God, Moved To Descend

Luke 2:7b “Then [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger,…”

Sin, our nature, demanded to be healed;
fallen, to be raised up;
dead, to raise again.
We had lost possession of the good;
it was necessary for it to be given back to us.
Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light;
captives, we awaited a Savior;
prisoners, help;
slaves, a liberator.
Are these things minor or insignificant?
Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it,
since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?

Gregory of Nyssa (335-394)