Advent is a season filled with joyful expectation. Decorations, beautifully adorned Christmas trees, lights, wreaths, carols, gift exchanges. and seasonal confections heighten all expectations. Presents are kept under the tree, and there is yearning to open them. It all culminates on Christmas morning, which is a day to celebrate with family and friends in the opening of gifts, feasting, and taking story. Lovely!
All the festivities, knowingly or unknowingly, are rooted in the Advent of Christ Jesus of Nazareth.
The first Christmas marked the epic happening of the Incarnation of the Son of God. The magnificence of the Incarnation is encapsulated in the opening verse of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1).[1] What was John getting at?
Genesis 1: 1-2:3 tells of God speaking the heavens and earth into existence. Creation ex-nihilo (out of nothing). God sends forth the word, and those in distress are healed and delivered (Psa. 107:19-20). God speaks the word and the word never returns void (Isa. 55:10-11). Old Testament writers even referred to the Word of the Lord as a personal being, thus the Word of the Lord appeared to Abraham (Gen.15:1-6), Samuel (1 Sam. 15:10), Elijah (1 Kings 17:1-2, 8-17; 18:1), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:4, 11, 13, 2:1), and Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:1-3; 3:16).
Now, John tells us: “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” (Jn. 1:14). This is the incarnation of the Son of God, the divine act through which God became a man, and lived among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ (i.e., Messiah). The Incarnation is both an epic historical event and a sublime theological truth expressing the key to humanity’s reconciliation with God.
The glory of God revealed through the incarnation of the Son in the person of Jesus Christ “harks back to OT references to the manifestation of the presence and glory (kābôd ) of God, be it in theophanies, the tabernacle, or the temple (cf., e.g., Exod. 33:22; Num. 14:10; Deut. 5:24; Ps. 26:8; 102:15 [102:16 MT]; Jer. 17:12; Ezek. 10:4; see Köstenberger 1997: 230)” that “in Jesus, God’s glory has taken up residence in the midst of his people once again.”[2]
The Incarnation is the ultimate divine initiative enacted from above to mend the broken relationship between God and humankind. God became a man. Having taken on true humanity, God entered the human experience, lived among His people, and took part in the joys and struggles. Whereas fallen humanity is incapable of ascending into heavenly glory, the Son of God came to Earth as a man to show us the way to the Heavenly Father, redeem us from sin, and bring us into glory. This act of condescension demonstrates God’s love and desire for intimate fellowship with those whom He created in His image.[3]
The Apostle Paul explains the transformative impact of the Incarnation on our relationship with God this way: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal. 4:4-7). The Incarnation paved the way for us to be adopted into God’s family, elevating us from the status of estrangement to the privilege of being called sons and daughters of God.
Christmas time is filled with joy, hugs, kisses, gift exchanging, and acts of compassion. All this goodness is the manifestation of love. Moreover, the source of this love is God. It is out of love the Father in heaven sent the Son to give His own life so that we can be redeemed from sin, that God loved us first to show us the way to love one another (Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 4:12). It is this divine love or agape that signaled the very first Christmas.
The Incarnation extends beyond the historical birth of the Child to the virgin Mary in Bethlehem to the cosmic event that changed the course of human history. Exchange gifts, share meals, and gather with loved ones, it is Christmas time. Yet let us remember the profound truth that God, in His infinite love, chose to become one of us. I bid you all good tidings on this day of celebrating the advent of our Christ Jesus of Nazareth.
Merry Christmas!
— WGN
[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.
[2] Andreas J. Köstenberger, “John,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos, 2007), 422.
[3] Theological orthodoxy maintains Christ is fully divine and fully human in one person with two wills with the human freely subject to the divine. Christ shows us God, for He is truly divine. Christ shows us what it means to be truly human, for He is truly human but without the sin that mares and diminishes fallen humanity. Neither divinity nor humanity is lost in the Incarnation. Christ thus shows us that God can indeed be reunited with humankind, because He is the perfect union of divinity and humanity.
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