The Mystery of Incarnation

“Who was conceived of
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”

 It is
nothing short of astonishing that the one who is called King of Glory would be
described also as one who “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.”[1] J.I. Packer has said well that the greatest
mystery of the Christian faith is not the miracles, the death, or the resurrection
of Jesus, but His incarnation:

“The Word became flesh” (Jn. 1:14); God
became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a
helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make
noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other
child. And there was no illusion or
deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality.[2]

 The Nicene
Creed spends a little more ink on this than the Apostles’ Creed, noting that
Jesus became incarnate “for us and for our salvation.” The idea is hard to fathom, that God Himself
would be united eternally to His own creation, and yet this is exactly the
mystery the Christian faith affirms. If
Dan Kimball is right that “emerging generations value…the mystery of the
religious faiths of old,” telling the story of the incarnation will do far more
than lighting candles and creating a dark, spiritual atmosphere.[3] One need not look any farther than the humble
king of the world made man to find tremendous mystery.

 In addition
to all this, there is hardly a more significant model for ministry in a
postmodern context. If Middleton and
Walsh are correct about the decentered, disoriented, and anxious state of
postmodern human consciousness, the unwavering, unfaltering, dogmatic
proclamations that smack of arrogance will do nothing to demonstrate the love
of Christ. Confused and hurting people
do not appreciate lofty answers and high speculations made by people unwilling
to understand and share their pain. As
Christ came to us, humbled himself, and suffered on our behalf, so we go to the
world incarnationally, humbling ourselves and suffering for Christ’s sake.