Author Max Lucado describes the power of what he calls “the agent of familiarity” (God Came Near) to deaden our hearts even to experiences that are astonishing. This agent’s commission from the black throne room is clear, and fatal, “You don’t need to steal the rich blessings poured out upon Christians—you just need to cause them to forget how precious and spectacular they are.” Lucado ID’s this agent:
“He’s an expert at robbing the sparkle and replacing it with the drab. He invented the yawn and put the hum in humdrum. And his strategy is deceptive. He won’t steal your home from you, he’ll do something far worse. He’ll paint it with a familiar coat of drabness. He’ll replace romance with routine and scatter the dust of yesterday over the wedding pictures in the hallway until they become pictures of another couple in another time. He won’t take your children from you he’ll just make you too busy to notice them. Before you know it that little face that brought tears in the delivery room has become—perish the thought—common.”
The agent of familiarity can cause you to pass a garden every day and never look at the splendor of a flower or witness a hundred sunsets without being moved by the grandeur of one. This agent of familiarity is hard at work this Christmas season, spreading layers of the poisonous dust of the ordinary over the manger in Bethlehem to deaden our senses to the staggering reality of what actually took place there. This episode seeks to blow off that dust to reveal with fresh clarity five ways the incarnation can evoke radical devotion to Jesus. May a fresh look at the incarnation fill us with fresh energy and passion to follow our Master well.
THE INCARNATION HELPS ME SEE HOW COSTLY EVIL REALLY IS
Because God is the holy judge of all the earth who will uphold justice on earth, no sin can go unpunished. God’s moral decree is clear, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22). Remarkably, God, out of love for us is able to be both just and merciful to us because of the principle of substitution. In the OT, he portrayed a combination of mercy and justice in the slaying of a perfect lamb whose death substituted for sinful Israelites. But that animal blood only pointed to the true lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world; the death of a lamb could never justly satisfy the demands of God’s holy justice. The wage of sin is and must always be death to human sinners in a universe created by a holy God. Sin is way too evil to be atoned for by a slaughtered lamb. Justice demands that every human die for his treason. But in mercy, God the just judge, has allowed for one human’s death to substitute as payment for another human’s sin—a substitutionary atonement.
The Messiah who would have to come to deliver God’s covenant people from the penalty for their sin could not be one who had sinned, himself. No sinful human could atone for another’s sin because his death would just be atoning for his own sin. But the history of the OT reveals no such holy saint—not Moses, nor Abraham, nor Joseph, nor David. So, the Messiah would have to be God himself. Only God, himself, was holy enough to live as a human being perfectly so that his death could atone for others’ sin. The judge himself, the divine judge of the universe, has declared his verdict upon all men—they must die for their high treason. But then the judge stepped down from his celestial bench, took off his judicial robes, put on his prison garb, and was executed on our behalf.
At its core, the incarnation proves the severity, the hideousness, the atrocity, the evil, that sin is. It is so opposite to the God whom we are to love with all our hearts that no sinful man can see the face of God and live. God’s holiness would destroy him. Going into 2025, Christians must hate evil and courageously speak out against it. Jesus devoted 2 of the eight beatitudes to challenging his followers about this component of kingdom living, the 4th—blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and the 8th—blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. This commitment to stand for righteousness is relevant every day. Yet its importance has recently been underscored after United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down on a New York City Street by left-wing elitist Luigi Mangion. Emerson College conducted a poll about Mangione’s premeditated murder of Thompson. 41% of those aged 18-29 said that this cold-blooded murder was either partly or completely acceptable.
This poll reveals the wide-spread worldview corruption in this age group, by critical theory, aka cultural Marxism. One of the central tenets of this view is that the oppressed have the right to violent actions against their oppressors. This horrific ideology tried to justify the burning down of American cities by Black Lives Matter and excuse the actions of Hamas in their horrific rape, beheading of children and eventual murder of 1300 Jews on October 7th, attempting to label Israel the oppressors. Christan’s must confront the false, evil cultural Marxism that has spread by social media, college campuses, and left-wing politicians. The burning down of property is wrong. The attack of Hamas was wrong. Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson was wrong. Full stop. Period. Any other comment is an attempt to justify evil. Christians must stand for what is right. On another relevant topic, sex before marriage is wrong. Full stop. Period. If either the teen girls or teen guys in our cities were raised to believe that truth, the number one cause of inner-city problems—teen pregnancies resulting in the raising of children without dads—would go away. The incarnation reminds us that evil cannot be rationalized, denied, or excused. The wage of sin is always death.
