What Incarnation Means to You and Me

What Incarnation Means to You and MeAlan Riley Have you ever noticed that we church folk are sometimes infatuated with our own vocabulary? Our language (sometimes referred to as "Christianese") is full of humongous words that are used to describe basic tenets of our faith. Words like "justification," "sanctification," "atonement," and my all-time favorite, "propitiation." I'm afraid sometimes when we couch spiritual truth in obscure multi-syllable words, we make the gospel - the good news - less accessible to those who didn't grow up in church and hear the term "transubstantiation" shortly after graduating from Kindergarten. Most, if not all of our fancy theological terms can be explained in a much more accessible way with easier to understand words and terms (but I sound SO much smarter if I use the big words!) Karl Barth was a complicated German Theologian whose work Christian Dogmatics is widely regarded as one of the most important theological treatises of the last 250 years. It encompasses thirteen volumes, six million words, and it took him from 1932 until shortly before his death in 1968 to complete. Some of it is literally impossible to grasp without a theological background. When lecturing at Princeton University in 1962, Barth was asked by a student, "Dr. Barth, what's the most profound thing you have ever heard?" The brilliant theologian rested his hand on his chin for a moment, deep in thought. The students were waiting with pen in hand to write down his answer. Then he spoke: "Jesus loves me, this I know... for the Bible tells me so."Many times the most profound things are the simplest to express. So it is with the spiritual terminology surrounding Christmas. Have you ever heard the word "Incarnation?" Or that Jesus is "God Incarnate?" Sounds mysterious and obscure, doesn't it? The meaning is really quite simple. It means "embodied in flesh." A pastor friend of mine put it even simpler than that: Incarnation means "God with skin on."When the birth of Jesus was foretold by the prophet Isaiah, he said that his name would be Emmanuel, which means "God with us." God with us! Not far off in heaven somewhere, but one of us. Jesus is at the same time fully God and fully man.That's not to say that the concept of the Incarnation is not a mystery. It is no doubt a great mystery. Contemporary theologian J.I. Packer wrote "Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is the truth of the Incarnation." But just because something is a mystery doesn't make it obscure or difficult to grasp. The operation of my car is for the most part a mystery to me, but that doesn't stop me from driving it every day. The vast expanse of the universe is a mystery to me, but that won't stop me from enjoying the sunset tonight, or giving praise to God as I look out at the stars. The fact that my wife loves me and puts up with me is most certainly a mystery to me, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying my life together with her.Likewise, I don't need to understand the mysteries of the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus Christ to know that what it means to me in practical terms is God is with me. Not far removed, not untouched by my pain or my problems, not a cosmic force who set the world in motion and then watches dispassionately from a distance, but a personal God who has been where I am, was tempted as I am, and who invites me to cast all of my cares on Him.This is what incarnation means: His name is Emmanuel, which means God with me... and with you! Rejoice!