I won't presume to say that we'll ever get close to commenting here on all that Jesus did, after all John correctly observed that the world isn't big enough to hold all the books that would be necessary to write down all that thing that Jesus did. (John 21.25) So I am going to limit myself mostly to the things that Jesus did that are written down in the Bible.
The first thing that Jesus did was come into the world the same way all of us do--He was born. Doesn't sound at all singular or spectacular, does it? But, were it not for Jesus being born one of us like all of us, well we would all still be in a world of hurt, which is not to say that we aren't in a world that's still hurting. Now, none of us get any credit for being born. But we all received an incredible gift when Jesus was born. The angel who announced "good news of great joy" to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem spoke volumes when he said "unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior..." A Savior, the Savior, born like all of us? What's that all about? Shouldn't a divine Savior just appear, descending in glory from heaven? Well, yes, but that will be the next time He comes. It was absolutely critical that when He came the first time that he be born like you and me because to accomplish the work of Savior He had to be just like you and me, He had to be fully human. And, with the exception of Adam and Eve, being fully human means being born of a woman.
Why was it necessary that the Savior be fully human? Because He didn't come to atone for the sins of beasts, birds, or bugs; He came to bear in his completely human body the penalty for every single human sin that would ever be committed. You see, there had been a system in place for a thousand years that sought to deal with human sins by shedding the blood of animals. But no matter how much animal blood was shed on the altar it was never enough to pay the full price for all our sins. While God commanded that the blood of animals substitute for our blood as propitiation for sin, God always knew that the old sacrificial system wasn't enough, there would be a day when His own Son would be born of woman to shed His blood as the one sufficient sacrifice for all humanity's sins. And Christ's sacrifice was sufficient because He was as human as you and I.
Of course, it was necessary that the Savior be fully divine as well. Anything, anyone, less and, well it would just be the blood of a sinner like you and me, and the blood of a sinner has never been pure enough to suffice as a sacrifice for another sinner. When we're talking about substitutionary atonement, we are talking about a sacrifice that is pure, without sin, spot, or taint of any kind. And no man or woman ever born before or after Jesus could supply blood so pure. Jesus, fully human and fully divine, alone provided what was necessary for our sins to be forgiven. Jesus was man dying for man's sins, and He was God dying for man's sins. Anything less and we would still be looking for a Savior.
I know most people are quite thankful that Christ was willing to die for us, but as Christmas approaches, it might be a perfect time to give thanks that Jesus was willing to be born just like us, just for us. There will no doubt be a lot of gifts under a lot of Christmas trees this year. But the One gift we all need to celebrate each and every day is the gift of Christ's birth. If Jesus hadn't done that, nothing else He did would have ultimately mattered.
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