Reflecting on the Wonder of the Incarnation
December 20, 2022
“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
That’s the question yelled by Charlie Brown and answered, very appropriately, with Linus Van Pelt’s recitation of Luke 2:8-14.
If that is what Christmas is all about (and it is), we should devote time in the coming days to reflecting on the glory of a Savior, Christ the Lord, who was born in Bethlehem. This was no ordinary birth. It was completely unique. The Eternal Son of God took on flesh and came to save us from our sins. “The incarnation,” wrote Herman Bavinck, “is the central fact of the entire history of the world.” For this reason, the Christmas season calls us to both quiet meditation and boisterous, exuberant joy.
My hope is that the quotes below—from both Scripture and the history of the church—will help you with both.
The Incarnation in the Bible
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.
Philippians 2:5-8: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Galatians 4:4-5: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
The Incarnation in the Nicene Creed
We believe … “in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man.”
The Incarnation in the Westminster Larger Catechism
Q. 46. What was the estate of Christ’s humiliation?
A. The estate of Christ’s humiliation was that low condition, wherein he for our sakes, emptying himself of his glory, took upon him the form of a servant, in his conception and birth, life, death, and after his death, until his resurrection.
Q. 47. How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?
A. Christ humbled himself in his conception and birth, in that, being from all eternity the Son of God, in the bosom of the Father, he was pleased in the fullness of time to become the son of man, made of a woman of low estate, and to be born of her; with divers circumstances of more than ordinary abasement.
The Incarnation in Hymns and Poems
From “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor” by Frank Houghton
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenwards by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man.
Christmas Eve by Christina Rossetti
Christmas hath a darkness
Brighter than the blazing noon,
Christmas hath a chillness
Warmer than the heat of June,
Christmas hath a beauty
Lovelier than the world can show:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
Brought for us so low.
Earth, strike up your music,
Birds that sing and bells that ring;
Heaven hath answering music
For all Angels soon to sing:
Earth, put on your whitest
Bridal robe of spotless snow:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
Brought for us so low.
May all of this lead us to sing, with the Christmas carol, “Come and worship! Come and worship! Worship Christ the newborn King!” Merry Christmas!
In the Father’s Love,
Pastor Andrew