"I'll be back soon," a World War II soldier told his wife before leaving her and their infant son. Five years of war and fighting went by. The young mother would show her boy a portrait of the soldier and say, "See, that's your daddy. One day he's going to come home." In reality, she didn't know what to expect.

One morning the boy said, Mommy, wouldn't it be great if Daddy would just step out of the picture frame?"

In a sense that's what God did 2000 years ago. As part of His eternal plan, He stepped out of heaven and became a man so you and I could look at Jesus and say, "That's what God looks like."

The apostle John described the stepping out, "The Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14, NIV). Jesus made His dwelling among us. He camped out in our midst. He moved into our neighborhood. It is as though we were looking at God through one of those snowy glass balls and couldn't clearly see God, so Jesus stepped out of the encasement and took up residence on this planet so we could better understand and know God.

On the first Christmas some 2000 years ago, God came to earth to live among us. The human mind is boggled by that. Even more unexpected is the first picture we see. No flaming chariots brought God into the world, and no royal entourage greeted Him. God entered the world as a helpless baby with a feeding trough as His bed. Why? So we would better understand Him and know Him.

Remember the story of the little girl who was frightened at night during a thunderstorm. She cried out to her Daddy, "Help me."

Her Daddy said, "Honey, God loves you and will take care of you."

Another bolt of lighting and clap of thunder caused the girl to cry out again, "Daddy!"

Her Daddy gave her the same response, "Honey, God loves you and will take care of you."

The storm raged again and the frightened girl yelled again.

Her Daddy's response was the same.

But the girl replied, "Daddy, I know that God loves me, but right now I need someone with skin on."

When Jesus stepped out He was love with skin on. He didn't just talk about love, He loved. He didn't just preach on forgiveness. He forgave. He didn't just proclaim the necessity of justice and righteousness. He attacked the unrighteous institutions of His day. He didn't start a Bible school. He invited people to live with Him twenty-four hours a day. He became flesh. He was God's love with skin on.

When Jesus stepped out He came from God. This is important. Jesus was not some self-appointed religious leader seeking to make a buck off of helpless and hopeless people. He was God's son, His emissary, His flesh and blood coming to this sin-stained planet on behalf of the Father.

Some years ago, I used to visit a woman at the nursing home. Nursing homes have improved greatly in recent years. But this facility was one of those homes that had a foul stench. The garbage cans were always overflowing. The help was less than cordial. Hattie had once been a brilliant teacher; even at 87 she retained more wit than most of us ever get.