"And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn" (Luke 2:6-7).
From the beginning of time, God had promised that He would send a Savior into the world to set right what the first people had broken. He appeared to countless people to further that promise, each person bringing it closer and closer to its fulfillment.
At long last, the Savior appeared, in a way people least expected. He didn't come as the conquering king the Roman-oppressed Israelites wanted. He didn't come as the last of a long line of prophets. He didn't come as a mighty priest to offer sacrifices in the temple.
When the Savior came, He was born to a humble man and woman in a humble setting. There was no palace to receive him, no proclamation sent out across the land that He was here. He came quietly, unassumingly; though heralded by angels, he was visited at first only by shepherds as lowly as His own family.
But in that oft-quoted passage spoken by the angels, Jesus the Son of God had come to bring peace on earth and goodwill to all men. This was not just an end to war and strife; this peace was an end to the hostility between God and man. There would no more be this separation between humankind and their Creator. Because Jesus had come, that barrier would be destroyed. People could come to God again! They could be with Him forever!
God had fulfilled His promise.