Incarnation--The God Who Put Himself into a Woman's Womb

Advent is a season of remembering that it is always God who takes the initiative to have relationship with us. This initiative is expressed in the three comings of Christ, which is the theme of Advent and the topic for my three posts this week. I hope they help bring Christmas home to your heart this holiday season.Our first remembering focuses on the reality that the God we serve became a human and walked among us (see John 1:1, 14). This is HUGE! We call it the Incarnation—God altering himself to become a man. Christmas celebrates the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies that God is not only spirit, but would take on flesh and blood—a permanent body.God put himself into a woman’s womb. He experienced birth. He wore skin. He ate and drank. He laughed. He listened. He loved. He revealed his glory. Jesus still is human and has a body. A transformed body, yes, but a body that still wears skin, eats, drinks, laughs, listens, loves, and reveals his glory (see John 20:24-29; John 21).In The Liturgical Year Joan Chittister comments, “Advent and the Christmas season show us life in its essence. In it, we are brought face-to-face with life stripped down and effulgent at the same time, simple and radiant at once. Here in the Child is promise and meaning, purpose and potential.”“The angel said, ‘Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master’” (The Message Bible).A Savior born—One who is totally God and totally human. One who can relate to my humanness and embrace me with his Godness. This is the first coming that Advent remembers—the Incarnation. In what ways are you encountering this Jesus, the God/man, during this holiday season? How are you remembering his coming?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis