Often, when we think of Jesus Christ as a baby, we think of the manger scene and how nice it is and how exciting it must’ve been for them to be there on that holy night. We hear the stories of Mary and Joseph, how they traveled a difficult journey and Mary’s faith in what happened to her.

But it’s not too often that we think about God as a small baby. The lyrics in “Welcome to Our World” by Chris Rice are extremely touching.

“How I wish we would’ve known”…

Not many people welcomed Christ into the world. We expected a King, someone regal and large in presence. This song expresses the humbling realization of God coming down to take on flesh and blood for us. But He was essentially a stranger, unnoticed for so many years, until He comes into His own.

“Bring your peace into our violence, bid our hungry souls be filled.”

I think of all the saints before Christ’s birth who followed the written or spoken word without knowing when He would be arriving. They believed in a creator they could not connect to and followed the ritualistic law of Moses. It took Jesus’ birth to Earth, announced by John the Baptist, for people to really take a second look and think, “Is this really Him?”

“Fragile finger sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn.”

The gravity of Jesus’ birth was that He came not to live, but to give us a chance to live — eternally, forever with Him. The, “Oh look, it’s a baby” joy we think about that surrounds the celebrations of a birth, in this case, also comes with the realization and the weight of what will happen — how much God really loves us, and how much He gave for us.

This song is a song of praise, a song of thanks and of humility. “Welcome to our world,” as the title shares, welcomes Christ into a world that wasn’t really ready to welcome Him. We’re human! We could’ve praised His entrance more; we could’ve showered Him with gifts. But God didn’t need all the pomp and circumstance. He just needed a bright star above a manger, and the love of His parents and a few lowly shepherds to welcome Him.

How will we welcome Christ into our homes and hearts this Christmas? Will we leave Him in the manger or decorate our hearts with gifts of praise and thankfulness to set before Him? There is certainly no Christmas without Christ, thank God!

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.