The Divine Invasion

The scene of the Nativity, set among hay and humble beasts, fringed by scruffy shepherds with their meek lambs, drawn together at the center by the sweet affection shared between mother and child, fills our eyes with what would seem to be the very picture of peace. The setting seems far removed from any field of battle, the mood completely absent of conflict. Yet this child who in the manger lay, was God the Son entering the human fray.  

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [Hebrews 2:14-15 (ESV)]

God benevolently invaded humanity on Christmas day. With the invasiveness of a surgeon, the Son “partook of the same things,” “flesh and blood”, to take on a two-front war: Sin within and the devil without. It is not two wars, but one, with two fronts. Our sinful condition which has brought death upon us has made us subjects of the devil. His power gains leverage by our condition, which he continues to wield to great effect to this very day. He is our principal enemy. Thus Paul writes:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)]

But our subjectivity to the demonic powers finds root in our own flesh and blood. No human law nor even the Divine Law can pull up those roots. Only the Son, taking on human flesh:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [Romans 8:3-4 ESV]

The field of battle was Jesus of Nazareth. He bore in himself the perfection of Divinity and the brokenness of Humanity. His cause began in himself, perfecting the Human unto the perfection of the Divine:

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. [Hebrews 2:9-10 ESV]

The infant sound that pierced that still night was a cry of war. The Divine making landfall upon the shores of Humanity, intent on breaking the chains of sin and casting down the devil tyrant. The King came, saw, and conquered. His very advent is the dawn of our salvation.