Christmas Theology: Four Benefits of the Incarnation

The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563 by Zacharias Ursinus, stands out amongst the confessions of the church because it contains not just true doctrine, but is written under the theme of how true doctrine comforts the believer. It’s a good reminder that doctrine is not just to be intellectually affirmed. When properly understood, doctrine is a comfort to the soul.

“Lord’s Day 1” famously begins…

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death? A. That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, God’s people can live in a state of comfort.

That catechismal theme of comfort is not just at the beginning. It is threaded throughout the entirety of the catechism as it touches on all the major areas of doctrine including the doctrine of the incarnation. As we celebrate the incarnation during this Christmas season, “Lord’s Day 14 Q&A 36” is a comforting reminder.

Q. How does the holy conception and birth of Christ benefit you? A. He is our mediator and, in God’s sight, he covers with his innocence and perfect holiness my sinfulness in which I was conceived.

Have you thought about the incarnation in this way? That Jesus was born in love to provide specific benefits of comfort in your life. As we celebrate the incarnation this Christmas season, here are four benefits of the incarnation.

1. The Incarnation Points to the Redemption of the Physical World

Genesis opens the Scriptures with God creating all things out of nothing, repeatedly declaring, “And God saw that it was good.” Sun, moon, stars, land, animals, vegetation and then last and best of all, mankind were created. And all of it was good.

And yet by chapter 3 everything changes with the eating of the forbidden fruit. The world is cast under a curse. But what’s important to note is that the curse does not undo the goodness of God’s initial creation. It was still made with good intent.

When we come to the birth of Christ, the second person of the Trinity took on human flesh. If bodies were inherently evil, Jesus could not have taken on physical flesh. Jesus cannot be joined to that which is profane and unholy, but that was never the intent of God in creation. After his death and resurrection, when the curse had been defeated, Jesus rose in the exact same body, again affirming the goodness of the physical. Jesus was not trying to escape his physical body but was trying to redeem it.

The hope of the gospel is not eternal life in a mystical, ethereal place called heaven. The hope is a “new heavens and earth” (Rev 21:1)—a real earth, full of people with real bodies who are happy in the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The incarnation benefits us by showing that Jesus did not come to abolish creation, but to redeem it.

2. The Incarnation Provides a Second Adam

In the garden, the condition of life was obedience to God, yet Adam fell short, which sent both him and his posterity into a state of sin and misery. Adam, as the first federal head, now stands as a marker of condemnation upon mankind. What is needed is a new federal head who will obey in all the ways Adam fell short.

And this is exactly what Christ accomplished in his life. In the incarnation, Christ became a man; he became the second Adam. And, as a man, Christ obeyed God in all the ways that Adam (and we) fell short. In the desert, he overcame temptation by the power of God’s word. During Holy Week he received the mocking and beatings while never whispering a grumble. On the cross, he obediently loved his Father and his people to the point of death.

To be right with God requires not just moral neutrality but active obedience to God. Where Adam fell short, Jesus succeeded. Jesus’s success began at his birth as he began a life of perfect obedience.

3. The Incarnation Provides a Mediator Between Us and God

A common way to share the gospel with a non-believing friend is to draw the bridge diagram on the back of a napkin. A stick figure us drawn with a gap of sin that separates the man from a holy God. To bridge the gap a cross is drawn representing that Jesus is both God and man, and is therefore able to be the perfect bridge between God and man. The diagram is a quick visual of the Chalcedonian Definition that was written in 451.

Jesus is “at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood.”

It’s of course a glorious truth that Jesus is God. It is also equally glorious that Jesus is also truly man. He’s not God pretending to be a man or temporally becoming man. No, for all eternity forward we will worship Christ as the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5-6).

His mediatorial role began at his conception as he, God, took on flesh in the virgin Mary’s womb.

4. The Incarnation is God Coming Near Us in Love, Not Pulling Away in judgement.

The mistaken notion of modern times is that God surely wants to be near to us. But the assumption of the Scriptures is the exact opposite. The assumption of the Jewish people is that God would want to remain far away. How could the holy God who shakes Mt. Sinai ever be near to a people like us? God was understood as holy and set apart from the wickedness of the world.

And yet, in the incarnation, Jesus, named Immanuel (Matt 1:23), does come near to us. He came so near that he became man just like us. All other religions are based on working towards God, and yet the gospel is that God came to us. From heaven he came down the ladder to the point of becoming one of us. Jesus does the work of coming near to us, not us towards him.

As we preach the incarnation this Christmas season, avoid trite cliché statements that are so often recirculated this time of year. What people need to hear is how the incarnation radically benefits their life. Preach sermons that glory in the benefits of the incarnation. Jesus did not take on flesh for the sake of holiday sentiment once a year. He took on flesh because he wanted to bridge the gap that separated his people from the forever love and comfort of the triune God. When properly understood, the benefits of the incarnation are deeply comforting. Preach accordingly.

©2023 Jon Saunders. All rights reserved. Used with permission.