The Incarnation of God

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Incarnation of God in Jesus is one of the greatest mysteries in all of history. Yet, we ought to remember that whenever the Holy Scriptures speak of a mystery it is something that has been revealed to us in Jesus. It is not that all our questions are answered, but the great mysteries are no longer hidden, but are revealed in Jesus.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

When the Angel Gabriel said to the virgin, Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus…” God was then incarnate in a microscopic single celled person, Jesus. He was still God, but He humbled Himself and from the moment of His conception He lived a life just like the rest of us, except without sin.

It should be little wonder that “the world did not recognize Him” (John 1:10) because in His humility Jesus did not use His Divine power until his ministry began. Jesus had to learn who He was, and why He came to earth to live as one of His beloved creatures. And yet, even though Jesus had to learn and grow like any other child, He still lived the sinless life according to His nature. Even though Mary and Joseph surely sinned against Him (how could they not?), and even though His siblings: James, Joseph, Judas, Simon, and his sisters (Mark 6:3); surely sinned against Him, yet Jesus never sinned against them, nor against God, the Father.

Window from Trinity Lutheran Church, Herscher, Illinois

It is a good exercise to consider all that Jesus sacrificed in order to save us. Though we cannot know all that Jesus sacrificed, the better idea we have of what He sacrificed, the better we can appreciate what He did to save us from our sin and death.

Pastor Jared Melius of Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado, has some great insight into Luke 2:41-52 (Issues Etc. audio link) which shows just how much Jesus gave up to win our salvation. This story is not about Christ’s Nativity, but it happened when He was 12 years old. Sometimes this event is described as the boy Jesus teaching in the temple, but that is not the way Luke records the event. Pastor Melius’ brilliant insight is that although Mary and Joseph regularly went to Jerusalem for the Passover this may have been Jesus’ first time there since He was 40 days old (Luke 2:22-ff). Jesus did not come to teach, but to learn, as Luke makes a point of saying how Jesus grew as a child.

Since it was the Passover celebration, Jesus likely asked questions about the sacrifice of the passover lamb, and how it saved God’s people from the plague of death, and how the death of the lamb related to the promised messiah. He learned from the Scriptures that God’s messiah would sacrifice His life like a passover lamb to save all people from their sins. In His state of humility, Jesus had to learn that it was the will of God, the Father, that He would give up His life to save sinners from the consequences of their sins. And yet, Jesus did not once turn away from the path that God, the Father, had placed before Him.

The Holy Scriptures were not written only for us sinners, that we may believe in Christ as our savior, but they were also written for Jesus, so that He might also know what He had to do in obedience to God to win our salvation. Jesus, too, had to trust in God’s Word, and obey God as a man, even though it meant great suffering and torment for Him. Out of His love for God and for us sinners, Jesus obeyed His Father and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-11)!

May Christ bless you and your family through the Christmas Season and throughout the whole year as you contemplate God’s incarnation, and all that Jesus did to save you from sin and death!

Don’t make me come down there!

From Emmanuel

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” --which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:18-23)

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A couple years ago there was a well-intentioned, but ultimately blasphemous billboard campaign which purported to be some kind of messages from God. They showed a black billboard with white lettering ending in the simple tag, “– God.” It was blasphemous because none of the pithy sayings had any direct reference to Holy Scripture, and they only contained Law and no Gospel, and they frequently contradicted clear teachings of God’s word. Nevertheless, they were sort of amusing in a superficial (though blasphemous) way. One of my favorites said, “Don’t make me come down there. – God” as if God were a parent warning His disobedient children with vain threats.

I don’t know what the billboard writers had in mind because they were a little late with their warning. The first people that God created (Adam and Eve) long ago let that cat out of the bag. Because Adam and Eve brought sin into the world God DID come down here. Fortunately, when God came down here He didn’t bring about the punishment the billboard sponsors were insinuating. When God came down here He didn’t come to judge and condemn us. Instead God came down to rescue and redeem us from our sinfulness.

This is the Gospel message. It is also one reason why our church is named Emmanuel and it is why the windows pictured with this essay are right up front and are a prominent visible feature to all who worship in our church.

The incarnation of God into man is the central event in all of human history. That is why we count our years from the date of Christ’s birth (or as close as could be determined at the time, but that is a story for another blog). God knew before He made people that we would rebel against Him and we would be lost unless He did something to save us. Yet, He went ahead and created the people who would reject His authority and cause Him immense grief and suffering. Why would anyone do that? Only love could cause someone to go through that kind of suffering rather than avoid it. “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8)

All man-made gods require something from their followers to prove that they are worthy of favor. This makes these false gods seem very demanding, but it also makes them able to be manipulated by the actions of people. This is why false gods are so attractive to people. Though the false gods can be harsh taskmasters, they can also make it seem to the people as if they can control God. This is what people have been trying to do ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.

The true God is not like the false gods. Jesus didn’t come to us to demand anything from us. There is nothing we can give God that doesn’t already belong to Him. We can’t make up for our sinful rebelliousness. Jesus didn’t come to take anything from us. He came to give. Jesus came to live the obedient human life that none of us are capable of doing. Jesus did please God the Father with His obedient life, and then He offered His life in place of ours on the cross. Because of what Jesus did on the cross we are saved from our sins and all who trust in the forgiveness that Jesus won for us will be rescued from death and blessed with eternal life in paradise.

This brings up the one glaring omission in the “Emmanuel” set of windows in the front of our church. There is no cross depicted anywhere in this set of windows. The cross is central to what the church is all about because without Christ’s sacrifice on the cross nothing else would have any meaning at all. On nearly every other set of windows in the church there is at least one cross, and often many crosses are depicted, but not in these. There are plenty of crosses in the chancel of the church, but unfortunately not in the most prominent, and arguably, the most beautiful set of windows in the church. Well, nothing on this earth is perfect, except Jesus Christ. Even the best of these beautiful windows are only dim shadows of the beauty and the love of God that we will experience in God’s heavenly kingdom, but all the windows in our church guide us to look toward Christ for our salvation, and that is where true beauty is found.