The Incarnation

Explain the Incarnation? The human mind can grasp the fact but never adequately explain it. It is a divine mystery that is beyond human comprehension.

There is much about the Christian faith that, because it is supernatural and has to do with God himself, must be accepted by faith and then acted upon in that light.

This is not an unreasonable demand. Many things that are part of our lives are to us unexplainable. We simply accept them by faith.

Who can explain electricity? We know that it exists; that it can be generated and transmitted; that it can produce light, heat, and power; that, misdirected or uncontrolled, it can kill; that it can be stored in batteries; that it can be measured in volts and watts. We recognize that electricity is a fundamental physical agency and that it can be described in terms of electrons and protons that have opposite qualities—positive and negative, repelling and attracting.

But to this day science has never come to a full understanding of this strange and mysterious force. Explanations are largely limited to facts about it that can be demonstrated, and, knowing these facts, we accept and make use of electricity by faith.

When we speak of the Incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God, who came into this world in the person of a little baby, who grew to manhood and for three years taught, preached, and healed, who died on a cross for the redemption of mankind and then arose from the grave, overcoming the power of death, and who went back to heaven and will some day return to this earth in power and great glory to judge and to rule—when we speak of these things, we are dealing with a set of historical incidents. But at the same time we are speaking of a profound mystery that must be accepted by faith, something only dimly apprehended, not fully understandable this side of eternity.

The Apostle Paul has stated the fact of the Incarnation with a clarity and detail the Holy Spirit alone could have given him: “He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things held together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be preëminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:15–20).

What a glorious statement of truth—to be accepted by faith! If we use electricity by the exercise of faith, how much more should we finite men, limited as we are, accept and believe this revelation of the infinite God in the person and work of His Son!

Recently I stood on a mountain gazing across the valley at another range. Distance made it impossible to see anything clearly. Then a friend handed me a pair of binoculars, a new type with a battery and adjustment controlled by the simple pressing of a button. At first all was blurred. Then, as I touched the control, distant objects leaped into clear view and I saw them in their true perspective.

Let the Holy Spirit enable us to get our own hearts into their proper perspective to Almighty God. He lives in eternity, we live in time. He is the Creator, we his creatures. He is infallible, we are fallible. He is infinite, we are finite. We can be in only one place at any given moment, but God is everywhere. We can live only one second at a time. We cannot relive one moment of the past, nor can we live one second of tomorrow today. But for God, all time and eternity are as one—today, the past, the infinite future.

It is obvious that man, the creature, limited by time, space, and circumstances, must accept God by faith. Neither reason, nor education, nor worldly wisdom can avail. With childlike faith he must believe, accept, and act on what God offers in his Son.

In Revelation the risen and ascended Lord says, “ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). Before such a one, mortal man should kneel and worship!

In this recognition of God and his loving providence there is unspeakable comfort for the Christian. Those who reject him find themselves the victims of circumstances, seemingly buffeted by chance; but for the Christian, things are on a different basis: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

What has this to do with the Incarnation? Everything, for the coming of God into this world opened the way for the solution of all our problems, now and for eternity.

Once we have accepted the Incarnation and all its implications, questions and doubts begin to fade away. Jesus, God’s Son, performed miracles as the natural expression of his deity, and in them demonstrated not only who he is but also his infinite love and compassion for us.

Let’s face the facts: Without the Incarnation there is no such thing as Christianity. The deity of Jesus Christ is at the very heart of our faith.

The reason for the Incarnation was man’s desperate need and God’s yearning love. The effects of it are more evident and far reaohing than anything in the physical realm—that is, for those with faith and spiritual insight.

Millions of people give glorious evidence of transformed lives. For them the love of God in his Son is the most precious thing in all the world. We have as Saviour one who has been confronted with all that confronts us and tempted as we are tempted, but who never sinned. We have an Advocate with the Father, the power to overcome, victory where there was once defeat. We have an anchor in eternity, a sure foundation that can never be moved, the certain hope of heaven.

Our Lord’s quiet affirmation, “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” enables us to understand something of what God is like. The freedom he offers is expressed by the Apostle Paul, “God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3).

Without the Incarnation there would be no Christ and no hope. But Christ, “being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Heb. 1:3), has brought forgiveness and hope for all who believe.

The Apostle Paul called the Incarnation a “mystery,” and it is just that. But it is also a glorious fact that links God with man and heaven with earth. It is the foundation of our faith and our hope of eternity.

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