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The Weekly Winning Thought

Why Did Jesus Have to be Born?

By December 27, 2020No Comments

“The great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child.”

– Oswald Chambers

History reveals that a preacher and religious leader by the name of Jesus of Nazareth was born around 2,020 years ago in the Kingdom of Judea, a part of the Roman Empire. So important was His life, the entire world acknowledges His birth every day through the terms anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC), the references by which everyone on the planet keeps time.

The impact of Jesus’ life has been so great that nearly one-third of the world’s population claims allegiance to His teachings, commands, and the claims He made about Himself; most importantly that He was God’s Son. The Gospel of John states, “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 (Jn 1:14).” This is known as “the Incarnation.” It is important that we understand the Incarnation or we’ll miss Jesus. Christmas is all about the Incarnation.

What is the meaning of the Incarnation? Here is an explanation from the website GotQuestions.com:

The Incarnation is a term used by theologians to indicate that Jesus, the Son of God, took on human flesh. The word incarnation means “the act of being made flesh.” It comes from the Latin version of John 1:14. Because of the near-exclusive use of the Latin Vulgate in the church through the Middle Ages, the Latin term became standard.

Biblical support for Jesus’ humanity is extensive. The Gospels report Jesus’ human needs including sleep (Luke 8:23), food (Matthew 4:221:18), and physical protection (Matthew 2:13-15John 10:39). Other indications of His humanity are that He perspired (Luke 22:43-44) and bled (John 19:34). Jesus also expressed emotions including joy (John 15:11), sorrow (Matthew 26:37), and anger (Mark 3:5). During His life, Jesus referred to Himself as a man (John 8:40), and after His resurrection His humanity was still recognized (Acts 2:22).’

But the purpose of the Incarnation was not to taste food or to feel sorrow. The Son of God came in the flesh in order to be the Savior of mankind.

First, it was necessary to be born “under the law” (Galatians 4:4). All of us have failed to fulfill God’s Law. Christ came in the flesh, under the Law, to fulfill the Law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17Galatians 4:5).

Second, it was necessary for the Savior to shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). A blood sacrifice, of course, requires a body of flesh and blood. And this was God’s plan for the Incarnation: “When Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering [under the Old Covenant] you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me’” (Hebrews 10:5). Without the Incarnation, Christ could not really die, and the cross is meaningless.

God did an incredible work in sending His only begotten Son into the world and providing us with a salvation we do not deserve. Praise the Lord for that moment in which “the Word became flesh.” We are now redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19).

Philip Yancey, in his book “The Jesus I Never Knew,” does a masterful job of explaining the Incarnation:

I learned about incarnation when I kept a saltwater aquarium. Management of a Marine aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think in view of all the energy expended on their behalf, my fish would at least be grateful. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they drove for cover into the nearest shell. They showed me one “emotion” only: fear. Although I opened the lid and dropped in food on a regular schedule, three times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign of my designs to torture them. I could not convince them of my true concern.

To my fish I was a deity. I was too large for them, my actions to incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; my attempts at healing they viewed as destruction. To change their perceptions, I began to see, would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and speak to them in a language they could understand.

A human being becoming a fish is nothing compared to God becoming a baby. And yet according to the gospels that is what happened in Bethlehem. The God who created matter took shape within it, as an artist might become a spot on a painting or a playwright a character within his own play. God wrote a story, only using real characters, on the pages of real history. The word became flesh.”

If we miss the truth of Christmas and the facts of Easter, we’ve missed it all.

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