from Hebrews 10:1-10; Psalm 40:4-10

At Christmas time, many people think about the Jesus sleeping in a manger with animals all around and with angels attending and shepherds and kings visiting. They might even imagine the air full of animal sounds, angels singing, and human voices with a baby cooing in the background. There is something about babies that causes many to say "How cute!" and feel warm all over. I hope with the eyes of faith, not imagination, that this is the case with the baby Jesus! Even as an infant He is a beautiful Savior. How glorious it is to hymn His praise, even when it is about His advent.

While our thoughts and hearts are, perhaps, moved, let us stir up our faith and love more by thinking upon the mystery of the Incarnation. Why did our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, take upon Himself a human nature and clothe Himself with human flesh? And, why is it that He did so without bypassing fetal and infant development? What amazing Love thought it necessary to do such a thing?

Let us therefore consider: First, The miracle of the Incarnation; Second, The reason for the Incarnation; and, Third, Our response to the Incarnation....

What is the Incarnation?

As we begin, let us remember what incarnation means.  To incarnate is to take on or be manifested in a fleshly body. In thinking about Jesus, this means that He became a man -a bona fide one hundred percent man with a human body, soul, and, even, human will. There is, of course, one exception. It isn't that He didn't cry in the manger, but rather that He became a man without becoming a sinner. As Hebrews 4:15 states, He was "without sin."

How was this possible? God made it possible through the virgin birth. Gabriel explained this to Mary in Luke 1:34-35, "...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you: Therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." Mary's conception of Jesus was supernatural, not natural. That is why we say in the Apostle's creed, "conceived by the Holy Spirit." Jesus, though incarnate, never had a human father. Thus, the imputation of sin through the federal headship of Adam could not take place. (See Romans 5:12-19)

Yet, what is amazing is that our Lord and Savior never ceased being God. The Gospel according to John starts with this truth. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.... No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (John 1:1, 14, 18) Though incarnate, Jesus was fully man and still fully God; two natures in one Divine Person. This is a mystery (1Timothy 3:16). Do you believe it? Does it bring joy and wonder into your life to think that the Second Person of the Trinity so willingly took unto Himself something so different from His divine nature?

This raises a question, ... "Why?" Why would God the Son do this? What made the baby Jesus necessary? What reason is there for our Savior to incarnate Himself? The reason is wrapped up in God's will for our salvation.

Contrary to some heresies, God was not trying to "overcome" His transcendence. Being Who and What He is, God is not just some "wholly other" out there trying to communicate and fellowship with us. Just as God is both One and Many, He is also both "afar off" in Heaven (Jeremiah 23:23) and as near as our own hearts (Psalm 34:18; 75:1).

Reasons for the Incarnation

Turning to our Scripture reading from Hebrews 10:1-10, we see why God would incarnate Himself. In quoting from Psalm 40:6-8, the inspired writer states that Jesus became a man in order to do God's His will for our salvation. Verses 5-7 read: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come - In the volume of the book it is written of me - to do your will, O God.'" Throughout Christ's life, He continually spoke of doing and did the will or work of His Father who sent Him. See, for instance, John 4:34 and 5:30.

This will of God, of which Christ and the Psalmist spoke, is not God's will as in His act of willing or volition, but rather His decreed will. That is, what God has revealed to be His righteous demands. In both the Hebrews and Psalms texts, the particular revelation of His will is tied to the method of our salvation.

The tenth chapter of Hebrews begins by reminding us of the inability of the Mosaic Law to save us. "The Law ... can never ...make those who approach perfect. ... For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins." (Verse 1 and 4) As a partial proof-text, Psalm 40:6-8 is given. "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire... you had no pleasure" (in them).

God was teaching the Israelites in David's day the same truth that the writer of Hebrews is conveying to his readers: keeping of the Law, as epitomized in the ceremonies of the sacrificial system, is insufficient in itself. God's delight is not in the Law alone. See our Lord's rebuke to the Israelites in Isaiah 1:11-14, or God's declaration to Saul through Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:22. "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."

