Among Us: A Christmas Story “Incarnation”

 Among Us: A Christmas Story 

“Incarnation”

Opening Illustration:

Good morning Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Merry Christmas. This morning we start a 4 week Christmas series entitled “Among Us”. Over the next four weeks we will examine the most important parts of Jesus’ birth: the incarnation, adoration, adoption and lastly…on Christmas Eve…glorification. That morning will be especially important as we will share in our annual Christmas Eve communion and candlelight service. 

Today we are talking about the incarnation. Do you know what that word means? Let’s break down the word. The noun incarnation derives from the Latin verb “incarno”, itself derived from the prefix “in” and “caro” meaning “flesh”. It means “to make flesh” or, in the passive, “to be made flesh”. In a nutshell, the incarnation means that God’s Son, who was a Spirit and never had a body, took on a human body and a human life just like ours. 

Incarnation means that Jesus had a body and a soul, just like us. Incarnation meant that He…Jesus…would experience everything a human would experience from birth to death and everything in between. The only difference between us and Jesus is that Jesus would live a perfect, sinless, blameless, righteous, upright, holy life. He would live this perfect life without any assistance from His divine nature. Incarnation means that Jesus felt fatigued. He experienced temptation. He would be betrayed. Still, Jesus always loved God and always loved His neighbor. 

Why is the incarnation important? Why is it a big deal? Why is it central to our Christian theology and doctrine? Incarnation was necessary because Jesus as God and as human would serve as the perfect sacrifice, He would be the unblemished atonement for all of humanity’s sin and wickedness. Jesus needed to die but as God, that would be impossible, but as a human, that would be possible. Jesus, with His divine nature, was the only one strong enough to endure the wrath that we deserved. 

The incarnation, the God man, Jesus lived the life that we should have lived and died the death that we deserved. He continues to represent us, all of us, still incarnate even today, as the God man standing in heaven for us. 

I recently heard a story of a newspaper that held a competition to find out how people would describe friendship. Think about that for a second. How would you define friendship? The winning answer was, “A friend is someone who’s walking in when everyone else is walking out.”

Brothers and sisters, that is Christmas. That is the incarnation. Jesus walking in when everyone else walked out. Jesus not giving up when everyone else did. Jesus not abandoning us when everyone did. 

Incarnation has a name. Did you know that? Incarnation has a name and its Immanuel. 

Matthew 1:23 ESV

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Immanuel, God with us. Not God near us. Not God around us. Not God in the vicinity of. God with us. That is Christmas. Merry Christmas indeed. 

Do me a favor this morning friends. Fill in our thesis statement this morning. Under “Today’s Thought” write, Jesus is God incarnate! Immanuel, “God with us”!

Today’s Thought:

Jesus Is God Incarnate! Immanuel, “God With Us”!

I love what J.I. Packer says about the incarnation of Jesus Christ, our Immanuel, God with us. 

"The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation." 

Nothing can compete and there is no greater story than God being born of a virgin. God incarnate. Our Immanuel. 

Today’s Quote:

"The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation." 

- J.I. Packer

Background and Context:

This morning we are reading from my most favorite Gospel. I love the Gospel of John. It was the first gospel that I read as a tender new Christian. By the way, if you are a new Christian or you are seeking, curious about Christ. Read the Gospel of John. John covers the entire life of Jesus Christ, from birth to His death and including His resurrection. John was one of the 12 disciples, the Beloved disciple. He was a witness to all the miracles, all the teachings, and all the happenings of Jesus’ ministry. He saw them first hand. 

Today we are reading from John 1:1-5. You can turn in your Bibles now if you would like. A few things to keep in mind as we read John 1. First, we are introduced to the Word. The Greek word is “Logos”. John is referring to Jesus Christ. In Jewish tradition, the Word of God represents God’s active, creative power. Next we have a preview of Jesus’ eternal existence. Jesus is the preexistent Son of the Living God. Meaning that He has no beginning and no end. Third, we see Jesus’ role in creation. The Word created all things and in Him all things hold together. Fourth, we have an understanding of why Jesus came. Jesus came to bring light to a dark world and life to a dead existence. The light shines in the darkness! Lastly, John 1:1-5 has profound theological significance. John lays the foundation that Jesus is the incarnate Word…Logos…of God. John 1 affirms Jesus’ divinity, His role in creation, and the light that He brings to all men. 

