The Incarnation: Seeing God
John 1.14-18
In the opening scenes of the musical Camelot, King Arthur appears standing in a field dressed in the clothes of a common peasant. To look at him, one would have no idea that he is a king. In fact when Guinevere first meets Arthur, she has no clue that he is king over all of Camelot. His outward appearance gives no indication of his royal status. The king appears as a simple peasant.
In v.1 of John’s Gospel, we were introduced to the eternal Logos who is both God and coexistent with God. He was next identified as the originator of light and life. Third, he was presented as being in the world yet unknown by its creatures. Now John’s Prologue reaches its climax when it is announced that the Logos fully participated in the realm of creation by becoming one of its creatures. The Word became flesh. The eternal Logos who was with God, who is God, and who created the world became flesh. The King of Kings became a peasant.
We call this cardinal doctrine the “Incarnation,” a Latin word that literally means, “God incorporated in flesh.” The incarnation is the biblical truth that God became one of us. The Creator became a part of His creation by taking on human flesh. It is one of the essential yet incomprehensible doctrines of our faith. It is the belief that God the Son became a human being without relinquishing his deity. It is the belief that Jesus Christ was both 100% God and 100% human at the same time. He was the God-man. Such teaching transcends human understanding.
As one pastor notes, “The Incarnation is a strange word to our ears. It is offensive to our reason, that God and man can be brought together so intimately, that the two are but one Person yet that one Person remains fully God and fully human. It is troublesome to us who were made in the image of God but who desired instead to be “like God,” knowing good and evil. In our being “like God” we are competitors with God. We want to reach up over our heads, to exalt ourselves, to be gods. We want to be the center of things, to assert ourselves over God and climb on the backs of each other. There is no inherent desire in us to become servants, nothing in us that would tie the towel around our waist and stoop down to wash feet, to become nothing for the sake of another.
This is what God has done in Jesus Christ. He has reached down to us, to be with us who continually strive to be like Him. He reached down to us deeply. He has become one of us. He became the least among us, a tiny, poor, helpless infant. We did nothing to bring Christ from heaven. He came without our invitation, without preparation, without our decision, without our welcome. He was sent by the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary. And all this He did without consulting us, without our help. This is entirely God’s doing, that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
God has brought honor to our dishonored humanity. Luther once said that the angels of heaven are not so blessed as we are, even though they are greater and stronger than we are. For the Son of God did not come as an angel, but as a man. This is the ultimate honor that God can bestow, to take up our human nature and become one of us. God dignifies our flesh and blood by wearing it as his own. He didn’t simply take possession of a man, as the devil sometimes does. He became man, fully human.
What John says here stands in sharp contrast to the philosophers and commoners of his time. For them, the Logos was an eternal, impersonal Principle. The gods of the Greeks were far removed and aloof. They had no concern for simple humanity.
Yet John declares that the Logos is not impersonal but personal. He is not far removed but intimate. God became one of us. The Word became flesh. God invaded humanity. It was on Mt. Sinai in Ex. 33-34 that God spoke to Moses and revealed Himself thru His word on two stone tablets. Now, John informs us, God’s Word, His self-expression has become flesh. God’s Word, which was given to Moses on stone, has now been made flesh.
That is why Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate revelation. The Word, who was both with God and who was God, became flesh. He donned our humanity. God chose to reveal Himself ultimately in a real, historic person. The word became flesh. He identified with us by becoming one of us.
Do you remember the movie “O God” starring George Burns and John Denver? While the movie was theologically distorted and disturbing, there is one scene in the movie where Burns, who plays God, appears to this supermarket assistant manager (Denver) wearing tennis shoes, glasses, and a fishing hat. When asked why he looks the way he does, Burns answers, “I picked a look you could understand.”
And that is what happened in the Incarnation, God picked a look we can understand. He became one of us. While Jesus probably did not wear a fishing cap, he lived as a human among humans. His hands were calloused from years of handling lumber. His skin tanned from the Middle Eastern sun. He hung around other humans and ministered among them. He grew tired, hungry, and thirsty. He was tempted. God picked a look we could understand. He became one of us. The Word became flesh. God spoke a language we can understand.
