Implications of the Incarnation: Becoming the Word Flesh
To close this series on the Incarnation, Dan invites listeners to consider how our own giving of gifts around Christmastime is reflected in the creativity and gift of the Incarnation.
“Christmas itself as one of those high holidays brings a deepened sense of distress and the dis-ease of living in a fallen world, so we need the gift of Jesus at this season.”
A focus of the episode, in addition to gift-giving, is the concept of Jesus become, or being made, flesh. There is a sense in the “Word became flesh” that it is a new creation—as Dan states, the creator becomes one of the creatures He made. In this, Jesus is changing the nature of eternity, all that is seen and unseen. There is nothing in creation—past, present, or future—to compare it to.
“Something remarkable is occurring in this event which we can barely hold in any level of understanding except it’s meant to be an event. So, in that sense, there’s nothing more consistent with what we are doing as we attempt to celebrate Christmas than the giving of gifts.”
As we celebrated our creativity in the exchanging of gifts, so too is the incarnation an act of divine creativity. In a sense, we get to create something that marks the reality that we are giving someone else a taste of the coming kingdom.
How do we play in the midst of this creativity to become and to create on behalf of others?
“There’s a sense in which the passage of this particular holiday, this holy day, is meant to be one that aches within us for the anticipation of the next time we get to fully celebrate the coming of God to this earth.”
Resources:
Listen to the two previous episodes in the series: