The Miracle of Incarnation! John 1:14-18

Text:  “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14.

          “Wherefore when He (Christ Jesus) cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice (bulls and goats) and offering Thou (God the Father) wouldest not, but a Body hast Thou prepared Me.”

Hebrews 10:5.

Good morning, faithful Christian!  Being granted God’s gift of faith - that untouchable, untastable, unseeable, and humanly illogical, gift God gives to His chosen children - you are enabled by God to truly believe the truth of His Word.  Praise God for the gift of immovable faith!  Hallelujah!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is (exists), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:1;6)

(See the doctrine of Faith on our website www.ulsterchristians.org)

The humble dictionary defines the act of incarnation thus:  Incarnate  (vt):- to embody in flesh, give human form to; to personify in human flesh. (The Chambers Dictionary, page 811)

Therefore, in theological terms, an act of incarnation is the act of embodying Deity in human flesh; clothing God, as it were, in the form of His Creation by giving Him a human body of flesh and blood.  (Hebrews 10:5)

“I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.  Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.”  (Psalm 2:7-8)

Jesus Himself declared: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him/her that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.  For I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him (God the Father) that sent Me.”  (John 6:37-38)

This is the miraculous act to which our text above is referring - the Eternal Word of God, or God the Son, was incarnated into a Body of flesh and blood, and dwelt among us in the form of the lovely Lord Jesus Christ. 

Thus, the apostle John, inspired by God the Holy Spirit, leaves us in no doubt of this miracle of incarnation by adding the fact that ‘…we beheld His glory (as eye-witnesses), the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (V.14)

As Theologian Alan Cairns states in his Dictionary of Theological Terms, page 190: “In writing to Timothy, Paul lays this down as the first fundamental doctrine of Christianity: ‘Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in the flesh.’ (1 Timothy 3:16)”

John clearly stated the fact that although the natural, fully human, Jesus was actually and physically born after John‘s birth - the Supernatural Christ, the Eternal Son of God, existed in Eternity before him.  (V.15)

“To the question, Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?, The Shorter Catechism answers: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being the Eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one Person forever.’”  (Dictionary of Theological Terms, by Alan Cairns, Page 137; published by Emerald House Group Inc, Greenville, U.S.A.)

Jesus Himself declared His Eternal existence as God the Christ openly: “Jesus said unto them (the Jews), Verily, verily (truly, truly), I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”  (John 8:58)  Hallelujah!  Praise be the Lord God incarnate!

The Law given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, The Ten Commandments, were given to show sinful mankind that we, with the greatest of human will, cannot keep them!  ‘…But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’  (V.17) (Exodus 20:)

The incarnate Lord, Jesus Christ, manifested all the Divine attributes of Jehovah Almighty God by His sinless life, His miraculous public ministry; His matchless love; His Sacrificial death on the Cross to Redeem us; and His victorious resurrection from the dead!  Hallelujah!  He is risen indeed!  Only God Himself could defeat Death.

Let us continue to grow to be more like Him day by day, and continue to declare the beauty of God Almighty in the Person of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  The Lord God bless your day.

Thought:  “…Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given…the Prince of Peace…” - God the Son, Christ Jesus.