song that Christ was born to save so we're going to explore a little bit more of what that means and why we can rejoice in it together today. A body you have prepared for me and the blessings of the incarnation and you can turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10 which will be at least our first text for today. It's not just at this time of year that you will often hear Christians talking about are using that word incarnation. We've used it many times already this morning. It's a big word, but it simply means that the divine person of the son took to himself human flesh and blood by being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. But of course, if the reference of that word incarnation is pretty simple to see, the implications of this reality I think are intricate, and indeed beautiful, and causes to rejoice. And today that simply is my goal in looking at the scriptures together, is that you would rejoice in the incarnation of the sun. Now, first point before I get started on this today, lest there be any doubt as to the importance of the Incarnation, consider with me 1 John 4, verses 2 and 3. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. In other words, it is absolutely fundamental to our faith that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, or the Word became flesh. and dwelt among us. This is not a peripheral issue to us as believers, is it? This is something that is actually at the heart of this whole world and understanding it rightly. And by the way, when we say that Jesus has come in the flesh, we do not merely mean that he, this second person of the Trinity, merely indwelt a generic soulless human body or something of that nature. We mean that he actually united human nature to his own person. This is the miracle that's going on when we talk about the incarnation. And we're saying, actually the claim when we say this here, as if this is at the heart of the world. This in fact reveals to us what the world is all about. And I wanna talk about that today. You can see why John said, this defines a true spirit from the false. when we start looking at the meaning, the purpose of the incarnation. First of all, I want to share with you, the incarnation is for the purpose of the perfect sacrifice. In Hebrews chapter 10, where I've asked you to open the scriptures, we begin to see that the Old Testament law provided sacrifices for atonement. That is, at one meant, as it's sometimes called. That is, how man can be in communion with God. how his sin can be covered, and how he can relate to God, a holy God dwelling in his midst. The Old Testament law provided for those kinds of sacrifices. You know about those, especially those who were here earlier this year with our study of Leviticus, right? But Hebrews 10 tells us that the law is simply a shadow. It's a shadow of the reality that we need to see. And one way that the law is simply a shadow, that it's evident the law is a shadow, I should say, was in the very repetition of the sacrifices. The very fact that these sacrifices had to be offered again and again and again showed that there was no full and final cleansing from sin yet effected. And so for this very reason then, the Bible here says when he, that is the Christ, in chapter 10 verse 5, came into the world, he said, Here the scripture puts right into the mouth of the Messiah, the Christ, these words from Psalm 40. Sacrifices and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. Here is the Christ. offering himself freely to do the will of God, giving himself entirely. Pardon me. Total consecration is what's being involved here. Pardon me. Total consecration. But I want you to pay attention carefully to the reasoning that the scripture gives here. Look at verses eight and nine. When he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings. These are offered according to the law. Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He abolishes the first, that is those old sacrifices. in order to establish the second, the will that God wants him to establish right here. Christ had come to do God's will. He is totally consecrated to accomplishing God's good purposes, his new covenant promises, and all that that entails. And this new covenant union that he's effecting here brings about our union with God. He says in verse 10, and by that will, We have been sanctified. We have been set apart to God. But how does Christ do this? Here it says, and this goes back to the text, and he's quoting, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So how does the Christ effect this sanctifying to God that these Old Testament, old, old law sacrifices never could fully and finally bring to completion? How does he do that? through offering his body. The incarnation is for a perfect sacrifice to take place. Christ can offer himself as the perfect sacrifice because there is a body prepared for him. Now let's draw this out a little bit more here. The perfect sacrifice for sin, as you know, requires death, for the wages of sin is death. Because Christ has a truly human body, He can die. He can shed his blood. He can yield up his life. Hebrews 2.14 will say it this way, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of the death, that is the devil. Colossians 1.22 says this, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. Why could he die? because he has a body, a body of flesh, that can actually die in order to effect this sacrifice. Christian, I hope you never lose ardent adoration for the Christ who loved you and gave himself up for you, because that's what you're watching going on when you talk about incarnation. You're seeing the Christ humble himself, taking on the form of a servant in our likeness, and yielding himself in this obedience all the way to death on a cross. But that's just the beginning point. Not only does the incarnation mean that Christ can die as the perfect sacrifice, it also means that he can be raised as the perfect sacrifice. Jesus can be raised from the dead. The perfect sacrifice, you see, requires not just death, but also resurrection. And this is what Jesus can do. Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. But in fact, 1 Corinthians 15, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. So we've started to consider here the blessings of the Incarnation with its most obvious fact. What's the most obvious fact about the Incarnation? Christ came to be the perfect sacrifice, including dying and rising from the dead. But even what we've looked at so far intimates that there is far more beauty in the Incarnation than merely a superficial glance at it would see. I think the effects of the Incarnation are not merely external to us. It is something Christ did out there somewhere that then comes to be connected to us. The effects of the Incarnation are, you might say, internal. And that's the point I want to make next. The Incarnation is for your life with God. The purpose of the Incarnation is so that you can share in life with God. Without Christ taking on human nature, that could never be reality. There are several facets of this the scripture brings out, that your life is united with God by the incarnation. First of all, we've already talked about one, as I've quoted Hebrews chapter two, pardon me, verse 14. And that is, because of the incarnation, Christ has union with us. Did you catch what Hebrews 2.14 said? It said, because the children share in flesh and blood, he partook of the same. That is, we are flesh and blood. That was the very reason why he took that. He joined our nature to himself. In fact, if you look at that passage and go down just a few verses, you see how that works out a little bit more. It says in verse 17, therefore 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. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Jesus Christ shares your nature as a created human being. That it is genuinely part now of who he is. It's not something just extrinsic to him that he knows about, or even that he created in the sense of something different than himself, but now that he has even taken to himself and united to himself. And as we've seen in verse 17 here, because he does share our nature, he is the perfect high priest, the mediator between God and man, the perfect union of God with his creation. So the incarnation can affect your life with God precisely because Christ brings us into union in our human nature with God. And as such, he also makes God known to us. The incarnation is for your life with God so that you can know God, even as a human creature. We're all familiar with John 1.14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And what does that text say right after that? And we have seen his glory. The glory that is God's glory is now visible to human eyes. That is our nature is able to perceive God's glory. This is an amazing statement. This is something that man could never effect on his own. And this is so essential to your life with God. In fact, I love what Jesus said at the end of his earthly ministry to his disciples when he appeared to them after his resurrection in Luke 24. He appeared to them, they were startled, and he said this, see my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. They saw. This is the Word made flesh. This is God. We can know him. In fact, even in a resurrected state, even after his crucifixion and resurrection, He is now perceivable to our kinds of senses so that we can look at him and see this is the glory of God. This is who we were made for. Look at Jesus. In fact, do you want to know what God is really like? Look at Jesus. He is God made visible. That's what the incarnation affects for your life with God. Building on that then, the incarnation is for your life with God because Jesus provides an example of how we are to live. Pardon me. A human example of how humans are to live. Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps, 1 Peter says. His human life sets the pattern for our human lives. He is the ideal man, the second Adam, who achieves everything God meant for mankind. And we then who follow him, go with him to that achievement. We follow our great pioneer to the consummation of all of God's creative and redemptive purposes. He provides that example that we can follow because of his incarnation. The incarnation is for your life with God, not only in that way, but also in bringing you then to resurrection life. We already touched on this. 1 Corinthians 15, 20, you might remember that. that I quoted just a moment ago, it called Christ there the firstfruits from the dead. That is, as a man, he did die. And as a man, he was raised. But because he has taken to himself true human nature, for all those who believe in him, he brings them with him to resurrection. That's why he's called firstfruits. That's what firstfruits means. It means others are going to follow and be raised too. not just him, he is bringing to resurrection all those who are united to him. And in that way, the incarnation is for your life with God because it is literally communicating God's life to us. Colossians 2.9 says that in him, in Christ, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And then verse 10 goes on to add to that, if that weren't enough, and you have been filled in him. Now think about that for a minute. Our created nature, even your very bodily existence as you're living it right now, is not an obstacle to communion with God, communion in God's life, to sharing in God's life. It is actually transformed by Christ into being filled with all the fullness of God, to use the language of Ephesians 3, 19. Everything about your human existence can be taken up into and transformed into a very outflowing of the fullness of God himself. This is an amazing thing to contemplate, and it's because of the incarnation, your work, what God calls you to do day in and day out, your vocation, your relationships with other human beings. You might even think of your Christmas celebrations with your family. These can all be caught up into God, filled with all the fullness of God. If you are almost created nature somehow in some amazing way, becoming a container, can we say, for God's fullness, a conduit, a manifestation of God's presence and power, God's life, God himself, because of the incarnation. This is what the incarnation accomplishes. The incarnation is for your life with God, you are being united to God. And that leads me to one final point here. The incarnation is for the life of the whole world. The life of the world. Look over with me, if you will, to John chapter six. John chapter six. In Jesus' own earthly ministry, as he proclaimed here that he is the bread of life. In fact, he said he's the bread that came down from heaven. This was astonishing