What In Tarnation Is The Incarnation?

INTRO: Merry Christmas and welcome to our Christmas themed teaching series. Today we begin with a look at a very theological word that much like a Christmas ornament we pull out once a year and then put it back. The word is incarnation. Stay with me. Some of you are probably thinking, this guy has only been up there for 30 seconds and it's already over my head. What in tarnation is an incarnation? My first hearing of the word produced a similar response, i.e., did he say carnation? tarnation? I dont know why but for some reason I pretended I knew what it meant when I really didnt. It wasnt until Bible college that I learned that it was a theological word for describing the first Christmas when God, Jesus specifically, took on human flesh, bone, and DNA. But why?

The story begins in Genesis but dont worry we'll get out in time to beat the Methodists to lunch. After Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation God shows up and regretfully announces the consequences. There's generally always consequences in some form or another for our sins as well, i.e., collateral spiritual damage. Adam is told that he'll now have to work by the sweat of the brow, Eve is told she'll have great pain in childbirth, and among other things there's also a consequence for the devil.

You'll recall that when Jesus tells Peter "Get thee behind me Satan" that he was looking Peter straight in the face but speaking to the spirit behind him. In this case the devil. Old Testament prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel will do the same. They'll be addressing a particular king but then they'll take a moment to address the spirit behind the king. The first instance of this is in Genesis 3. God looking at the serpent speaks to the spirit behind it and says,

SLIDE

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. (Gen. 3:15)

The point is clear. A descendant of Eve will wield a death blow to evil, satan, sin. A blow to the head is a death blow. This is what the Messiah would do. He would put an end not only to the consequences of sin, but to evil itself.

In Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis will depict this by showing the great concern that Jadis (the satan figure) has upon the children by asking “Are you a son of Adam?”

Presuming possibly that Abel is the one God was referring to in Gen. 3:15 it is quite likely that this is a part of the backstory behind the first murder Genesis 4 as well as the "massacre of the innocents" by Herod the Great recorded in Matthew 2:16-18.

The Christmas story, the incarnation, a Savior who would crush sin and the devil is also the backstory of the Christmas story. This descendant of Adam and Eve has been born!

Text Lk. 1:26-38: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

GABRIEL

“Don’t be Afraid” is the standard angel greeting

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” (Lk. 1:30)

-The Bible has a lot to say about Angels. In fact, Angels are mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament.

-Upon Adam and Eve's eviction from the garden of Eden a sword wielding angel is assigned to guard the entrance. (Gen. 3:24)

-In Revelation they are also seen as the executers of judgment during the Great Tribulation period.