Statement of Belief:

We believe the Bible to be inspired, God breathed, infallible, and authoritative. We believe the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training believer’s in righteousness. God’s Word gives life. It provides peace in trouble and protection in tribulation. It is alive, active, and cuts to the core of the human soul. Since there is no other book like it, let us stand to show our reverence and respect.  

Today’s Scripture:

John 1:1-5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Marvelous Mystery of The Incarnation

I. The Majesty of The Incarnation vs. 1

This morning, let’s look briefly at three points. Today we will look at the marvelous mystery of the incarnation. We will see what it means to us that Jesus became man, lived among us, and how His life changed the world. 

Fill in the first blank this morning. The majesty of the incarnation. 

John 1:1-2 - ESV

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 

Friends, I want you to do me a favor. This evening, I want you to go outside at say…10 p.m. I pray that it will be a clear night. I want you to look up. I want you to try to count the stars. Im being serious, I want you to do your very best and count the stars. If you take me up on that request, you will walk away pretty frustrated. You can try, but eventually you’ll lose count. 

Scientists have actually done what I have asked you to do. Do you know how many they were able to count with their naked eye? They counted about 6000 stars. That seems like a lot but it actually a tiny fraction of how many stars are in our universe. According to astronomers, there are approximately 200 billion trillion stars in our observable universe. That’s a lot of stars. What about galaxies? Astronomers have guessed that there are between 200 billion and 2 trillion in the observable universe. 

Of all the galaxies, of all the planets, of all the universes, seen and unseen, understood and still being discovered, it is amazing that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to this small, insignificant, speck of dust in the universe.

When you stop to consider the enormity of the incarnation, it is hard to believe that God would choose this place, that time, those people to become flesh and live among people. 

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke give the actual events of the Christmas story. This is Christmas, paraphrased by Stuart Davidson.

God sends Gabriel to a nothing town in a nothing nation to ask a poor girl if she will become the mother of a child. This child will be great. He will be the Son of the Most High. The same angel meets her fiancé in a dream and tells him not to abandon the poor young girl in her hour of need. Both girl and man are obedient. 

Meanwhile, back in Rome, the Emperor orders a census. The man and the girl, now pregnant, head to Bethlehem. They search for a place to stay and they are routinely turned away. Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable. 

Angels sing. Shepherds are invited. Not kings. Not queens. Not nobility. Not royalty. Shepherds. Suddenly a star appears in the heavens. This star is different. It shines brighter. It moves. It is noticed by Magi from the East. These men, although astrologers, also know Scripture. They are overcome with the desire to follow the star. Two years, maybe three, pass and the Magi find themselves on the doorstep of the young toddler Jesus bar Joseph. 

Gabriel jumps back into the story. He warns the Magi not to go back the way they came. He warns them of Herod’s plot to kill Jesus. 

The Christmas story is not only captured in the Gospels, it is also discussed in extra Biblical historical accounts. Jesus’ birth is mentioned by Josephus, a first century Jewish historian and scholar. His birth is also mentioned by Tacitus, a Gentile Roman historian and politician. 

John’s Gospel narrative is filled with majesty and mystery. John transports the readers back to the very beginning of time. He goes back much further than Jesus’ birth, taking the readers to the very moment when Jesus created everything. Paul understood this too when in Colossians he wrote that Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation, in whom all things visible and invisible were created by Him and in whom all things hold together.”

Friends, the majesty of the incarnation shows that we have the ability, the potential, to be inhabited by the Word of God. It relays to us that we all have the ability to be holistically possessed by the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus speaks about this oneness with Him at the Last Supper when he prayed, "As I am in you and you are in me, may they also be in us ... so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them"

Praise God for the majesty of the incarnation. The sinless Word of God entered our world in a manner familiar to us, dwelling within his mother's womb and experiencing infancy as a dependent child. He lived as a refugee and embraced a life among the marginalized, extending immense love and compassion to those in need. As his followers, he encourages us to emulate this love and compassion in our own lives.

Listen to Paul’s words captured in Colossians 2:9 from the Amplified Bible. 

Colossians 2:9 - Amplified Bible (1965)

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature]. 

