This article was first published in the Fall 2007 issue of Bible and Spade.
And the Word became 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, KJV).
In dealing with archaeology and related apologetic subjects, ABR investigates, researches and studies the historical record found in Scripture. As we all know, there are some events recorded in Scripture that cannot be subjected to empirical, historical investigation. As the pages of redemptive history unfold, they reach a culmination in the early pages of the Gospels, at the birth of Jesus Christ, the mysterious Incarnation of the Lord of Glory.
The Scriptures teach us that He was (and is) no mere man, but very God of God, manifest in the flesh. It was a miraculous and purely supernatural moment in the history of the world, that moment when the eternal, living and holy God of the universe stepped into human history, took on a human nature, and interacted with His creation in the body of a man. He is the last Adam (I Cor 15; Rom 5), who remedied the failure of the first Adam.
As I closely examine the orthodox view of God found in the pages of Scripture, my awe grows exponentially when pondering the Incarnation of God the Son in the person of Christ. In His divine being, He is wholly other. He has no need outside Himself:
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is He served by mankind, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all men life and breath and everything (Acts 17:24-25).
He is utterly and absolutely independent.
He does not inhabit eternity, He is eternity! He exists infinitely, before time and space: '...from everlasting to everlasting You are God' (Ps 90:2). He is a boundless ocean of Being, with no beginning and no end. He knows all things exhaustively and perfectly. He is immutable and unchangeable (Jas 1:17).
While He is wholly other, He also stoops down into the created order and interacts with it. He transcends all, yet He is present everywhere. He asks: 'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' (Jer 23:24). He is timeless, yet He inhabits every moment of time. He sees all, hears all, and knows all. He is perfectly good, perfectly holy and perfectly just. He is the ultimate personal Being, possessing absolute personality.
This is the God who condescends to reveal Himself to all creation. He upholds all things by the word of His power (Col 1:17). He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He is the Author of your soul, and the Sustainer and Maker of your body: 'In Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28). His secret mysteries are beyond us, yet His revelations are given to us (Dt 29:29). There is no one like Him, nor can there be (Is 46:9-10). He is the great I AM, the self-existent One (Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58).
This is the God who entered the world in the womb of a young, virgin Jewish girl named Mary. Jesus Christ is the visible and quintessential manifestation of God, par excellence. 'Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father' (Jn 14:9). Yet, He was born into the most inglorious of circumstances, with little celebration. He did not receive the pomp and circumstance worthy of a king. But He is not just a king, He is the King. A wicked despot attempted to kill Him as a young boy. Godless pagans and His own people subjected Him to the most ignominious death, nailing Him to a cross like a common criminal.
We know the story does not end there. God the Father raised the Son from the dead, satisfying the demands of divine justice against sin, and allowing men to be reconciled to God. When the Son returns to the earth again, it will not be in humility as before, but in judgment and glory.
Let's put aside the parties and the gifts and the running to and fro, and ponder the incomprehensible Incarnation of Yahweh in the person of Christ this holiday season. Everyone here at ABR wishes you blessings and peace during this Christmas season as you celebrate and worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
To Christ be the Glory!
