At this time of the year we should be especially mindful and reflective of the incarnation. What is the “incarnation?” It is a word that does not appear in Scripture except in two parts that are not together. These words are en and sarx.  Sarx means flesh, or what we might call our bodies as opposed to our soul or spirit. In reference to Christ it means the Son of God came to us “in flesh” in inconceivable humility to help us. This means that Christ literally became one of us. He became a man in every sense. Both 1 John 4:2 and 2 John 7 speak of Jesus Christ as coming “in the flesh.” Romans 8:3 tells us, “For what the law could not do, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin.”

He came in “the likeness” means He was one of us yet He unlike us He was righteous. This statement explains the necessity of His coming for there was no other possibility for God to grant justification to sinful humanity but through our Lord’s incarnation. God the Father sent His Son in our likeness to break our bondage and condemnation because of sin. There are other texts contributing to our understanding of the incarnation, but the central most comprehensive statement in Scripture is John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This text shows us both the Man (Christ Jesus) and highlights His glory as also being God.

The sarx (flesh) of John 1:14 tells us He was entirely a man. His existence while on earth had all the needs, limitations, and sensations of human life. Yet, there was one thing missing from Him as fully human and that was sin. Being born of God by the Spirit of God He had no propensity to sin. The writer of Hebrews says of Him, “He has been tempted in all things just as we are yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). God knew that man of himself could never defeat sin. Thus, God did through His Son what we are told in 2 Cor. 5:21, “He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

As our substitute in punishment for our sins, He broke the back of sin’s wages which required death. This is why Paul mocks death in 1 Cor. 15:55, “Oh death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting,” and he goes on to say, “But thanks be to God, who give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What we should think of in the incarnation of Christ is this victory over sin and over death which He purchased for those who will repent, trust, and follow Him. Sin and death are by far the greatest obstacles for every person who has ever lived.

And what did our Lord’s life look like as God manifested in human flesh? It was not that His life was merely occupying a place in humanity. His humanity was the magnum opus (greatest event) of humanity. I think John summed it up best in the words of the great incarnation passage of John 1:14, “We beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of God full of grace and truth.” Even though human He is called in Old Testament prophecy, “Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6). This kind of description could never be made of any other person. John writes from his first-hand experience. In what way did John behold His glory? After all Christ was veiled to the degree that again Isaiah says of Him, “He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him” (Isaiah 53:2).

God veiled Him so that He looked like any other common man. Isaiah goes on to say, speaking for the Jews who would encounter Him, and focusing on the circumstances surrounding His common status in life, “We did not esteem Him.” He even states additionally that, “He was despised” (Isaiah 53:3). But here is this remarkable contrast. On the one hand most people looking at Him rejected Him to the degree of despising, but John says in contrast, “We beheld His glory.” Now we know that John saw our Lord unveiled on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mat. 17). However, the explanation given in John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

This tells us what John means by describing Jesus as, “full of grace and truth.” John was with the Savior night and day for approximately three years. He knew His character intimately. The word “beheld” is a verb meaning to look at intensely, closely, or to scrutinize with perception. While Christ was among them, they were studying Him. As they did this they saw “glory.” They did not see this glory from His fleshly features. “Glory” is doxa reflecting an opinion that brings the highest degree of distinction, honor, and magnificence. Then how is this glory explained? John says he was “full of grace and truth.” It means He was replete with or in super abundance of and not only characterized by grace and truth, but the source of them.

To all Christians these are two of the most important words. We all need His grace for we have no merit. Without His grace there is no hope and no future. And this grace that is so needed is dispensed by believing the truth of which He is. What we see in this is Immanuel, God with them in full expression of the characteristics of the Father and especially these two necessary attributes of grace and truth. This is the glory of the incarnation of Christ. We visit our Lord in this same sense when we behold Him in God’s Word and see His glory.

There is no other place possible to find these realities of grace and truth but in His Word. He is called the Word, and the Word is truth. It is here through this truth we find grace and grow into the likeness of Him. This is one of the principal reasons we meet in worship and Bible study. A Merry Christmas to you, or perhaps better said, a Blessed Incarnate Reflection to you!