In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. -- Genesis 1:1
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness... -- Genesis 1:26
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the flames of fire from within a bush -- Exodus 3:2a
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light... -- Exodus 13:21
See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. -- Exodus 23:21-21
The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? -- Judges 2:1-2
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn -- Luke 2:6-7
Many scholars believe that before his birth as Jesus, God the Son appeared many times to men. While God the Father exists outside of time, Jesus clearly existed within time, and from all I know of the bible I believe that he has since time began. So then, God the Son himself guided and struggled with the wayward Israelites for more than a thousand years. How he must have yearned for the time when he would live among them to show them the way to live. How he must have yearned to finally free man from the curse of sin. This is the meaning I now find in Christmas.
