Enjoying The Incarnation of Christ

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 John 4:2-3 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

The incarnation should be boasted in, as it was the very Son of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, that took on flesh so that He could bring the believer back to God. How great it is to worship a Christ that lowered Himself in the form of humanity to save God’s creation and restore His believers back to His Father!

The incarnation of Christ is His taking on human flesh through the birth of a virgin mother named Mary, to come and save His sheep from their sins. This means that full deity came and dwelt inside a human nature. Herman Bavinck says, “The Father could not be sent, for he is the first in order and is self- existent; the Spirit proceeds from the Son, secedes him, and is sent by him. But the Son was the one suited for the incarnation.” The Word becoming flesh means that the divine Christ took on human form. The incarnation of Jesus Christ, being of a virgin birth, was not a necessity in the sense that it had to happen, but in the sense that it was a sign of the uniqueness of the person, character, and nature of Jesus Christ. Christ never had human form until this miraculous birth; from it He will maintain this human form forever – from His resurrection until eternity.

Herman Bavick, Reformed Dogmatics Ed. John Bolt, Trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), p276. 80For the believer, this truth of the gospel reveals many things that they can boast in, and that can be reassuring to the souls of many. Not only had God once revealed Himself in the ways of the Old Testament, but greatly also in the literal incarnation of Christ, that a believer may know that God wanted to reveal Himself to mankind. How great it is that He came in form like that of man so that He could reveal Himself to them. Not only does this beauty of Christ coming in human flesh give us the reality of Christ, but it also helps us in our pattern of living to live like Him – namely honoring and giving glory to the Father! This could be one of the most applicable truths of the character of Christ. How great for the believer to see Christ’s life, and resemble it, in making known that the name of God is a blessing and only a part of the abundant positives that the incarnation of Christ gives the believer. The believer must praise Christ that He came in this incarnation; for without the incarnation there would have been no Savior for man. How much greater it is to say that Christ came and had to take on this form of humanity so that He now can fulfill the Davidic covenant sitting on His throne. It can be boasted that the believer’s Lord sits on His throne, ruling in the human flesh of man, progressing His kingdom as He may. For this incarnation not only came and is ruling, but will return in the same state of man, to come and glorify those who are His people. But how much more gratifying to the heart of mankind is it to see that their Savior suffered like them in every aspect and in every shape and form – to feel the pains and hardship and temptations like that of man. Man can find joy in the fact that Christ can feel their pain and relate to their suffering. Christ felt the needs of every hurt, every pain, and every broken heart that would ever need His healing; Christ felt it entirely and suffered for them. It is grand that in the end of time mankind will be judged by this Jesus Christ, who took on human form and suffered in human flesh so that He can judge the living and the dead. For those of you who are believers, boast in your glorious judge; boast in the One that lowered Himself; boast in the victory you have because of Jesus Christ taking on your nature and having victory. The victory of Christ in the flesh is the believer’s victory to lift Christ high in what He deserves. Christ came back in flesh form so that He could redeem the creation that had fallen at Adam. The believer lifts truths like this to make Christ more beautiful to the nations of people among the earth. Boasting in a creator that came in creation form (human flesh) to redeem creation is like no other god, no other religion, and no other story that can be told. Therefore, lift Christ high – boast and find all enjoyment in that One that gives you delight, gives you victory from sin, gives you hope in that victory of sin, and keeps you free from sin because of His plan of saving your soul from hell. Archibald Alexander Hodge said this on Christ’s incarnation:

How can it be shown that the doctrine of the incarnation is a fundamental doctrine of the gospel?

1st This doctrine, and all the elements thereof, is set forth in the Scriptures with pre-eminent clearness and prominence.

2nd Its truth is essentially involved in every doctrine of the entire system of faith; in every mediatorial act of Christ, as prophet, priest and king; in the whole history of his estate of humiliation, and in every aspect of his estate of exaltation; and above all, in the significance and value of that vicarious sacrifice which is the heart of the gospel.