* Religions seek to know how we as humans can get in touch with God. Yet Christianity claims that God came to us. The Word became flesh. God placed Himself at our mercy. The Incarnation dares to speak of God’s dependence on humans (unique). God entrusted Himself to our hands. What do you mean?
Jesus needed a human womb in which to be born; a human breast from which to nurse; a father to carry him to Egypt away from Herod’s wrath; a group of friends to support, betray, and deny Him, a man to carry His cross. God made Himself dependent upon humans. The Creator became the creation. The Word became flesh. God became incarnate.
But what do we see in the incarnation? What does the incarnation teach us about God? This text allows us to observe 4 things about God thru the incarnation, the fact that the Word became flesh.
I. In the Incarnation of God the Son, we can observe God’s Glory (14).
John tells us that the “Word dwelt among us.” Literally translated, the word “pitched his tent/tabernacled” with us. In the OT, God’s people erected a tabernacle and later a temple to symbolize the presence and dwelling of God among His people in the wilderness. The tabernacle reminded the people that God was with them and leading them. Now, John writes, God has tabernacled, taken His dwelling, among us. God dwells in the flesh among humans. He lived as one of us. He is present in human flesh.
John continues, “and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” The apostle’s allusion to the tabernacle brings to mind the shekinah glory of God that filled the OT tabernacle. God’s glory represents His self-disclosure, how He reveals Himself to His people. In the OT, the people could not see God and live. They could only see His glory.
Now, John writes, we have beheld His glory. In other words, we see how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. He has chosen to reveal Himself as a human, as one of us. God’s glory has been revealed in Jesus Christ, the one and only one who could express the glory of God (b/c He was with God and was God). John serves as a witness, “we have seen and bore witness” of the incarnate Logos. We have witnessed Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God’s presence and power.
It is interesting that John makes it clear that God’s glory could only be revealed by God’s only Son. He was the Father’s special representative of the divine glory. The text makes it clear that the mission of the Logos was unique in world history. This uniqueness makes it impossible for Christianity to be a syncretistic religion.
Our confession is Jesus and Jesus only. It is not Jesus and Buddha or Jesus and Mohammad. There is only one way, only one Savior, only one revealer of God’s glory. The incarnate Logos is God’s unique and exclusive means of salvation.
In the incarnation, we observe God’s glory.
II. In the Incarnation of God the Son, we can observe God’s greatness (15).
Like vv. 6-8, v. 15 seems to function like a parenthesis. The apostle takes us briefly back to the testimony of John the Baptist, who testifies of the greatness of the Word.
John the Baptist’s words speak of Jesus’ superiority to the forerunner. In ancient times, chronological priority meant superiority (those who were born first were considered superior). But the Baptizer’s testimony speaks of the importance of the Christ who was born after John. “Though he came after me, he is preferred before me, for he existed (was set/established) before me.” John the Baptist recognized the pre-existence of the Son. He recognized that Jesus is the Messiah, the eternal Son of God who became flesh.
The Baptist reminds us of the greatness of Jesus. “Though he comes after me, he is of higher rank than I.” John’s testimony should be ours. He is preferred over me. He is of higher rank than me. He is the one deserving of praise and worship and glory and honor. He is the superior one, the great one. And in the Incarnation, we observe God’s greatness, his superiority. We will examine John’s testimony in greater detail in the weeks to come, so we move on to our third truth.
III. In the Incarnation of God the Son, we can observe God’s grace (16-17).
These verses are saturated with grace language. V. 14 declares that we saw his glory, full of grace and truth. V. 16 speaks of the fullness of God’s grace and the fact that we have been given grace upon grace. V. 17 refers to the fact that grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
And indeed, it is in the Incarnation of Christ that we observe God’s grace. The God who reveals Himself is a God of grace and truth. Grace represents His goodness and mercy. Truth represents His covenant faithfulness to fulfill His word. Jesus Christ represents the grace and truth of God.
