Bible Points

The original intent of the Christmas holiday was to celebrate that God came to earth as a baby that grew up as the man, Jesus Christ, and died on the Cross for sinners like me and you. Theologians identify this teaching with the word incarnation. The Incarnation is one of the vital doctrines of the Christian faith. In a nutshell, a literal definition of the word “incarnation” means in the flesh. The root word, “carn” is found in other words such as “carnage,” “carnality,” and “carnivorous.” As a biblical teaching, incarnation refers to the belief that God, without in any way ceasing to be the one God, has revealed Himself to humanity for its salvation by becoming human.

The Incarnation is the reason for the (Christmas) season.  Even the word Christmas bears the name of the One who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  The Bible even goes as far as to teach that you are not saved if you do not believe that God became flesh.  1 John 4:2-3 says, “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.” 

Years ago there was a conference in Iran that centered on the theme that the Holocaust never happened. Satan, the devil, is using the same strategy when it comes to his attacks against our Lord Jesus. He reasons that if the teaching of the Incarnation is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Jesus Christ will be thrown into doubt. There are people who do not believe the Incarnation ever happened. There are even those who will tell you that they believe in Jesus but cannot accept the validity of the Incarnation.

In the New Testament book of the Bible called Colossians, Paul, the author, writes that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (1:15); this is another way of saying that Jesus is God come to earth in a human body.  He is “the image of the invisible God.”  The word “image” is the classical Greek term for a die or a stamp.  One uses a die or stamp to mark an image or impression on something else.  The picture here is that Jesus is the exact reproduction of God.  The apostle John tells us in his account of the birth of Christ, “We beheld His glory,” and what glory was it?  “The glory as of the only begotten of the Father…” (John 1:14)  In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 it says that “Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature.”  He is the radiance of God’s glory, that is to say, He is the shining forth of God.  Just as you and I can feel the radiance of the “sun” through its light and its warmth, through the “Son” we behold the glory of the Father. 

Not only is Jesus the brightness of God’s glory, He is the essence, the substance, the very nature of God.  In Colossians 2:9 it is written, “In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.” In Colossians 1:19 the Bible says, “All the fullness is caused to dwell in Him.”  These verses tell us that Jesus is a full manifestation and revelation of God. The Bible lets us know that there is no doubt as to the identity of Jesus Christ.  He is God in human flesh. In Colossians 1:16-17 it says, “For by Him (Jesus) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”  One Bible teacher comments on this subject, “No one else is the image of the invisible God; no one else can be the first-born (superiority or priority) of all creation. No one else can be the creator of things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible.  No one else sits over the thrones and dominions and rulers and authorities.  No one else is before all things and holds all things together. No one else has all the fullness dwelling in Him to the pleasure of the Father. Those are all exclusive statements and what they tell us is that Jesus Christ is “very God of very God!”  Christmas is all about God taking on a body and coming to earth as the man Jesus Christ, dying for sins of those who believe and being raised from the dead for their justification! (Romans 4:25) 

Is this what you will be celebrating on Christmas?