THE INCARNATION GUARANTEES THAT JESUS UNDERSTANDS ME
It helps to grasp Jesus’ humanity by remembering that he grew up with a real mom and dad. Max Lucado transports us back to the days of Mary by imagining some of the questions we might have wanted to ask her:
- Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he made the world?
- Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to someone you couldn’t hear?
- Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?
- Did you ever try to count the stars with him…and succeed?
- Did he have any friends by the name of Judas?
- When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?
- Did you ever accidently call him Father?
- Did you ever think, That’s God eating my soup (Ibid)?
The most astounding words ever written were from John’s gospel The Word became flesh and he dwelt among us. The Greek word John uses for dwelt meant literally to pitch your tent—a clear allusion to the tabernacle, Israel’s portable tent where God’s throne, the Ark of the Covenant, was kept. God’s presence was understood to dwell most fully in the tabernacle. In the years prior to the construction of the temple in Jerusalem, the tabernacle was a portable tent to communicate the idea that God was present among his people, no matter where they went. John picks up on the OT imagery and says, “God again has come to dwell among his people.” But this time he doesn’t inhabit an animal skin tent—but a human skin tent. Human flesh is Christ’s tabernacle. God came among his people in the most total manner possible—by getting inside their own skin.
- The tongue that called forth the dead was a human one
- The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails
- The feet on which the woman wept were calloused and dirty
- And his tears came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been
Even if others don’t understand what you are going through, Jesus does. The author to the Hebrews writes: For we do NOT have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, (which being translated means JESUS LIVED IN OUR SKIN) yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus, our Great High Priest, is a great listener. He wants us to pour our hearts out to him. And he is better able to understand EVERYTHING than any other person surrounding our lives. I’m reminded of a cartoon I saw in New Yorker magazine. It shows a forklift operator moving boxes with a quizzical look on his face. Instead of the writing on the box saying “FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE,” it says, “CONTENTS UNKNOWN: HANDLE WITH NONCHALANCE.” The contents of human beings are not unknown to Jesus. He therefore does NOT handle us with nonchalance. He handles us with CARE greater than the care we have ever known from our loved ones. We never wear out his desire to hear us pour out our struggles, frustrations, and need for grace.
THE INCARNATION INSPIRES LOYALTY TO JESUS MY CO
There is something about Christ’s decision to humble himself that stokes the fire of my desire to follow him as my leader and I think the same is true for you. Humility is always inspiring but especially humility in someone great. It wasn’t just that Jesus understands me that attracts me; it’s the way he chose to enter his world.
The omnipotent made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo…the creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother. God had come near. He came not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty. No silk. No ivory…For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He feared failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached. To think of Jesus in such light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it (Ibid)?
Christ did not shelter himself from any of the harsh realities of human life. He could have. He could have been born into a family of aristocrats. Wouldn’t that have been more fitting for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Yet he did not choose ease and luxury—and that captures my respect and admiration.
- His first breath of air would have in it the odor of animal urine.
- The first noises would be grunts of animals.
- His first bed would not be on royal satin sheets as his royalty demanded, but a feeding trough in a stable because his parents were poor.
- He knew what it was like to be a refugee in Egypt.
- He endured the verbal abuse in a shame-based culture of being a bastard—i.e. a child born out of wedlock.
- As the oldest child he knew what it was like to bear the financial burdens of a single mom with seven children after Joseph had died.
- As a tradesman, he got real splinters in his fingers and real bruises from dropping stones on his feet.
- As one convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, his wrists and ankles were crushed by Roman spikes and the thrust of a spear poured out his real blood.
Proverbs 18:12 says humility goes before honor and my heart senses that reality. The way Christ came to earth captures my respect and allegiance.
