Word of God Incarnate

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3a ESV).

 “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

In a moment of seeming antithesis the Creator descended into His creation. He became flesh and was cradled in the arms of His mother. The Word of power was embodied in the tearful cries of an infant. We can’t even begin to comprehend it. What did the incarnate Christ remember from His timeless existence before He came down from heaven? What did He know without having to be taught as a little child?

When something is so far beyond our comprehension, we are likely to oversimplify it. I know at times I’ve thought of Jesus as having an adult consciousness in a child’s body, but Luke 2:52 says He “increased in wisdom and stature.” He apparently did not just grow physically but mentally as well. We may imagine that Jesus heard His Father’s voice constantly, like some kind of invisible earbud. If that were true, why did Jesus need to spend long hours in prayer? “All night He continued in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples and chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles” (Luke 6:12b-13).

Scripture is clear that Jesus entered fully into the human condition except that He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). One author makes this observation about Jesus’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane just prior to the crucifixion (Mark 14:32ff):

“The Greek conveyed the idea of being terror-struck, troubled, and fearful. This was no stoic Savior yielding without wrestling. He was overwhelmed—engulfed in grief and agonizing. He was anguished and agonizing. But terror-struck? Was it possible Jesus had felt afraid? …He was always perfect in obedience and trust. But was it possible trust and terror weren’t mutually exclusive? That someone could be full of trust while being terrified? …Was it here that he entered even more fully into the experience of human frailty by feeling afraid?” (Shades of Light, by Sharon Garlough Brown, ch. 32).

There is much we do not know and cannot comprehend about Jesus being both fully God and fully man. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In humble flesh He still exhibited the glory of God through His words and deeds. It’s little wonder that the disciples didn’t get it either. “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b).

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold Him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with us to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

We don’t fully understand it now, but one day we will. “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12b). We’ll not only understand, but “we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2b).

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Mystery Incarnate

In preparation for Christmas I’ve been reading the first few chapters of Luke, and I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. When the angel appears to Zechariah announcing his coming son, Zechariah asks, “How shall I know this?” (I imagine the angel saying “How many angelic messages does it take to convince you?!”) Then after John is born and Zechariah can speak again, part of his prophetic praise includes, “You will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins” (vv. 76-77 ESV). It seems that he learned something about knowing and trusting God during that nine months of silence.

There are plenty of things about God that we’ll never understand in this lifetime, and perhaps not even in eternity. As many have said, if we fully understood God He would not be God. Paul wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33). He often mentioned the mysteries of God. And in Ephesians 3:18-19 he prays that we “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” I take that to mean that we can simply grasp the fact that it’s far beyond our human knowledge and experience, and we accept that by faith.

The mysteries of God are not things that we can logically conclude if we just have enough evidence. It’s not a matter of further research that will reveal the key that unlocks it all. God is so far beyond our realm of understanding that we cannot hope to unravel the mysteries. As C.S. Lewis said, it’s like trying to explain the three dimensions to a two dimensional object. Recently I was imagining how one would try to explain darkness to an atom residing in the center of the sun. (Yes, I have a strange imagination.) While that might be possible, assuming you can find an intelligent atom, God is infinitely further from explanation.

Paul summarizes some of the mystery in 1 Timothy 3:16:

“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

As we celebrate the historical event of Jesus’ birth, we shouldn’t forget that the incarnation is a great mystery. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

While a baby in a manger is something we can wrap our minds around, God becoming flesh and then dying for our sins is beyond our full comprehension. Perhaps the most incomprehensible part is that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Why God would love a bunch of sinners enough to send His Son to die for them is beyond me.

Let’s hold onto that mystery this Christmas and throughout the year. May the wonder of it all lead us into true worship!