But it wasn't just that the sacrifices had to be given in obedience to God. The truth was that the sacrifices given, of bulls, goats, sheep, etc., were not able to take away the sins of men. This is stated in verse 4: "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins." This conclusion is based in part upon the continual nature of the sacrifices.  Notice verse 2, "For then would they not have ceased to be offered?" If the Law could have saved us through animals being offered, then the sacrifices should have ceased. However, every year there is "a reminder of sins." (Verse 3) Man is still condemned in his sins! God's wrath and curse remain. Something else needs to be done!

Each time an animal was slaughtered and offered up to God, the Israelite was to understand that the animal was not sufficient. Rather, it was a substitute for the real sinner: himself. "The soul that sinneth shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4) Yet the problem was that the soul that sinned was not able to atone for himself because he was a sinner! Therefore, he needed a substitute! God's description of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 illustrates these points when the Priest confesses over the goat the sins of the people. God illustrated to them and us that we need to look to the One who would "come" and sacrifice Himself as the one true and acceptable sacrifice for sin since all other sacrifices were flawed by sin.

Thus, as Hebrews 10:1 says, the Law is a "shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things." While shadows have a resemblance to the thing from which they spring, they do not have substance. They merely remind us of the reality out there from which it comes. God teaches us that, while animal sacrifices cannot save men, like the nebulous shadow which points to the image, the blood of bulls and goats does point us to the necessary perfect sacrifice that will appease the wrath of God and the demands of His justice, our incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, the One who came and perfectly kept the will of God and offered His own body as the perfect sacrifice for sin. (Verse 10).

Hebrews 10:5 points to this in quoting Psalm 40:6 from the Septuagint. This was done purposely, as the second half of the verse is not in the Masoretic text. (Remember, if Hebrews is inspired by the Holy Spirit, so is the writer's choice of quotations.) It beautifully makes the point: "A body you have prepared for me." Here we see Jesus Christ declaring that God had prepared Him a human body. As early, then, as King David's day, the incarnation of our Lord Jesus was prophesied. Christmas Day and the Baby Jesus were predicted some thousand years before His advent.

In this body prepared for Him, Jesus tells us what He will come and do: God's will. "Behold, I have come ...to do your will, O Lord." Without the incarnation, Jesus could not do God's will for our salvation: perfectly keep God's Law and be our atoning sacrifice.  Without a body, He could not sacrifice Himself, nor be an obedient man. And if He did not come as a baby, and grow up from infancy, He could not keep those portions of the Law directed towards children.

Notice how sacrifice and obedience are merged together in our incarnate Savior. All his life on earth He impeccably kept God's commands. His obedience was flawless. He perfectly obeyed His mother, Mary, and willingly and quietly endured all His sufferings. Hebrews 5:8-9 teaches this: "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." In His sacrificial death, He did no less, offering Himself as a spotless lamb.  (Luke 22:42; 24:25-26, 46)

This, then, is why the incarnation was necessary. Jesus had to have a body or He couldn't have obeyed as the one perfect man and suffered and died for our sins as the one sinless sacrifice. Only by taking to Himself a human nature could He save our human nature. As quoted earlier, "The soul that sinneth shall die." Animals were not guilty of sinning. Man, on the other hand, was guilty of the wrath and curse of God and, therefore, only a man could legally atone for the sins of a man. See, for example, Romans 5:18-19. Notice, also, that animal sacrifices were not voluntary. They could not choose to sacrifice themselves. Yet God demanded a willing sacrifice. Noone could be forced to die for another. That would be sinful. The person so offering himself must do so of his own free choice. Do you see, then, how glorious is the incarnation of our Lord Jesus!

Our response to the Incarnation

Having seen something of the miracle and necessity of it, what are we to think? How ought we to respond? Allow me to give you these thoughts for your application.

