THE CHALLENGE OF THE INCARNATION

Just what is it that has happened? The God of Gods, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, as made flesh, made one of us in completeness. Fully God, fully and completely man. There is something about the Incarnation that runs cross grain to man’s desire to be as God. We didn’t bargain on God becoming one of us. That is not what humankind wanted. What we wanted, what we still want, is to be our own Lord, to be in control, to be the boss of us, and of course when we can to be the boss of others.

That was the temptation of Eve and Adam:

For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate [Genesis 3:5-6].

The temptation to be as God is immediately followed by the desire to satisfy the appetites, “For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world” [1 John 2:16].

When God became the man Christ Jesus it posed a strong challenge to those who were in control, to the religious leaders and the political leaders. It was the common people, the people who were not in control, that opened their hearts to him.

And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners [Matthew 9:11-13].  

The solution of those in power was to kill the God-Man. His existence was intolerable. They killed Him, but they couldn’t keep Him down. He rose physically from the dead and over a period of forty days showed himself to his disciples with many proofs, then ascended bodily into heaven. That is indeed the witness of St. Peter,

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses [Acts 3:13-15].

The One who is killed is Himself the Author of Life of whom John speaks in the beginning of his Gospel. It is God Incarnate who is put to death.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men [John 1:1-4].

The Incarnate Christ still poses the same challenge to those in power today; to some of those within organized religion who still want to be lord, and to those within the political structures who thirst for more power. That challenge was heard by the high priest and the council in Peter’s day, and the challenge remains the same today,

But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them [Acts 5:29-33].

When renewal comes, and I pray that it will, it will be the common people, and not the “authorities” who will again open their hearts to Him.

Here is the Challenge; you cannot have Jesus the Christ merely as sacrifice. You cannot have Him only as Teacher. “He will never be a Priest to Save any who take Him not as well for their Prophet to Teach them, and as their King to Rule them” [The Whole Duty of Man, 1687]. It is the Lordship of Christ, the Sovereignty of the God-Man Jesus Christ of Nazareth that poses the ultimate Challenge.

When God became the man Christ Jesus of Nazareth everything changed. God was no longer merely “out there”, not that He was at any time only transcendent. He has always been willing to walk in the Garden with those who truly desired His company. Enoch walked with God, and God took him bodily to heaven [Genesis 5:24]. Moses was blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” [Genesis 6:9]. But when God the Son became incarnate in human flesh he walked the fields of Galilee with quite a number of people, and now we are told,

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,  even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live [John 14:16-19].

The challenge of His Kingship is not academic, but personal. It is Jesus, the Author of life, who says to each of us, “Will you walk with me?”