The Incarnation – Jesus in the Flesh
God Became One of Us
Elyse
M. Fitzpatrick
Everyone,
Christians included, knows what it’s like to feel isolated and alone. We have
all wondered if anyone really understands us or truly cares about our lives.
The
good news is that we are not alone, and the gospel tells us why: Jesus, the Son
of God, came to earth to be forever united with his people—to be one of us.
In
fact, he has so united himself with us that the Bible says we are literally
“in” him.
Far
from being alone and lost, the Incarnation changes everything for the
Christian.
Part of what it means to be a Christian is to
believe the unbelievable: that the historical human person, Jesus, who was born
in a stable in a backwater village outside of Jerusalem some two thousand years
ago, was actually God in the flesh.
This inconceivable proposition, the
incarnation, means that, beginning at His birth, the human baby named Jesus was
“fully God and fully man in one person,
and will be so forever.”
God became man—forever.
That infant in the cradle was Immanuel, God with us!
Paul expressed the incarnation in this way: “In
him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
Think of that! Jesus was not just some
special appearance of God, a theophany.
Nor was He merely a misunderstood teacher of
love who ended up getting crucified.
He was God in the flesh - immortal; invisible
spirit clothed with human hair, skin and blood; and supported by muscle and
bone.
In his humiliation, God had to breathe, eat,
drink, and sleep. When cut He bled.
He longed for companionship and truly
suffered when his friends deserted Him.
He is one of our kind, and as we “share
in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things” (Hebrews 2:14).
To this day He remains one of us. This truth is the “foundation for all our comfort”
forever.
The incarnation brings unceasing hope and an end to our
exile, wandering, and despair. There is great comfort for our souls in the
truth that He is just like us.
Here is why: the incarnation tells us that even though we
sin, we are not alone.
Even though we are weak and finite, He knows what
weakness and mortality are because He was weak and mortal just like us.
And even though we continually fail He has committed Himself
to be part of a race of failures—and He has done so forever.
He does not use our flesh merely as an impersonal
dwelling place, like some seedy motel room He cannot wait to vacate.
Rather, He assumes our nature completely and will be the
God-man forever, throughout eternity!
He Is One of Us
The
incarnation sets Christianity apart from every other religion.
The thought that God would become man is simply without
parallel in any other faith.
In no other religion does a god do anything more than
tell his subjects what to do to become like Him, earn his favor, or give
instruction on how, if they are lucky, they might avoid ticking him off.
In no other religion does a creator god become weak and
an indistinguishable part of his creation.
In the incarnation, God became so completely one of us
that the people who lived with him did not notice anything special about him;
Jesus’ deity was perfectly veiled in human flesh.
In fact, when He went to His own village,
Nazareth, “the people who had known him for many years did not receive
him.” “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” they asked. “Is
not his mother called Mary?” (Matthew 13:55).
Even his own family did not know he was the
incarnate one. Think of this: “Not even his brothers believed in him”
(John 7:5).
What did Jesus look like? A regular Joe.
His form was just like ours. Put this book down
for a moment and look across the room at someone.
That is how ordinary he looked. Or, better
yet, look at yourself in a mirror. He looked just like you!
He had eyes, pores, hair, and teeth. If you
had seen him, you would not have thought he was anything special.
He did not have any sort of magnetism that
would make you take a second look. He looked like any twenty - or
thirty-something carpenter on any construction job.
His complete identification with us should not
have taken His contemporaries by surprise.
Seven hundred years before His birth the
prophet Isaiah spoke of how normal the Messiah would appear: “He
had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should
desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).
He willingly took a servant’s form and was
born in the likeness of men. He was fully human (Philippians
2:7–8).
What was baby Jesus like? Did he have some
sort of radioactive glow about him?
Maybe a little halo or cherubs floating
around his head?
No. He looked like any Middle Eastern infant,
wrapped in rags and nursing at his mother’s breast.
And contrary to the sweet carol “Away in the Manger,” he did cry when
awakened by the cattle’s lowing.
He cried just like us.
Unlike ancient mythological gods, Jesus was
no naughty demigod stripped of His superpowers and banished to earth as
punishment.
Jesus is not Thor. No, God the Son freely
volunteered to become one of us and to forever take to His person all that it
meant to be human.
“Though he was rich, yet for your sake he
[voluntarily] became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians
8:9).
The incarnation is not a punishment on the
Son; it is an act of His love, a “voluntary humiliation.”
He gladly “made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:7
NIV).
He who had everything, who was Lord of all,
God Most High, Creator, became a poor servant - your servant - out of love for
you, His beloved.
He came to serve you and win you with His
love. He became one of our own so that we could be His own.
Would you want to have a deeper relationship
with God?
God has made it possible for you to know Him
and experience an amazing change in your own life by receiving His Son,
Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my
sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I
now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You. I
receive Your free gift of salvation.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my
sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to
rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to
your Word, I am now born again, has
eternal life, and I am now Your child.
Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You,
and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word – the
Bible.
Please use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
If
you have just put your trust in Jesus Christ, you have been born into God’s
family.
As
a spiritual baby, you need to grow by feeding on God’s Word – the Bible (1 Peter 2:2).
You
must have a good modern translation Bible and begin prayerfully reading it.
Start in the New Testament, such as the Gospel of John or Paul’s letters to the
Ephesians.
Also,
you need to join a Christian fellowship where the Bible is taught and where God
is truly worshiped.
God
bless you as you begin your new life with Him!
Taken from Found in Him: The Joy
of the Incarnation and Our Union with Christ, by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick.
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