Christmas is a time of the year when we in the Christian faith focus on the momentous event known as “the Incarnation”. God miraculously became human in the form of a baby boy from Nazareth. This all occurred as a beautiful gift of life and love from God to us. But what is really catching my attention this year is not only the fact that God came for us but also how He came.
He was born into a family of imperfect, normal human beings. A young boy named Joseph and a young girl named Mary were told by angelic encounter that they would parent the Son of God. To make matters more complicated, Mary received the prophetic encounter first and became pregnant by way of the Holy Spirit… that created a predicament!
When Joseph came to know that Mary was pregnant he did what any young man would probably do at his time. His reaction is notable in that he didn’t want to expose her to public shame but rather break off his engagement silently. But he too experienced an encounter with Heaven that changed the course of his life forever.
Mary and Joseph were far from perfect. From the outside their union was quite scandalous too say the least. They were not super human in anyway. That reality is highlighted in the few glimpses we get of Jesus’ family life in scripture. They didn’t hide their humanity around Jesus. The bible even records a time when his family was quite convinced Jesus had lost his mind and should just come home (Mark 3:21).
In the story of the incarnation we find a most profound revelation of the way God sees us…
Though many applications are possible, I’ll share one in particular which impacted my life personally. A few years ago I had an encounter with God during an inner healing session in which I felt Him highlight the manger scene. He was speaking to me about grace and how my failures did not hinder His love for me. All at once I saw the birth of Christ like I never did before!
God came to live right in the middle of a broken human family!
If there’s one thing the incarnation reveals about God it is that He does not feel the need to stay away from our broken humanity.
Next in my encounter, I felt Him apply this scene to my own heart. When we receive His life through faith, He comes to dwell within us through His Spirit right in the middle of everything in us that is broken. Through the years I’ve experienced Him highlight certain things which were hindering me from enjoying the life and love He desires for us. In His wisdom He begins to heal these areas at the right time.
But until it’s time He is pleased to dwell with me the way I am …
That is a very challenging and beautiful concept! Though the bible is quite silent on the first 30 years of Jesus’ life I do not believe it diminishes the significance of those years. Perhaps in some ways the reality of Jesus’ very human life speaks more to us about relationship with Him than His final few years of ministry.
He became human to be human.
With His humanity He changed the relationship between Himself and us forever.
He brought to us the life He lives. All the hope He houses; the joy He lives in; the wholeness and security He operates from and the love He embodies.
Have you ever received a gift so beautifully wrapped you almost didn’t want to open it?
Well, this is how The Incarnation looks to me. The gift of salvation offered in Jesus coming to earth is astounding in itself. But the way it was packaged carries its own beauty which demands our attention.
God became one of us with the desire to bring all of us back home to Him. He became human and experienced everything we experience so that He could relate to us and be our salvation. In His presence there is no condemnation, no fear, no shame and no need to hide. Whatever we are struggling with He faced at some point during His time on earth.
“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” Heb.4:15
We can run to Him because He already demonstrated His willingness to be with us no matter how we are responding to life today. It is this acceptance from Him that becomes the grace to overcome through Him.
Wherever you are today I pray the focus on Jesus’ birth will have a powerful application for you personally.
You are loved.
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