Now, the tree is decorated with bright merriment, and song, and dance and cheerfulness. And they are welcome. Innocent and welcome be they ever held, beneath the branches of the Christmas Tree, which cast no gloomy shadow! But, as it sinks into the ground, I hear a whisper going through the leaves. ‘This, in commemoration of the law of love and kindness, mercy and compassion. This, in remembrance of Me!’”
–Charles Dickens
“…This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
–1 Corinthians 11:25 (HCSB)
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“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.’… Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'”
–Luke 1:30-31, 34-35 (NKJV)
Notice that it was not explained to Mary. She received no answer, only a word, and she was content with what the angel said. Mary simply, in faith, replied, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word…”. (Luke 1:38, NKJV) Mary had an angel with the news from God, we have the Bible telling us the story of how it transpired. “God has told us only what the incarnation was, leaving to us the duty of believing what He said.” (E.S. Williams) The Son of God in person began to live a fully human life.
We must never push aside His deity however. He was fully God, He laid aside only His glory. F.F. Bruce said that the Word “is the self-revelation or self-expression of God.” He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). “When the Word ‘became flesh’ His deity was not abandoned, or reduced, or contracted, nor did He cease to exercise the divine functions which had been His before.” (New Bible Dictionary). In fact, His very birth, the circumstance and the event itself, point to His deity.
He worked miracles, He healed many of various infirmities, He rose from the dead, then why question a miraculous birth? The Incarnation is not the diminishing of deity, but the acquiring of manhood. J.I. Packer said, “Jesus’ humanity was sinless, and the circumstances of His birth call attention to the miracle that was involved when Mary, a sinner, gave birth to one who was not ‘in Adam’ as she was, nor therefore needed a Savior as she did.”
Jesus emptied Himself of outside glory–the “kenosis.” Philippians 2:7, from the Amplified says, “But emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man].” His followers had little trouble accepting His humanity, it was His deity that they struggled with; it was His deity that amazed them. John the Baptist declared that “He was before me” (John 1:30). John wrote, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13, NKJV)
Why are we surprised at the miracle of His birth? Jesus entered and left this world by acts of supernatural power. As Karl Barth put it, “God for man, and man for God.” Miracles, the supernatural are beyond us. It is beyond natural this birth of Jesus. “To grasp what the incarnation was in positive terms is beyond us.” (J.I. Packer) As I wrote earlier last week, the Incarnation is a mystery; it requires belief rather than explanation. Accept it, grasp hold of its truth. To not accept the Incarnation–Jesus coming in the flesh–is as John wrote “antichrist.” In this season in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord rejoice in the miracle of the supernatural birth of Jesus–God in the flesh come to save mankind from their sins.
“Answer thy mercy’s whole design,
My God incarnated for me;
My spirit made the radiant shrine,
My light and full salvation be;
And through the shades of death unknown
Conduct me to thy dazzling throne.”
–Charles Wesley
——————————-
“Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.’… Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'”
–Luke 1:30-31, 34-35 (NKJV)
Notice that it was not explained to Mary. She received no answer, only a word, and she was content with what the angel said. Mary simply, in faith, replied, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word…”. (Luke 1:38, NKJV) Mary had an angel with the news from God, we have the Bible telling us the story of how it transpired. “God has told us only what the incarnation was, leaving to us the duty of believing what He said.” (E.S. Williams) The Son of God in person began to live a fully human life.
We must never push aside His deity however. He was fully God, He laid aside only His glory. F.F. Bruce said that the Word “is the self-revelation or self-expression of God.” He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). “When the Word ‘became flesh’ His deity was not abandoned, or reduced, or contracted, nor did He cease to exercise the divine functions which had been His before.” (New Bible Dictionary). In fact, His very birth, the circumstance and the event itself, point to His deity.
He worked miracles, He healed many of various infirmities, He rose from the dead, then why question a miraculous birth? The Incarnation is not the diminishing of deity, but the acquiring of manhood. J.I. Packer said, “Jesus’ humanity was sinless, and the circumstances of His birth call attention to the miracle that was involved when Mary, a sinner, gave birth to one who was not ‘in Adam’ as she was, nor therefore needed a Savior as she did.”
Jesus emptied Himself of outside glory–the “kenosis.” Philippians 2:7, from the Amplified says, “But emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man].” His followers had little trouble accepting His humanity, it was His deity that they struggled with; it was His deity that amazed them. John the Baptist declared that “He was before me” (John 1:30). John wrote, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13, NKJV)
Why are we surprised at the miracle of His birth? Jesus entered and left this world by acts of supernatural power. As Karl Barth put it, “God for man, and man for God.” Miracles, the supernatural are beyond us. It is beyond natural this birth of Jesus. “To grasp what the incarnation was in positive terms is beyond us.” (J.I. Packer) As I wrote earlier last week, the Incarnation is a mystery; it requires belief rather than explanation. Accept it, grasp hold of its truth. To not accept the Incarnation–Jesus coming in the flesh–is as John wrote “antichrist.” In this season in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord rejoice in the miracle of the supernatural birth of Jesus–God in the flesh come to save mankind from their sins.
“Answer thy mercy’s whole design,
My God incarnated for me;
My spirit made the radiant shrine,
My light and full salvation be;
And through the shades of death unknown
Conduct me to thy dazzling throne.”
–Charles Wesley