The Majesty of the Nativity

When you look at a nativity, what do you see? There are angels and shepherds and farm animals. Of course, we see Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Yet, that could be any poor couple with their newborn son. If I could describe the scene with one word, it would be incarnation. I hope to answer 3 important questions: what is incarnation, why incarnation and how must we respond to incarnation.

1. What is incarnation?

It comes from a Latin word which means in the flesh. It is the physical dwelling of God in His world. The eternal Son of God became a finite man. Jesus became the first and only person with two natures, fully God and fully man. His two natures in one person will last forever.

Let’s get theological with two key words concerning incarnation. Hypostatic union: 2 natures, divine and human in one person. Kenosis: Jesus voluntarily gave up the independent use of His divine attributes, Philippians 2:5-7. He lived on earth in His humanity except when authorized by the Father to use His divinity

The Old Testament foretells incarnation. Consider three verses written 700 years before the birth of Jesus.

Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

• Immanuel means God is with us. In this verse, both the humanity and deity of Jesus are predicted.

• Augustine (4th c.), He came to that which He was not; He did not lose what He was. He was made the Son of man, but did not cease to be the Son of God.

Isaiah 9:6, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Dr. Mark Yarbrough, President of Dallas Theological Seminary, provides a precise meaning of each name:

• Wonderful Counselor, Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, full of wisdom and truth. In a world clouded by confusion, Jesus guides us with divine clarity and truth. He speaks words that bring life, direction, and healing to weary hearts.

• Mighty God, Though He lay as an infant in a manger, He came as no ordinary child. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, He entered as the eternal Son of God, the One through whom all things were made. His power would be displayed not by earthly conquest, but by defeating sin and death through His suffering, death, and resurrection.

• Everlasting Father, He is the Everlasting Father, not in the role of the Father within the Trinity, but in His tender care for His children. Jesus shepherds us with compassion, provides for our needs, and has promised never to leave or forsake us. His love remains eternally steadfast and enduring.

• Prince of Peace, His birth was announced with angelic expressions of peace on earth. Through Him we have reconciliation with God, peace within our hearts, and the promise of peace in a restored creation to come.

Micah 5:2, But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

• The location of the incarnation is foretold by the prophet Micah.

• The eternality of the infant child is declared.

The baby in the manger is so much more!

• Jesus is God but He was the son of Mary.

• Jesus died on the cross but He is the resurrection and the life.

• Jesus became a creature but is Creator of all things.

• Charles Spurgeon (19th c.), He that made man was made man...Infinite, and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman... Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms.

• C. S. Lewis (20th c.), The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation ... God became man.

2. Why would God choose incarnation for His Son?

Isaiah 53:5-6, But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

• Our heavenly Father sent His Son to make payment for our sins.

• John Huss (burned at the stake in 1415 for his faith in Christ alone), Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that mortal man may live in eternity.

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (d. April, 1945), Out of love for human beings, God becomes a human being.

• Jesus did what we could not do, live without sin, so that we might be redeemed by His payment on the cross.

• Jesus does not need us but He loves us. He wants us!

Zechariah 9:10, ... and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

• He came to take back what was lost in the Garden of Eden.

• He created all things and restores it through His incarnation.

• J. I. Packer (d. 2020), The Christian message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity- hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory - because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.

3. How should we respond to the incarnation?

• Receive the gift of God by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ, John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

• Obey Him from a heart of thanksgiving, 1 John 5:3, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.

• Love others empowered by His love for you, 1 John 4:12, ...if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

Closing comments

• Athanasius (d. 373), Christ became what we are that he might make us what he is.

• James Kennedy (d. 2007), The great tragedy of the Christmas holiday is not so much its commercialization ..., but its trivialization. How tragic it is that people have forgotten Him to Whom they owe so very much.

• Christmas is the conquest of earth, one heart at a time.

A Christmas prayer by Joseph Bayly (d. 1986), an American author and publisher,

Praise God for Christmas. Praise Him for the incarnation, for the word made flesh.

I will not sing of shepherds watching flocks on frosty night, or angel choirs. I will not sing of a stable bare in Bethlehem, or lowing oxen, wise men trailing star with gold, frankincense, and myrrh;

Tonight, I will sing praise to the Father who stood on heaven's threshold and said farewell to his Son as he stepped across the stars to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And I will sing praise to the infinite, eternal Son, who became most finite, a baby who would one day be executed for my crime. Praise him in the heavens. Praise him in the stable. Praise him in my heart.