The Word That Couldn't Speak
The third point of our statement of faith says: We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and ‘true man, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary.
We have talked about the first great mystery of the Christian faith: that one infinite God exists in three persons. This is what God has revealed about Himself. We don’t comprehend it; we confess it and worship Him.
The second great mystery of our faith is “the incarnation”: the Word becoming flesh (John 1.14) – God becoming a man. We celebrate it every Christmas season and are so accustomed to saying we believe it that we forget how incomprehensible this mystery is!
How can an infinite Spirit become a limited human being and still be the infinite God who is without limits? That is the mystery of the incarnation, of God becoming man.
Our statement of faith confesses the traditional Christian idea: “…that Jesus Christ is true God and true man…”
It’s not that God the Son just put on a “human costume” and waltzed effortlessly through life. He became human. The Holy Spirit miraculously conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb -- that embryo was already the eternal Word – but He developed in the womb as all babies do and was born like all babies are. He didn’t know how to speak, but He was the Almighty Word become flesh. He only knew what babies know – that He needed His mother when He was hungry or soiled or in need of sleep.
Jesus’ body wasn’t magical or “divine”. It was human. He had to grow and develop. He had to go through puberty. He got hungry and thirsty. He got tired and had to sleep.
Jesus had a human soul. He had to learn things like every other boy. He felt joy and sorrow, frustration and disappointment, anger and discouragement. He was tempted like we are, though He never sinned (Hebrews 2.18, 4.15).
But here’s the mystery. Though He became man, the Word never stopped being the Word. Jesus was true God and true man – both at the same time.
Not a mix of the two into a sort of ‘third species’.
He was true God and true man in His one person – the Word become flesh.
How is it that an infinite spirit, the God who was powerful enough and knowledgeable enough to create the vastness of space as well as the precise workings of subatomic particles could take on life in this extremely limited form – and still be the infinite God?
That is the mystery of the incarnation. We can see how He lived. We can see His deity and we can see His humanity, but we can’t comprehend how He could truly be both. But He is both – and always will be. We simply confess that that is how He has revealed Himself – and we believe and worship Him.
We have talked about the first great mystery of the Christian faith: that one infinite God exists in three persons. This is what God has revealed about Himself. We don’t comprehend it; we confess it and worship Him.
The second great mystery of our faith is “the incarnation”: the Word becoming flesh (John 1.14) – God becoming a man. We celebrate it every Christmas season and are so accustomed to saying we believe it that we forget how incomprehensible this mystery is!
How can an infinite Spirit become a limited human being and still be the infinite God who is without limits? That is the mystery of the incarnation, of God becoming man.
Our statement of faith confesses the traditional Christian idea: “…that Jesus Christ is true God and true man…”
It’s not that God the Son just put on a “human costume” and waltzed effortlessly through life. He became human. The Holy Spirit miraculously conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb -- that embryo was already the eternal Word – but He developed in the womb as all babies do and was born like all babies are. He didn’t know how to speak, but He was the Almighty Word become flesh. He only knew what babies know – that He needed His mother when He was hungry or soiled or in need of sleep.
Jesus’ body wasn’t magical or “divine”. It was human. He had to grow and develop. He had to go through puberty. He got hungry and thirsty. He got tired and had to sleep.
Jesus had a human soul. He had to learn things like every other boy. He felt joy and sorrow, frustration and disappointment, anger and discouragement. He was tempted like we are, though He never sinned (Hebrews 2.18, 4.15).
But here’s the mystery. Though He became man, the Word never stopped being the Word. Jesus was true God and true man – both at the same time.
Not a mix of the two into a sort of ‘third species’.
He was true God and true man in His one person – the Word become flesh.
How is it that an infinite spirit, the God who was powerful enough and knowledgeable enough to create the vastness of space as well as the precise workings of subatomic particles could take on life in this extremely limited form – and still be the infinite God?
That is the mystery of the incarnation. We can see how He lived. We can see His deity and we can see His humanity, but we can’t comprehend how He could truly be both. But He is both – and always will be. We simply confess that that is how He has revealed Himself – and we believe and worship Him.