The Fact Of Christ’s Incarnation

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
–John 1:14

The message of Christmas is supported by the fact of Christ’s fulfillment of prophecy. Second, the story is undergirded by the fact of His incarnation. Why was it so important that Jesus fulfill all those Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah? Think of those prophecies as neon arrows coming down from heaven and pointing to Jesus Christ when He was born, saying, “This is the man you have been waiting for. This is the Son of God!” John said it this way in John 1:14: “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

How could such a thing happen? The Bible says the means of the incarnation was the virgin birth. In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet said, “A virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Then seven hundred years later, when Jesus was born to Mary, Matthew wrote, “All this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet” (1:22).

Why was the virgin birth important? For one thing, it kept Jesus from inheriting a sin nature. The Bible teaches that the sin nature comes from the father to the child. Had Jesus been born naturally of Joseph, he would have inherited that sin nature. Not only that, but the virgin birth was also important to save Jesus from the curse of Jeconiah. King Jeconiah was so evil that God said, “No man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah” (Jeremiah 22:30). Joseph was a descendent of Jeconiah. Had Jesus been born of Joseph, He would have inherited that curse and been disqualified to rule on David’s throne. Those reasons necessitated the virgin birth of Christ. And from the very beginning, Christians have embraced the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin.

The means of the incarnation was the virgin birth, but what is the meaning of the incarnation? It means God knows what it is like to be human. He knows what it is like to suffer. He knows what it is like to be rejected. The One who was in the beginning knows what it is like to be you. The writer of Hebrews said it this way: “We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:15-16).

***

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “God In A Stable: Fact Or Fable?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org