The Mystery of the Incarnation

The Incarnation is the most amazing part of Christmas, but so many people today think nothing of it. Maybe it is because we have all gotten used to the common language used to describe it. However, few really realize the depth of it. We are used to hearing Emmanuel, God with us. But do we really know what God with us means? Jesus the Saviour is born today, but what is he the Saviour of? We use the example of a King being born in poverty…but is this really so hard for us to believe. Isn’t it just another rags to riches story? We hear so many of those. Well I would like to put this all into perspective. In order to do that we have to look at whom God is.


God is infinite, He is eternal. He is not bound to the confines of time. In fact He created time. He is uncreated. This is hard for us to conceive because we and everything around us is created. We have a beginning and an end. The universe, as old as it may be, is still created. It had a beginning. But God is uncreated, having no beginning and no end. God is also above all things. He created all things so He has superiority over all things. For Him to become an inferior man is unbelievable. God became finite. He became one of His created beings. He became submissive to the confines of time and space. The omnipresent God was suddenly in one place and time. He submitted to the laws of physics which He himself had created. He now had a beginning. He was born. He had created matter and energy and light. E=MC squared. He made that rule. But now God who was Spirit had become matter. He took on flesh. He had to eat, and sleep and use the toilet. He had to wear clothes. He came to the earth as a weak infant. He was dependent on others to provide Him with clothes, food, shelter, and love. How could the Almighty God become such a thing? Why would He do such a thing? It would be like us deciding to become a cockroach in order to save all the cockroaches of the world. To enable them to become beautiful butterflies. It would mean to die as a cockroach under the shoe of a man. That is what Jesus did. He died on the cross and received all the wrath of God the Father.


Of course explaining the relationship between God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in and of itself is a serious task. It cannot so easily be summed up in a few short sentences. But the point of this entry is the mystery of the incarnation, perhaps the most extraordinary miracle that God ever performed outside of creation.


This is what Christmas is. This is much more than carols and gifts and decorations. We should fall on our faces in complete awe at the contemplation of this event. We should spend a whole day in absolute worship and silence and stillness of our souls. Be Still and Know that I Am GOD…..and GOD is with US now. EMMANUEL.