#immanuel
At Sinai the voice of God spoke from the midst of the fire, an event that foreshadowed the great advent of the King and Lawgiver Himself, when the Eternal Word would become flesh and dwell with us. Any theology that regards God as entirely transcendent (i.e., God is beyond any analogy with the finite) will have a problem with divine immanence (i.e., God is inherent within the finite), since the highness, holiness, and perfection of God will make Him seem distant, outside of us, far away, and unknown… Incarnational theology, on the other hand, manifests the nearness of God to disclose the divine empathy. Indeed, the LORD became “Immanuel,” “God with us,” to share our mortal condition, to know our pain, and to experience what it means to be wounded by sin, to be abandoned, alienated, forsaken. The “Eternal made flesh” bridges the gap between the realm of the infinitely transcendent One, and the finite world of people lost within their sinful frailty. We therefore celebrate the giving of the Torah both at Sinai and especially the giving of the “Living Torah” at Bethlehem with the birth of Messiah. We rejoice that God is indeed the King and Ruler over all, but we further affirm that God’s authority and rule extends to all worlds– including the realm of our finitude and need.
John J. Parsons
This post is part of the #waitwhy series. You can find the rest here.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1)
Do we get how incredibly profound that statement is? The creator of the universe, the perfect and holy being, the king of the world, looked down on his people and heard their cries of suffering - a suffering we ourselves cause through sin and rebellion. He chose to have compassion on our stone-cold hearts. God himself literally came to dwell among us.
And the reason he did so starts way back when with a very different man. Once upon a time, Adam had a choice to make, and he choose badly. He choose pride, disobedience, and selfishness over a perfect and holy relationship with the Lord his God. It was all downhill from there. Sin entered the world, and God’s people rebelled against him. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, made idols and disobeyed the law they had been given. They turned their backs on the promises of God. The judges that led the people made idols for them to worship rather than turning them to God. The kings anointed to rule over the people sinned and their kingdoms fell into ruins.
We needed someone who wouldn’t ever make those choices: a leader who would obey the voice of the Lord, a judge who would always be just, and a king with a reign that will never end.
In short, we needed heaven to meet earth. We needed a person that would be both God and man. That person was Jesus Christ, called Immanuel or “God with us.”
Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He is God and he chose to become incarnate on earth as a human. Both of these aspect of Jesus are important to understand why he decided to come to earth as a man.
Fully God
Without being fully God, Jesus would not have had the authority to forgive sins. Let’s take a look at this passage found in the gospel of Luke:
18And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20Andwhen he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies?Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
When Jesus said to the man “your sins are forgiven,” what did the other people in the room immediately think? “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Only God can save. By forgiving a man for his sins, Jesus showed himself to be God- the one and only forgiver of sins.
Fully Man
But Jesus was also fully human. Look at this passage in Hebrews:
14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroythe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
God meets us where we are. Because we are “flesh and blood,” the “Word” (i.e. Jesus) had to “become flesh and dwell among us.” Jesus becoming human has a three-fold purpose in these verses.
1.He had to die - (verses 14-15) God is eternal; it is against his nature to die, therefore Jesus had to become flesh to die and he needed to die in order to take away our sins (next post we’ll talk about why, stay tuned!).
2.He became the link between God and humans - (verse 17) In the Old Testament, the high priest was the person designated by God to connect his holy self and his people, but even this high priest couldn’t fulfill their role perfectly because they were still sinners, just like the people. Jesus took on the role of the “merciful and faithful high priest” when he died and rose again. He was perfect, so he could have true community with God, but he was also human, so he could have true community with us. He is our link to God. The high priest that acts as mediator between heaven and earth!
3.He wanted to be able to encourage us - (verse 18) Because Jesus became flesh, he experience the same things that we do everyday. He was tempted, he felt pain, he was hungry, and he suffered. He understands what it is like to live in a broken world and be weak. Now that he does, he can comfort us in our distress and encourage us in our temptations.
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:23)
-31Women (Beth)
Happy Pride Month 2022!!!
️️️️⚧️️⚧️️⚧️️⚧️