THE INCARNATION IS LOVE—HE BECAME POOR SO WE COULD BECOME RICH
Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinth 8:9). Is there a simpler, truer definition of genuine love? That is the epitome of unselfishness—I will become poor so that you can become rich. The eternal God imprisoned himself forever in a 6-foot body. He who was larger than the universe became a human embryo. God abandoned the splendor of the universe’s throne, surrounded by myriads of angels worshipping him every second, for a smelly sheep pen. The supreme emperor of the universe arrived in his world wearing diapers. For God the Son, the eternal cost of becoming forever a human being is unfathomable. The more we understand what it cost him to empty himself for OUR SAKE, the more our heart is awakened to his love for us. Dorothy Sayers writes:
The incarnation means that for whatever reason God chose to let us fall…to suffer, to be subject to sorrows and death—he none the less had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine….He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself. He himself has gone through the whole of human experience—from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death….He was born in poverty and …suffered infinite pain—all for us—and thought it well worth his while (The Greatest Drama Ever Staged).
And yet Satan and my sinful nature have the audacity to plant doubts in my mind about God’s love. But the eternal truth stands: HE WHO WAS RICH BECAME POOR SO THAT I MIGHT BECOME RICH. That forever settles the issue of his love for me.
THE INCARNATION IS OUR PATTERN TO FOLLOW—DESCEND INTO GREATNESS
Paul commands the Philippian followers of Jesus, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (2:5-8).
The Christ-like attitude we are to emulate is described carefully by Paul as not hanging on to his rights and glory as God but emptying himself of those rights and privileges. JB Phillips translates this attitude as laying aside his prerogatives as God’s equal. The NIV translates emptied himself as made himself nothing. How mind boggling are those words! The one who is everything, made himself nothing. The source of life—the one in whom we live and move and have our being—the one of infinite worth and supreme dignity—how could he make himself nothing? How can this be? So great was the humiliation of our savior when he laid aside his glory to become a human being that the only way the language can accommodate it is to say that he made himself nothing.
This Christ-like attitude is the total opposite of human nature. At the very core of our sinful human heart is the desire to be the center of attention, to have everyone else accommodate our wishes and lifestyle, to do better than everyone else and so be exalted above them, to be preoccupied with making sure others think highly of us. Every person born into the human race is born with a congenital vision problem: OUR EYES ARE FOCUSED ON OURSELVES. This defect comes out as pride, self-centeredness, rivalry, insecurity, selfishness, jealousy, anger, and self-pity. God’s lifelong goal for you and me is to make us like Christ—to take our eyes off ourselves—to make ourselves NOTHING—and then fix them on others’ needs. And by the way, such a mission is as masculine as it gets. God put Adam in the garden to cultivate it—to cause it to achieve its potential. We die to our love of ease, sweating every day to cause others to prosper at work and our families to flourish at home. We are called to descend into constant servanthood.
The great irony is that as we follow Jesus’ example of descending from our instinctive self-preoccupation, making ourselves nothing to serve others, we actually ascend into greatness. Jesus never criticized his disciples for wanting to be great. That is part of our male DNA—We want to achieve. We want to matter. We want to win. We want to be the best us we can be. Instead of criticizing their desire for greatness, Jesus told them how to achieve it. And you know his words, Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all (Mk 10:44). When we shake the dust off the manger scene of Christmas, we see magnified the great model of Jesus who laid aside his wealth, and glory, and divine privilege descending as a slave to serve us, making us rich through his poverty. That is our call—made achievable through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And yet the manger scene of the incarnation does not end with Jesus’ humiliation. There seems to be a law in God’s universe. Peter knew it: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you (I Pet 5:6). Jesus descended into greatness in a manger--Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
For Further Prayerful Thought
- How do we balance the truth that sin is so heinous and God so just that only he could pay for our sin—the truth that we must take sin seriously—with the truth of God’s grace towards us and call to treat others with grace?
- How can you better apply the truth that Jesus is your Great High Prist and Advocate, who fully understands every form of pain and injustice you experience?
- How does Jesus’ choice to be born into a manger instead of a palace impact your heart?
- In what way is the decision to become poor so that another becomes rich a definition of agape love? How can we better remember what it cost our Lord to redeem us?
- How can we better draw upon the power of the Holy Spirit to change our default, subtle focus from ourselves to others and how I can serve them?