We are reminded that the grace we received in Christ is the fullness of God’s grace. The Law of Moses was a provision of God’s grace, but the grace found in Christ is the completion/fulfillment of God’s graciousness. Jesus Christ represents God’s grace in it fullness. He is the embodiment of grace and truth.
Grace was realized fully and completely only in Jesus Christ. Never was grace as clear and evident as in the provision and sacrifice of our Lord. He is the embodiment of grace. The grace of the OT Law is surpassed and fulfilled by the grace revealed in the incarnate Christ.
IV. In the Incarnation of the God the Son, we can observe God (18).
V. 18 brings John’s Prologue full circle. He began with the Logos who was with God and who was God, and He concludes with the Logos who is in the presence of God and who explains God to us.
The Scriptures are clear that no human can see God face-to-face and live. “No one has seen God at any time (emphatic in the Greek)”. In the OT to see God would be tantamount to signing one’s death certificate. Indeed it is only the pre-eminent Son of God who was in God’s presence (bosom) and who came to earth to explain God that can make this claim.
When we see Jesus, we have seen God. Have you ever wondered what God looks like? (Little boy drawing God) Well, if you look at Jesus, you see God. The eternal Logos, who became flesh, has explained God to us. He portrayed, detailed the nature of God to the world.
Do you want to see God? Look at Jesus. God has revealed Himself in Christ.
Do you want to see what God is like? Read the story of Jesus. Jesus reveals God Himself.
God’s glory is revealed in Christ. God’s greatness is revealed in Christ. God’s grace is revealed in Christ. As a matter of fact, God Himself is revealed in Christ. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Looking at Jesus equals seeing God.
Conclusion:
1) The incarnation is a litmus test for true orthodoxy (1 John 4.2-3). To deny the incarnation is to deny who Christ is. Remember John’s purpose statement…these things I have written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. It begins and ends with Jesus. To remove Jesus Christ from Christianity is to subtract its most essential ingredient.
Do you want to know whether a group should be considered Christian or not. Look at what they do with Jesus. What is their view of Christ? Is He a great prophet or teacher? Is He another god of some form? Is He a great moral example or leader? OR Is He the Son of God, God robed in the flesh, full deity and full humanity. To deny who Jesus is destroys the essentials of our faith.
2) Jesus Christ is the supreme and unique revelation of God’s glory.
The same glory that passed before Moses when God hid him in the mountain (Ex. 33-34) is the same glory that was manifest on this earth in Jesus Christ. He is the express image of God, the revelation of His glory.
As the revelation of God’s glory, He is the exclusive way to the Father. There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved. I am the Way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.
We live in a pluralistic society. We live in a society where it is unpopular to say that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. But I am here to say that it is not Christianity that claims Jesus is the exclusive way. It is Jesus who makes that claim. If there is a problem, take it up with Him. He is the one and only way.
3) The true glory is seen, not in the outward splendor of Christ, but in the lowliness with which the Son of God lived among us and suffered for us. While in the Gospel of John the signs/miracles reveal God’s glory, in a deeper sense it is the cross of shame and humiliation that manifests the true glory.
The God who revealed Himself did so in the form of a servant. The glory of which John speaks is the glory that came thru the cross of humiliation. You see the Word became flesh for a distinct reason: to suffer and die.
The God that Jesus Christ explains is the God who loved us so much that He was willing to send the Son to become one of us in order to sacrifice His life for our sins. The true glory of God is seen in His death.
Dr. John Rosen pioneered a new treatment for some people who were severely mentally ill. These were catatonic patients, curled up in the fetal position on their beds, refusing to acknowledge that anyone else even existed. They would neither move nor speak. Dr. Rosen moved in on the ward. He put up a cot there. Every day he saw those patients. Sometimes, he would stop by a bed, take off his jacket, and climb into the bed with the patient. He would put his arms around the patients and gently embrace them. Some returned to the world of the living because of that wordless expression of concern.
In Jesus Christ, God moved into our ward. He became one of us. He dwelt with us. And we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth. The Word became flesh. When we see God, we see Jesus Christ, the One who was willing to become one of us in order to die for us.