First, we are to believe this truth. When someone says, "Surely Mary was not a virgin," we must unashamedly reply that she was. When someone says that Jesus was just a good man, we must firmly point out that He was more: He was also our God and Savior. The truths of God's Word must be defended and kept and pondered upon in our hearts.

Second, recognizing how and why our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ became a man is a call to humility. The incarnation is only possible by God. It is a divine mystery that keeps us from relying or leaning upon our own understanding and points us toward trusting in God with all our heart. (Proverbs 3:5-8) It reminds us of our own humanity - how sinful, frail, and mentally inadequate we really are. Not only are we unable to save ourselves, but we have neither the power nor the intellect to figure out how to be saved. It must be revealed to us.

Third, believing in the truth of the incarnation means that we must repent of believing anything other than Christ's work can save us from our sins and trust that this awesome and awful transaction completed by God the Son alone is all sufficient. To see Christ's incarnation and obedience and sacrifice as somehow unable in itself to save us is a travesty. We are to humbly repent of relying upon ourselves or our own efforts. Noone ever really pulls himself up by his boot straps. It is God who works His will in us. (Philippians 2:13) The help and grace of God has always been present for men. This is most clearly seen in our efforts to save ourselves or to establish the teeniest bit of righteousness to call our own. It just doesn't exist. All our best is a filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  We stand faultless and righteous only when clothed (Zechariah 3:1-5) in the righteousness of the One who came to earth incarnate.

Fourth, pondering upon the incarnation is a call to greater demonstrated love to our Savior. If He was willing to do so much for us, we, in turn, are called to give Him our loving thankful service. How can we think that a simple thank you is sufficient? How can we walk away from our Savior and do our own thing?  A great boss at work is an incentive to work harder. The same ought to be true of  Jesus because He is so good to us and has saved us from God's wrath and the terrors and torments of Hell. Peter describes our attitude in 1 Peter 3:18 "whom having not seen you love...." Our "unseen Christ" deserves whole-hearted loving and obedient service by keeping his commands. (John 14:15)

Finally, let us notice the importance that God places upon our human nature and bodies. It really does matter not only what we think about ourselves, but also what we do with our bodies. Jesus came in the flesh to redeem us, soul and body. Our Savior thought our bodies were important enough to redeem and showed it by dying for them. Remember the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's." Notice also the last verse of our text: Hebrews 10:10. "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Christ's incarnation, as well as His death, is a call to putting off the indulgences of sin and to living a holy life before Him.

Isn't is wonderful that our Heavenly Father and Our Holy Savior thought our bodies, as well as our souls, were important enough to come down from heaven and incarnate Himself for our salvation?  No wonder the herald angels sang, and a popular Christmas song begins,

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing"!

A man once told me that he loved the Christmas season best. It was the one time of the year where the Name of Christ saturated the world in almost every media... on the radio, TV, letters, cards, even the lips of the unregenerate, with the words, Merry Christmas. Throughout this "holiday season" we hear the song,

O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels.

He gleefully stated that his greatest joy was in the fact that this must drive the Devil mad. Try as he might, he cannot erase the mention of the Name of Jesus Christ from Christmas. Grandmothers, reindeer, little snare drums, and so many other things may obscure or mute, the ACLU may litigate, but they cannot erase the underlying message. The angels themselves do not have to be told to

Sing, choirs of angels;
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heav'n above;
Glory to God In The highest;

Against this backdrop of noise, which is really part of the cosmic losing battle of Satan against his Creator and Judge, is a tiny newborn baby. This is the night ascribed as the night He was born. It is the day in which many celebrate His "birth-day."

We celebrate birthdays all the time. What's so different about this one? It is who it is... Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His birth was prophesied hundreds of years earlier (Is. 7:14). His birth night was called "holy" because He is the Holy One (Luke 1:35). Angels and star announced Him as King (Matt. 2:1-2; Luke 2:9-14).