Any married couple who’s ever been in the situation will tell you… Nothing is more difficult than waiting to have a baby. I’m not talking about just finding out you’re pregnant- now you’ve got to wait for nine months to pass before you get the chance to see this bundle of joy. I’m talking about the soul crushing pain of wanting and waiting to have a baby with no results. Any couple who’s been in this situation will tell you that it hurts bad.
Been waiting for a long time
Let me point out for you two groups of people that were waiting for a baby. The first is Zechariah and Elizabeth. This couple is described for us in Luke 1:6. This is a good couple. They are a godly couple. No matter how hard they pray God doesn’t get them a child. By the time we read about them in the book of Luke, Zechariah and Elizabeth are very old. They are past the years of childbearing. They’ve probably given up on ever having a baby.
Imagine what it was like for Zechariah and Elizabeth. Imagine being a good couple, trying to do right by God and others, and wanting only one thing in their relationship… wanting a baby. Don’t forget that Zechariah is a priest. This means he had a very public office. It also means he and Elizabeth heard the rumors and remarks about them not having a child every day. Can you imagine the joy when they heard the news, “God heard your prayer- you’re gonna have a baby!”
There was a second group of people that waited even longer than Zechariah and Elizabeth for a baby. This was God’s people waiting for his Messiah. This waiting lasted for thousands of years. In fact, way back in the book of Genesis God told Adam and Eve that one day there would be a Son who would rescue people from their sin. Abraham waited for this baby, Moses waited for this baby, David waited for this baby, Jeremiah waited for this baby, and so did every good God-fearing person since the creation of the world. Millions of people, perhaps billions, waited thousands of years for the news, “We’re going to have a baby! God has sent his Son to rescue us!”
Life is gonna change
Any parent will tell you when a baby shows up everything changes. Life will never be the same. A baby has a profound impact on a family. When Jesus shows up on the scene, everything changes! Life will never be the same again. Now that God has sent his Son, people no longer live in darkness (Isaiah 9:2). Now that God has sent his Son, we have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). Now that God sent his Son, death no longer has dominion over us (Romans 6:9).
We are now a complete family
Sometimes a couple feels incomplete without a child. Maybe one of the reasons why a couple wants to have children so badly is that they feel a child completes their family. The truth is, God’s child makes it possible for his family to be complete. It is only through Jesus that we can be adopted into the family of God (Galatians 4:4-5).
Nothing can change who your father is. It doesn’t matter how bad you mess up; you will always be a son or daughter of your father. Likewise, God’s adoption is unchangeable. Your relationship with God the Father is secured forever through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s why when the angels appeared to the shepherds in the field, they said, “Unto YOU is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).” Apparently, those shepherds were going to have a baby and they didn’t even know they were pregnant!