II. The Miracle of The Incarnation vs. 3

Oh what a marvelous mystery is the incarnation. We see the majesty of the incarnation in verse 1. Now, in verse three, we see the miracle of the incarnation. Let’s read it again together. 

John 1:3 - ESV

3. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

It’s tough. It really is. It is hard to decided which is the greatest miracle: incarnation or the resurrection. I think that we would all say that without the resurrection, we would be without hope. We would be lost. Unable to be liberated. We wouldn’t be free. We would not know God. We would not have the Holy Spirit. There are so many things missing from our lives without the resurrection. 

But there cannot be a resurrection without the incarnation. There can be no cross without Christmas. C.S. Lewis called the incarnation “the Grand Miracle.” He wrote: “The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation…. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this…. It was the central event in the history of the Earth—the very thing that the whole story has been about”.

The greatest miracle of all is that astounding, the incomprehensible act by which God stepped down from heaven’s throne to become human. He was born of a virgin. He was born not in a palace but in a stable. A barn filled with hay, feed, and animals. What sets these events apart from everyone else is that Jesus was and is God incarnate. What sets the events of Jesus’ life apart from mine, what sets His power apart from the most powerful people that ever existed, what sets His miracles apart from any other man or woman who claimed miracles, is that Jesus is God incarnate. I am not God. Neither are you. No one else, no matter their standing, their stature, their strength, is God incarnate. 

What’s truly tragic about the miracle of the incarnation, is how many Christian take so little notice of the event. A spirit of materialism, greed, and consumerism has become attached to the Christmas season. We get so wrapped up in gift giving, gift receiving, Santa, Elf pets, trees and lights, that we miss the miracle of God becoming man and living among us. 

Im reminded of Hebrews 1:2. Check it out. 

Hebrews 1:2 - NLT

2. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 

III. The Mission of The Incarnation vs. 5

The marvelous mystery of the incarnation. We see again the majesty of the incarnation. Then we have the miracle of the incarnation. Lastly, we have the mission of the incarnation. Why did God send Jesus to live among us?

John 1:4-5 - ESV

4. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

John states it clearly. Jesus came to give light and life. That was His mission. One thing to remember here brothers and sisters is the metaphor that John is using. Darkness! Darkness is a metaphor for any number of things. Darkness surly means sin. A sin that is pervasive. A sin that has infected all mankind. A sin, that left uncured, unchecked, will leave us dead in our transgressions. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. All of us have a darkness staining our existence. No one is immune from the darkness of sin. Another metaphor for “darkness” is Satan. Satan is a real, living, entity, bent of the destruction of man. “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy”. Satan’s mission is to rob this world of the light of Christ. He is a destroyer. He is a liar. The light shines in the darkness. The light has defeated Satan. Darkness can also be another word for death. Jesus came as the incarnate God to defeat death. “For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life”. Jesus came to defeat death and death was defeated indeed. 

The world was wandering in darkness, stumbling in the shadows of despair and brokenness. But oh, the miracle of Christmas! In the midst of that cosmic night, a Light pierced through! And that Light is Jesus! He came to be the beacon of life, the source of hope that shines so bright, no darkness can extinguish it.

And guess what? The Light didn't just flicker; it blazed a trail of love that reached even the darkest corners of our lives. That's the miracle of Christmas, my dear brothers and sisters! Jesus came to infuse our existence with His divine life, a life that conquers sin, shame, and every struggle we face.

But that's not all. Verse 5 declares, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Can I get an "Amen"? The darkness tried its best, oh, it tried, but it couldn't snuff out that glorious light! Jesus came to be the unconquerable Light in our lives. He came to bring victory, to dispel the shadows, and to lead us into a life of triumphant joy!

So, this Christmas season, let's celebrate with hearts ablaze, knowing that Jesus didn't just come as a cute, cuddly baby (although, praise God for that too!). He came as the Light that forever dispels our darkness. He came to breathe life into our weary souls. Can you feel the energy of that truth, my friends?

As we exchange gifts, sing carols, and eat together this Christmas, let's remember the greatest gift of all—Jesus Christ, our Light and Life! Rejoice in the miracle of His coming, and let the radiance of His love fill your homes and hearts. Merry Christmas, beloved family! Amen and amen!

Isaiah 9:2 - ESV

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 

Remember, Without The Incarnation, There Is No Salvation!