I am forever grateful for the church that was part of my formative years. After coming to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus through repentance of sin and personally trusting in His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, my parents made a concerted effort to find a church that would help our family grow in its understanding of the Bible and our Savior. The pastor and the community of believers had a great respect for the Lord Jesus. The Savior’s glory, majesty, supremacy, and authority were consistently communicated (Jude 25). His sovereignty and unchanging attributes were rightfully praised. And His deity was never questioned or in doubt. Imagine my surprise when, over time, I was introduced to the humanity of Jesus. I almost considered it to be disrespectful to the reputation of the Savior. My mind wrestled with the concept that the glorious Creator of the universe, the One who holds all things together, the One to whom all creation bows, had become a human being just like me. It blew my mind! Yet, surely, this is the natural response for a believer who genuinely makes an effort to appreciate the mystery of the incarnation - the Son of God took on flesh, simultaneously becoming fully God and fully man. Wow!

Truth be told, the incarnation of Jesus is - like the Trinity - beyond our full comprehension. Therefore, what we need to embrace is less about understanding the “how” and more about believing the “what”. The Gospel of John makes it very clear that Jesus is none other than the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (Gen 1:1), eternally present with God and eternally the same in essence and nature (Jn 1:1). However, in introducing Jesus as “the Word”, the apostle further asserts that He - present from the beginning and existing outside time and space - entered time and space at a particular point in history, and “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). Remaining what He was, the Son of God became what He was not. Amazing! 100% God + 100% Man = 100% Jesus. It’s hard to grasp, isn’t it?

Paul gives us further insight into the incarnation claiming that Jesus, “… 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” (Phil 2:6-7). We can draw several profound conclusions from Paul’s description. First, Jesus has always and will always be fully God. In His “emptying”, Jesus did not relinquish any of His divine attributes. As a matter of fact, “in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9)! Rather, in taking upon Himself “flesh”, Jesus emptied Himself of every trace of advantage and privilege. In every way, He humbly submitted Himself to the Father’s will. This leads to a second conclusion: Jesus sacrificed His privileges and position. By “taking the form of a servant”, Jesus became a slave in the fullest sense. His incarnation made Him a man among men, lacking anything that might be outwardly impressive in appearance (Isa 53:2-3). His earthly existence was characterized by owning very little and borrowing much. Consider for a moment that He borrowed a manger, food, a boat, a donkey, and even a tomb. What a meek and unassuming God! Which leads to a third penetrating conclusion: Jesus was fully subject to the human experience. In his commentary on Philippians, John MacArthur wrote, “It’s important to understand that Jesus … took upon Himself all the frailties, limitations, problems, and suffering that were the heritage of the Fall, enduring all its terrible earthly consequences.” As a man, Jesus was just like us and completely unlike us! He endured the consequences of the Fall, yet was born without a sin nature - perfectly holy!

Jesus’ incarnation truly brings the joy of Christmas near to all people. In Matthew 1:20-23, we find Jesus' divine birth announcement shared with Joseph: “… behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means God with us).” What a beautifully intimate name! The invisible God became visible in the person of Jesus. He makes Him known (Jn 1:18). What joy is ours knowing that the relationship that Jesus’ shares with the Father, He has come to share with you and me! He has entered into our world, suffered the full human experience, understood temptation, and become our perfect representative. The incarnation binds Himself to His followers forever!

So, let us rejoice in Jesus’ incarnation. As we rediscover Jesus’ humility in taking upon Himself all that it means to be human, may we respond in awe and worship Immanuel - God with us!

Isaiah 53:1-3 (ESV) - Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.