teaching. This people were having a hard time receiving. But he came to a culmination in verse 51 of this text by saying, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. We're talking about incarnation here. flesh, like you have. And yet Jesus has just said, I'm going to give this and it's going to be for the life of the world. Now this is strong medicine. In fact, the Jews couldn't stomach it. It says in verse 52, the Jews then disputed among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Yes, you have this earthly food and drink that sustains and nourishes your earthly bodies, but that food can't give you eternal life, can it? It won't keep you alive forever. You will all die. But there is a true food. And in John's gospel, true means something that is real. Absolute, ultimate reality that never changes. And Jesus says, this is my flesh. And I am giving this for the life of the world. There's so much we might ponder in this mystery here. I simply want to point out one thing for our purposes today. There is a connection between Christ having actual flesh and the life of the whole world. Did you get that? It was necessary for Christ to have actual flesh in order for the world to have life. There had to be that kind of a union between God and his creation. The creator of the world worked through uniting himself with creation in order to bring creation to true life, to fulfillment. That's the way it had to be. And there's an important point here. Redemption of creation has to take place through creation, not apart from it, or else it simply doesn't accomplish the goal. It's an imposition on creation. It's not actually bringing creation itself to fruition in the creator. It's simply forcing into some other kind of mold. Instead, the creator does something absolutely unthinkable to human minds. He brings his creation to a participation in his own life. This is why Perhaps you've noticed at Christmas time, with Christmas carols and various things, we tend to end up singing about everything. Sometimes it's not always in a good way, or a biblically faithful way, but sometimes it is. Did you notice, for example, even as you were listening to Star in the East, as this, you might say, imaginative retelling, contemplation, meditation on what happened as God drew the Magi to worship and adore the newborn, well, or at least in his infancy, newborn Christ. That song, for instance, just pulling some from memory here, talked about dew. It talked about stars. It talked about gems from the ocean and gold from the mine. Why should we sing about those kinds of things? We're talking about spiritual salvation here, right? Those have nothing to do with that. No? No, actually they do. You might remember we talked a little bit about salvation in the Psalms a few weeks ago. We talked about our Messiah and Lord and who he is and what he does. as he brings all of creation, God's good purposes, to its fulfillment in his kingdom. No, what we're dealing with here when we have God made man is a true union of God and all of his purposes in creation. God, without ceasing to be who he is in any way, without changing his nature whatsoever, unites himself to true created nature without changing that either, without making it into anything different than what it was, but now bringing it to fulfillment far beyond its own natural powers, you might say, into what it was meant for in him. And now suddenly gold does take on a whole new significance. It becomes a very means of communion with God. It becomes a function of adoration and worship. What did the Magi give to the new child? Gold and frankincense. Created things. Was that worthless? No. Actually, that was that creation finding its fulfillment. It was being what it was made for in relationship to God. And that's all possible because of the incarnation Pardon me. So when we sing Christmas carols, it's not in vain that our imagination starts thinking about all kinds of things. I was listening to a Spanish Christmas carol the other day, which I don't think got things quite right biblically, but it intrigued me just along this very line. perhaps you've heard of it. It's actually, the story is actually having to do with there's a donkey going to Bethlehem and he's carrying chocolate and some people start stealing the chocolate and eating the chocolate. And so Mary, you better come quickly because people are stealing the chocolate and all kinds of other things that it talks about. Obviously very fanciful. Some think it originated as a child's song in Andalusia somewhere hundreds of years ago. Now, Is that a biblically, theologically correct Christmas carol? No, and you shouldn't think that's what's going on here, right? But, is it wrong to think that even chocolate has something to do with God and his purposes in this world? No, it actually isn't wrong. Do donkeys have something to do with God and his purposes in this world? Yes, they do. Does God take all of created reality and bring it to himself in Christ? He does. And that is the blessing of the incarnation. It's when we see God in the flesh that we can really know beyond any shadow of doubt that what God started in creation, he will fulfill. That sin cannot and does not and will not wreck God's good purposes. And in fact, the very kind of creature you are as you are sitting here embodied before me today. will be brought to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And that things like Christmas celebrations actually can be good because they take all this created order and they bring it into the worship of our God. This is because of the incarnation. I hope you rejoice in that today. You see, folks, you have a wonderful Savior. He is like you in every respect except for sin. By becoming like you, He is bringing you to become like Him. And by uniting Himself to your human nature, He is giving you His divine life. This really does bring new meaning to what Psalm 150 says as it closes the book of Psalms, when it says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Everything. is actually right, because Christ is our incarnate Savior. Trust Him today and rejoice in His incarnation on this Christmas day. If you would do that, would you do it all together as a congregation by saying, hallelujah, Jesus is Lord. Let's confess that to the Lord now. Hallelujah, Jesus is Lord. Let's lift our hearts now to Him in prayer.