{"id":126,"date":"2020-01-27T14:02:16","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepursuitofholiness\/?p=126"},"modified":"2020-01-27T14:02:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:02:16","slug":"meditate-on-the-awesomeness-of-the-incarnation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepursuitofholiness\/2020\/01\/meditate-on-the-awesomeness-of-the-incarnation\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditate On The Awesomeness Of The Incarnation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In sacred scripture, we read that man was created he had a perfect relationship with God.\u00a0 Man is the pinnacle of creation. God gave man everything.<\/p>\n

In return the Lord asked man not to each of one tree in the garden. Man did not listen, rebelled, and had to face the consequences of sin for the first time.<\/p>\n

The sin of our first parents also applies to us.\u00a0 We all have sinned, and the penalty for that sin is death.\u00a0 Saint Paul had the same opinion in Romans 6:23 which states, \u201cFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d.\u00a0 However, the second person of the blessed Trinity, Jesus himself became incarnate to atone and redeem us from our sin.<\/p>\n

Incarnation<\/strong>\u2014Bridge from us to God<\/h2>\n

The Incarnation was needed because we could not atone for our sin on our own.\u00a0 Only someone who was perfect, and without sin could do that. \u00a0As I write this it is the final days of Advent.<\/p>\n

The time of preparation for the birth of Christ is soon coming to an end. \u00a0Soon we will be celebrating his glorious birth. \u00a0The second person of the Trinity loving us so much that He became man. \u00a0He lived as we did with hunger, fear, betrayal, and even death.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 4:15 sums this idea up perfectly when the inspired author writes, \u201cFor we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

This far we have seen that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses, but this doesn\u2019t completely answer who he is. \u00a0Who He is the ultimate gift that we experience this time of year.<\/p>\n

Identity of Jesus<\/h2>\n

So who is Jesus? \u00a0This question goes back to some of the greatest controversies in the early church.<\/p>\n

There were some, such as the Arians, who tried to explain Jesus as being the first thing created. \u00a0The problem here is that Jesus, as the second person of the Blessed Trinity, has always existed. \u00a0There are many verses that show this and John 1:1 is one example. \u00a0That passage of scripture states, \u201cIn the beginning was the Word,\u00a0and the Word was with God,\u00a0and the Word was God.\u201d<\/p>\n

He always was, yet he took the form of a man, and was born in the humblest of conditions. \u00a0In our society we have been conditioned to view the manger scene in a very sanitized way. \u00a0That manger that the divine Son of God was laid in after his birth was a food trough used for livestock!<\/p>\n

The creator of the universe became a man because he wants us to live. \u00a0His love for us is that immense. \u00a0In the letter to the Philippians St. Paul writes, \u201cRather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness and found human in appearance he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross\u201d (Philippians 2:7-8).<\/p>\n

Fully Man and<\/strong> Fully God<\/h2>\n

While on Earth he did not appear as a man, nor was He a spirit that possessed man until the point of the crucifixion as the Docetists<\/a> and Gnostics would say. \u00a0From the time of His conception in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary he was both fully God and fully man. \u00a0This was stated by many church fathers, declared at the Council of Nicea, and at the Council of Chalcedon this became known as the Hypostatic Union. \u00a0Jesus was not either or, but He has BOTH a human nature AND a divine nature.<\/p>\n

That is why the Incarnation is so amazing, and to be perfectly honest this barely scratches the surface. \u00a0 The second person of the Blessed Trinity, who became man, and experienced everything that we did but was without sin. \u00a0He died as the perfect offering for our sin because He loves us that much and he thinks that we are worth being with for eternity!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In sacred scripture, we read that man was created he had a perfect relationship with God.\u00a0 Man is the pinnacle of creation. God gave man everything. In return the Lord asked man not to each of one tree in the garden. Man did not listen, rebelled, and had to face the consequences of sin for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4296,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[75,66,15,63,72,78,69],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-forgiveness","tag-incarnation","tag-jesus","tag-jesus-christ","tag-justification","tag-love","tag-salvation"],"yoast_head":"\nMeditate On The Awesomeness Of The Incarnation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In sacred scripture, we read that man was created he had a perfect relationship with God.\u00a0 Man is the pinnacle of creation. God gave man everything. 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