isaiah saw Christ's glory (John 12:41).

Clearly, this perspective reframes the entire Old Testament. The one who walked with Adam in the garden was the Son. The one who spoke from the burning bush was the Son. The one who wrestled with Jacob and met Moses on Sinai was the Son. He was always there, hidden in the appearances and shadows of the old covenant, waiting to be revealed. Augustine put it this way: "The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed" (Questions on the Heptateuch, 2.73). The Son was always the one who revealed God, but His presence was hidden, His identity covered by fire, cloud, and angels. At Christmas, the hiding ends. What was once whispered is now spoken clearly. What was in shadow is now brought into the light.

The Fulfillment

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory" (John 1:14)

Seeing Christ's presence throughout the Old Testament should profoundly change how we understand Christmas. The Son is not taking on a new role. He is doing what He has always done: revealing the Father to those who could not see Him otherwise. The difference is that the Incarnation is permanent. In the Old Testament, He appeared and withdrew. Now He has taken on human nature forever and will return in the same body in which He ascended (Acts 1:11). John 1:14 marks this turning point: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory." The Greek word eskenosen means "tabernacled" or "pitched his tent," echoing the wilderness tabernacle where God's glory lived among Israel (Exodus 40:34-35). Once, the Son walked with Adam, but that communion was lost to sin. Once, He filled the tabernacle with glory, and no one could enter His presence and live. Now He tabernacles among us permanently, in human flesh, as one of us.

John's conclusion makes the point clear: "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known" (John 1:18). The invisible God has become visible. The unapproachable light has become approachable. In Christ, God's face shines on us at last, and we no longer need to hide or look away. Christmas is more than just an arrival. It is the ultimate revelation and the fulfillment of the redemptive story. What begins in Bethlehem will be completed at Calvary: the veil torn, the access lost in Eden restored, the priestly blessing fulfilled. Face to face.

Back to the garden of Eden. In the moment of judgment, when Adam and Eve stood exposed and ashamed, God made a promise. To the serpent He declared: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). Theologians call this the protoevangelium, the first gospel. Before the cherubim took their post, God announced that a deliverer would come.

From the beginning, this was God's redemptive plan. First whispered in Eden and echoed by prophets, priests, and kings until the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4). The Word who walked with Adam, who hid Moses in the rock, who filled the tabernacle with glory, became flesh in a manger. The promise made in a garden found its fulfillment in Bethlehem, in a stable. There, at last, the image of the invisible God is revealed on Christmas day.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6)