Tag Archives: incarnation

The word ‘incarnation’ means to embody in human flesh. For Christians the term is used in reference to the Son of God, who is a Spirit, coming as a human to reveal God in the form of a man. That coming occurred when Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and God was born as a helpless baby – the even we celebrate at Christmas. For posts that more directly discuss the Christmas theme check out the category labelled ‘Advent’.

Where do you look for God's glory?

Posted on by

1

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)

The phrase ‘dwelt among us’ carries the idea of pitching a tent as a dwelling, in fact some translations express it as he ‘tabernacled’ among us (e.g., Amplified, Young’s). In choosing this wording John is giving us a connection, or comparison, with the tabernacle of God’s presence amongst Israel in the wilderness and Jesus dwelling in our midst. With the backdrop of this tent in the wilderness in mind, John writes of having seen the glory of the Son.

One manifestation of this glory was the overwhelming glory when the tabernacle was first set up (Exodus 40:34-35) which is seen in Jesus at the transfiguration (Luke 9:28-35). There are other instances of the glory of God being seen in Jesus, such as when he was baptized, when he calmed the storm, and when he raised Lazarus from the dead.

But John is not as concerned with the spectacular as we might be (note John 4:48 and John 6:26-29), he devotes large parts of his gospel to accounts of Jesus bringing light and life to those he meets (see John 4:5-42 and John 10:1-18). Most significantly, John devotes the last nine chapters (13–21) to the final day of Jesus’ life, the hour of Jesus’ departure (John 13:1) occupies over a third of John’s gospel.

Jesus loved his own to the end, and in this the glory of the only Son of God is revealed.

Other posts related to this topic:

References used in writing this post:

The Gospel According to John (Leon Morris,1995) p91.

The Word became flesh

Posted on by

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. (1 John 4:2)

If you find your mind filling with protestations, rationalizations and evidences against the belief that Jesus Christ was God incarnate, then be aware that these do not come from God and are attempting to deceive you. Even the very academic apostle Paul considered the incarnation of Christ to be a mystery, something true, but beyond our ability to understand (1 Timothy 3:16).

It is a common experience for us to ‘suspend disbelief‘ in order to enjoy a story, novel or a movie without constantly nitpicking over minor inconsistencies with reality as we know it. I invite you to do this regarding the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is not faith, it is simply approaching the gospel with a willingness to at least hear the whole story before deciding whether to believe it or not.

While our minds may seek an explanation of how God could become a baby, born of a virgin, the New Testament writers simply state that he did and emphasize instead their amazement at what this means. Perhaps the best example of this is  Philippians 2:5-11 in which Paul walks us through the significance of what Jesus did in his incarnation, with no explanation of the mechanics of how exactly it all worked. And so we come to John’s blunt statement:

The Word became flesh and dwelt amoung us (John 1:14)

It happened. Give John the consideration you would give your favourite author and read what he has to say. Maybe God will speak. Also remember that those disbelieving thoughts might be lies!

Angels long to see what you have been given

Posted on by

Here is a description of what we look to during Advent:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Peter 1:10-12, ESV ).

I can be very blasé  about Christmas and the fuss of preparing for it. Yet the real meaning of Advent is something that even angels long to gain insight into, maybe I should pause to ponder it also. This is not just about nice stories of babies in mangers full of straw and cultivating warm fuzzies by singing carols. Advent is about good news to all people, why is it so good?

It is good, no, it is mind blowingly joyous, news because of the glory and the suffering. A perfect life, spotless and without any hint of the sinful stain we all carry, lived with the full intention of redeeming us so that we too will be like him!

I was going to talk about the glory of Christ but cannot bring myself to go beyond this, that God Himself walked his perfect life amoung men with the intention of letting them kill Him so that He can redeem us to also inherit perfect life. Maybe I’m just feeling the effects of my body aging, but it is a struggle to even fully embrace the assurance that there will be no sickness and no tears (Revelation 21:4).

It is common for people to dream longingly of winning Lotto and what they would do with all that money – if you really indulge you can almost feel as though you already have it. If I can use my imagination uselessly for that, why am I not determinedly turning my heart upon the riches of the glory of God? If even angels long to look into this, should I not be a bit more enthusiastic about the life I have been given?

Other posts related to this topic: