Jesus of Nazareth was no mere mortal. Yet, He made an unusual transition on that first Christmas—he was transformed from God to newborn child. How wondrous it is to truly understand what was packaged in that tiny body held by mother Mary? The concept that God himself should come down is also taught by the angel who visited Nephi. He spoke of this as the condescension of God, asking Nephi, Knowest thou the condescension of God?…And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! (1 Nephi 11:16-21) Speaking of Abraham Lincoln, someone once said that when God wants to change the world, He does it with the birth of a newborn child. Nothing could be more true of the birth of the Savior as God himself took upon himself a tabernacle of flesh.
“Oh, the magnitude of that sacrifice, that condescension! That night, God the Son traded his heavenly home with all its celestial adornments for a mortal abode with all its primitive trappings. He, the King of heaven (Alma 5:50), the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth (Mosiah 3:5), left a throne to inherit a manger. He exchanged the dominion of a god for the dependence of a babe. He gave up wealth, power, dominion, and the fullness of his glory—for what?—for taunting, mocking, humiliation, and subjection. It was a trade of unparalleled dimension, a condescension of incredible proportions, a descent of incalculable depth. And so, the great Jehovah, creator of worlds without number, infinite in virtue and power, made his entry into this world in swaddling clothes and a manger.” (Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, p. 64)