The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Incarnation.

The Greatest Story Ever Told is the incarnation. Incarnation is when Deity took on human flesh and became one of us. It is God becoming a man, so that the God-Man could show us the way back to God.

If I asked you where you could find the story of the Incarnation in the Bible, you would probably tell me, if you are familiar with the scriptures, that it is recorded in Matthew chapters 1-2 and Luke chapters 1-2. You’d be right. These are the 2 main places in the Bible where we learn the Nativity story for our Christmas celebration.

But the Incarnation is also told to us in John 1. And this version might be more from Heaven’s viewpoint. In John chapter 1 we are told:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The Word is Jesus.

“The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” -vs 2-5
“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.

My husband mentioned this to me today, that sometimes, we get so caught up at Christmastime, celebrating Jesus as the baby in the manger, and thinking subconsciously that that was the beginning of the story of Jesus, but it wasn’t. We need to be reminded that Jesus existed before the incarnation. He always has been, and He always will be. This alone made the pharisees and religious rulers want to kill Him because they understood that THAT meant He was God. When Jesus told them in John 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I AM.” They knew and completely understood that He was making Himself equal with God. Which He was, and He is, but they didn’t want to accept that.

John goes on to say in 1:10 “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” That is still true today, and it is one of the saddest statements in the Bible. Here is God, who steps down out of Heaven’s splendor, and comes down to confine Himself as one of us, a little baby human, with our human DNA, and human helplessness, and human frailty, and human limitations, and yet, the human race as a whole, doesn’t recognize who He is.

Its kind of like a Cosmic episode of that Undercover Boss show…. where the Creator/God of the universe comes down to His creation to love them and help them, and benefit them; and is unrecognized by the vast majority. He lives, and works and ministers among us, but still, the world as a whole does not esteem Him or respect Him, and ultimately devalues and murders Him. But… He is still the boss, and like a Boss, He takes charge, and defeats the enemy (sin, and satan, and death) and is seated once again in the Boss’s chair, in this case the Throne on High.

This truth about the Christmas story is one of its most fascinating, and yet “hard to wrap your head around” doctrines. The “How’s” are puzzling enough, but if you have faith in the Creator God, you accept that He can do anything.

But its the “Why’s” that are nearly unfathomable. Why would God do this? Why would God send His only begotten Son? Why would that Only Begotten Son want to leave the glory and splendor of Heaven to live here among us, as one of us, not in some sort of disguise, as the undercover bosses do, but literally as ONE of us. He BECAME man. Genetically and DNA-ically.

From zygote to embryo to fetus to newborn baby to toddler to child to teenager to man.

All the stages of development that we go through… He submitted to and went through. The One who flung the stars in place & created every living creature, now had to learn how to eat solid food, and potty train, walk & talk, and read & write, and do chores, & go through puberty, and all the other things we learn as we grow into adulthood.

Jesus did all these things, willingly, and lovingly, and submissively. And, all without sin.

Why?

For you. For me. For all mankind.

To show us the way back to God. To save us. To lead us and to guide us in the only way that would truly give us LIFE. To redeem us.

To pay the price.

You see, that’s what its really all about, this Incarnation of God to man.

He came to pay the price for our sin.

This sinless and Holy God, came down to give His life as our ransom. To take the punishment that we deserve, and to satisfy the wrath of the Father against sin.

ONLY He could do it, because as a human, He lived his life without sin. And the why? Its because of His great LOVE for us.

John, the writer of this gospel also gives us the great verse “For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” -3:16

That is the answer to the “Why?” To show us the way to everlasting life with God, in Heaven.

“He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not….
But…
as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons and daughters of God, even to them that believe on His name.” 1:10 &12

The incarnation is truly the Greatest Story Ever Told. I hope you are pondering on that this Christmas, as I am. Even more, I hope you have believed on the Incarnated One, and received Him as your Savior. For that is the best gift of Christmas you could ever receive, and it lasts forevermore.