The Mystery of the Incarnation
Many truths revealed in Scripture man cannot resolve due to the finite capacity of his understanding. To some the idea of atonement is beyond human comprehension. To others, the virgin birth is too much of a biological anomaly for them to fathom. And many struggle with the miracles of Christ as He walked on water, fed thousands with a hand full of food, healed every known disease of His day, and raised many from the dead. Many who claim to be Christian cannot comprehend the Person or work of an infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, and sovereign God, so they reduce Him to a god of their own making, one they can better understand and control.
Question: Would you explain the Incarnation?
Answer: Many truths revealed in Scripture man cannot resolve due to the finite capacity of his understanding. To some the idea of atonement is beyond human comprehension. To others, the virgin birth is too much of a biological anomaly for them to fathom. And many struggle with the miracles of Christ as He walked on water, fed thousands with a hand full of food, healed every known disease of His day, and raised many from the dead. Their problem with accepting these truths can best be explained when Christ said to the Sadducees in Mathew 22, “You are mistaken . . . about the power of God.” In other words, “Your god is too small.” This is often the case in evangelical Christianity. Many who claim to be Christian cannot comprehend the Person or work of an infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, and sovereign God, so they reduce Him to a god of their own making, one they can better understand and control.
However, those who believe, trust and worship by faith the true God as revealed in Scripture, also wrestle with mysteries that are incomprehensible. The greatest may be the mystery of the Incarnation. How could the eternal, self-existent Creator of the universe clothe Himself in flesh without compromising His deity? How could He be fully human and divine at the same time? How can the Almighty appear on earth as a baby needing to be fed, taught how to speak and trained how to walk? This is a pivotal moment in human history. If Christ were merely a remarkable, godly man as Muslims, Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others contend, then believing His miraculous accomplishments on earth would be an understandable struggle. But if Christ is the same person as the eternal Word, the Agent of creation, “through Whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2) all problems with accepting His miraculous arrival by a virgin birth (made necessary to avoid the sinful nature of Adam’s seed), His supernatural acts of healing, His authoritative word that even nature obeyed, His atoning sacrifice on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave disappear.
John records in his gospel seven profound truths concerning the Word:
1) “In the beginning was the Word.” The Word is eternal. The Godhead is self-existent and self-sustaining, not a created Being, but has always been “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:1-4). Christ said in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” The present tense demonstrates His essence knows no boundaries from the past or in the future (Revelation 1:8). Before time began; before anything was created, the eternal I AM has been (Colossian 1:17).
2) “The Word was with God.” The Word is personal. The power fulfilling God’s will is the power of a personal Being (Hebrews 1:3). As the Incarnate of God, Christ was the personal revelation of the mind, character and purposes of God the Father (John 14:9-11).
3) “And the Word was God.” The Word is divine. The distinction between Father and Son is within the divine unity of the Godhead, so the Son is God in the same sense as the Father (John 10:30). Christ never compromised His divine nature; therefore, He never sinned even while in the flesh (IICor.5:21; I Peter 2:22).
4) “Through Him all things were made.” The Word is the Creator. The Godhead exists outside time and space which are dimensions of the created order. In the beginning, were no pre-existing materials; He simply called all He willed into existence by the power of His Word. “All things were created through Christ and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).
5) “In Him was life.” The Word is life. There is no life in created matter except it be granted and sustained by Christ (Colossians 1:17). “He gives to all life, breath, and all things . . . in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:25,28).
6) “And that life was the light of men.” The Word is truth. God as light emphasizes His attributes of moral purity and omniscience. The incarnate Christ shines in a world that loves darkness. The contrast between light and darkness is inseparably linked to a contrast between those who “practice the truth” and agree with God, and those who try to make God “a liar” (I John 1:5).
7) “The Word became flesh.” The Word is Incarnate. God, while clothed in human flesh, never ceased to be God. He who made man had now become man without compromising any aspect of His deity (Colossians 1:10; 2:9). The Incarnation means the Son of God is one Person, existing in two natures, a mystery beyond human comprehension, yet the reality of which is acknowledged and celebrated by all Christians, particularly at Christmas.