The greatest blessing in meaningfully celebrating Advent and Christmas is the space it creates for us to grow in the wonder of Jesus Christ’s incarnation.
The Word became flesh.
Such simple words. But such a profound mystery.
The Advent and Christmas season beckons every believer to a sense of wonder, and worship. It invites us to savour, to cherish, and be deeply thankful for.
It gently moves our hearts to a sense of awe as we worshipfully reflect on the many blessings of Christ’s incarnation.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin’s womb. The creator of all the universes is confined within a tiny human embryo. The eternal one and ancient of days, now an utterly vulnerable infant.
The saviour of the world, born not as a prince, but as a servant.
The lowly manger.
The infinite God taking on frail human form…tired, thirsty, in tears. The beloved son of God is now the rejected son of man.
All of this should lead us to pause in reverential awe.
But in all the beauty of Advent and Christmas, we often vastly underestimate the full eternal implications of the incarnation.
Jesus took on flesh when he was born. And, he kept that human nature forever.
In other words, the son of God did not take on flesh only for the three-odd decades that he lived here on earth. This was not a cameo performance. But divinity robed himself in humanity for all of eternity.
The word incarnate quite literally means ‘enfleshed’. Immanuel. God the son enfleshed for eternity.
The Full Wonder of The Incarnation
When our Lord added humanity to his deity, he did so forever. What he became in the manger two thousand years ago, is what he will forever be—the God-man, Jesus Christ.
One of the greatest wonders of Jesus Christ’s incarnation is its eternal permanence.
Jesus took on flesh when he was born. And, he kept that human nature forever.
Jesus was born fully God, fully man (John 1:14).
All the days of his life, he lived fully God and fully man.
He died on the cross fully God and fully man.
He rose again from the dead fully God and fully man.
He ascended into heaven fully God and fully man (Acts 1:11).
He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, fully God and fully man, as he makes intercession for us (Heb 10:12, Heb 7:25).
When every eye sees him in his second coming, he will return fully God and fully man (Acts 1:11).
The physical and bodily resurrection of Christ and his physical and bodily ascension to heaven affirms that he is incarnate still, even at the Father’s right hand in heaven.
Fully God and fully man shall he remain forever.
This ongoing, and eternal nature of the incarnation is largely under-recognized, under-appreciated, and under-celebrated.
God the Son, took on flesh forever. Such is his love for us. Such is his commitment to us.
The Full Nature of The Incarnation
It is also necessary for us that Jesus Christ remains incarnate forever. The book of Hebrews makes this clear.
But before we go there, let us first take a minute to fully understand the incarnation.
We need to be clear about two things.
First, the incarnation is not a subtraction, but an addition.
Jesus did not lay aside His divinity in order to take on humanity. In his incarnation, Jesus added on the fullness of humanity to the fullness of his divinity.
Second, the incarnation is also not some kind of hybrid fusion of divinity and humanity.
When you take a can full of red paint and mix it with a can full of yellow paint, it becomes orange.
Jesus is not orange.
The physical and bodily resurrection of Christ and his physical and bodily ascension to heaven affirms that he is incarnate still, even at the Father’s right hand in heaven. Fully God and fully man shall he remain forever.
Instead, think of the incarnation as wholly weaving together a red chord with a yellow chord. What you now have is a new and single chord where the red and yellow will both always be distinct.
Just like this one chord with two distinct colours, the incarnate Christ is both fully God and fully man, two distinct natures perfectly united in one person, forever.
The council of Chalcedon (451 AD) laboured much to establish and explain the truth of this hypostatic union.
Now, that we have established what the incarnation is, let us look at why it is necessary for us that Christ remains incarnate forever.
The Full Necessity of The Incarnation
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). In his pre-incarnate state, Jesus did not have a bodily form.
He took on flesh in his incarnation. And upon his ascension, he returned to heaven to his father in bodily, incarnate form.
He is now seated at the right hand of his father, still incarnate, fully God and fully man (Heb 10:12).
His propitiation is complete. But his ministry is still ongoing.
At the father’s right hand, Jesus is even now interceding for all believers (Heb 7:25).
We must remember that the ascended Christ, our high priest, is still in his physical, incarnate form, fully God and fully man. There is a human on heaven’s throne.
In some part at least, the book of Hebrews is an exposition of the post-ascension, heavenly and high priestly ministry of the incarnate Christ.
“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17)
The author of Hebrews gives us two reasons for the incarnation…two reasons why Jesus had to be made like his brothers in flesh and blood.
First, he had to make a propitiation. This was the past earthly ministry of the incarnate Christ. It is finished.
Second, that he might become our merciful and faithful high priest. This is the present and ongoing heavenly ministry of the incarnate Christ. (Heb 4:14, Heb 10:12, Heb 7:25)
Our high priest in heaven is Christ incarnate, fully God and fully man, the God-man Jesus.
It is necessary for us that he be so.
Seated at the father’s right hand, the incarnate Christ is high enough to be in God’s presence as our advocate. He is fully God. And yet, he also lowly enough to stand with us in empathy (Heb 4:15). He is also fully man.
Because he was once tempted in every way, just as we are, and yet without sin, he is able to empathize with us in our weakness.
Just as our saviour-substitute here on earth needed to be human, we also need a human high priest up in heaven in God’s presence (Heb 2:17, Heb 5:1).
Put another way, Christ became incarnate not only to atone for our sins as our substitute here on earth, but also to serve as our high priest in heaven.
He is Immanuel, who is incarnate forever.
This Advent and Christmas, let us savour and feast on this glorious truth. The word became flesh. And for our sake, he will remain so forever.
