Why on earth would God come to earth? Why would the Father send his Son to a world ravaged by sin, where his own image bearers—in the most fiendish of ironies—would reject, torture, and kill him?
Excerpted from God with Us by Joshua Cooley, author of Creator, Father, King
The Word became human and made his home among us. – John 1:14, NLT
Throughout history, God has performed some astounding miracles:
– the creation of the universe
– the worldwide Flood
– the parting of the Red Sea
– the walls of Jericho falling
– Jonah surviving in the belly of the great fish
But the greatest miracle in history is captured in today’s verse: “The Word became human and made his home among us.” We call this the Incarnation. It literally changed the course of human history.
Throughout the Old Testament, God appeared to his people in many ways. He appeared to Moses in the burning bush; to the Israelites at Mount Sinai in thunder, lightning, and smoke; and to Ezekiel in a vision of a heavenly throne room so magnificent that it stretched the prophet’s ability to describe it with human language.
But the Incarnation was completely different.
In the Bethlehem manger, God took on human flesh. This wasn’t just a brief manifestation. The eternal Second Person of the Trinity became one of us and lived among us for more than thirty years. The Lord walked like us, talked like us, and looked like us. He got thirsty, hungry, and tired. He felt joy and pain. The human experience was his, excluding sin (Hebrews 4:15).
He was—wonderfully, miraculously, inscrutably—fully God and fully man. This is why Matthew declares in his Gospel that Jesus was “Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us’” (1:23). There is beautiful mystery to Jesus’ incarnate nature that we were never meant to fully understand this side of heaven.
Why on earth would God come to earth? Why would the Father send his Son to a world ravaged by sin, where his own image bearers—in the most fiendish of ironies—would reject, torture, and kill him?
That’s exactly why. The answer lies within the question. He came because we needed him desperately. Because there was no other way for our sins to be atoned for. Because only the Father’s love and the Son’s sacrifice could restore the relationship sin had severed. He came to save us from ourselves.
Christ left heaven’s glory and took on human flesh for you. What is there left to do but worship and adore the incarnated-now-glorified Savior? Praise his name!
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Creator, Father, King by Joshua Cooley
Creator, Father, King is a One Year devotional written to help teens learn more about God and see His love, His perfect character, and His eternal plan of redemption to reconcile lost sinners to Himself. Josh Cooley uses verses from all 66 books of the Bible to show how God can be found throughout Scripture.
Each of the 365 devotions includes a “what does it mean” section, a “now what” section, and a “did you know” section. It gives practical ideas for spiritual growth, additional perspectives and background for each devotion, and a summary of how each devotion describes God.
Come and Worship: An Online Advent Journey
Advent is more than a countdown to Christmas Day. It’s a season to prepare our hearts to celebrate the incarnation of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thankfully, this kind of preparation doesn’t require a lot of time, tinsel, ingredients, or wrappings. The only thing needed is to come and worship.
Visit Tyndale’s online Advent calendar every day until Christmas for free devotionals and fun downloadables, or subscribe to receive them in your inbox daily.
