“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)
God became flesh.
Let that sink in. Christianity asserts that God—sovereign, immutable, omnipotent, other—the eternal God who has no beginning and end—became a human being.
Because many of us have had exposure to Christianity from our early years, it is easy to miss how massive the theological implications of the incarnation are. The incarnation lays the groundwork for a God who chooses to participate in his creation. The incarnation denies the existence of an abstract and distant God, unmuddied by his handiwork.
The incarnation tells us that the one true God is also a God who is with us and for us. He is a God who cares about human beings and who is willing to sacrifice for their good. The incarnation reveals how God’s perfect justice and mercy coexist harmoniously. Jesus embodies God’s righteous demand for justice and his deep compassion, showing that sin is addressed not by dismissing it, but by taking its consequences upon himself.
The incarnation cuts the Gordian knot of how God can be both just and merciful? How can a righteous God can save people who have acted unrighteously?
In Isaiah, God promises us that the coming servant will bring forth justice with gentleness:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law (Isaiah 42:1-4)
Many tend to choose a God who is either just or merciful, a God who is defined by his love but impotent against evil or a God who is defined by his justice, but lacks compassion. Isaiah tells us that the coming servant will be merciful to the bruised, but will also “establish justice on earth.”
This is the claim of the incarnation, that the work of justice and mercy are one in Christ, that the Warrior who protects is also the Doctor who heals. And let us not forget that we are not neutral participants in this. We aren’t just in need of mercy, but in need of God repairing what we have bent.
Paul explains that we are naturally the enemy combatants of God.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph. 2:1-3)
The great news of the incarnation is that God became flesh to make right what we could not make right. God cannot merely wave a wand and allow us into his kingdom. That would not be just. Over in Romans, Paul explains that Christ’s perfect life and atonement fulfills all that God requires:
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Roms 3:21-26)
What a statement! God is both “just and the justifier”! He is the righteous judge and also the scapegoat, offering up in himself to atone for our sins. A God who becomes flesh for our sake truly is a God worthy of our worship!
Back in Ephesians, Paul continues, “4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-7).
In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean, a man who starved for mercy and compassion meets a single man who changes his life. Bishop Myriel takes Valjean into his home, feeds him and gives him a bed to sleep in when no one else will open their home to the convict. Jean Valjean returns this this kindness with wickedness, stealing the bishop’s finest silver and taking off. Caught by the police, Valjean is returned to the bishop’s feet, where the bishop mercifully tells them that he gifted Jean Valjean the silver and adds two candlesticks to Valjean’s loot. The bishop is not only merciful, but he bears the weight of cost of Valjean’s sin. Like the bishop, through the incarnation God brings redemption without compromising his justice.
When we remember Christ in the manger, let us remember the justice and mercy of God, the Christ child came to live a perfect life in our stead and become our atonement. He is truly both “just and the justifier.”
You May Also Appreciate:
Christmas Series 2024
Part 1: The Theology of the Manger
Part 2: Just and the Justifier
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash