Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year as I suspect it it for so many of you too. It’s a time when families gather and are able to spend time together. This becomes even more special as your family ages and children move out and start lives and families of their own. And it’s also a time, for those who know and love Jesus Christ, to reflect on and think deeply about some of the mysteries of Jesus Christ — the God-man.
Consider these words of Thomas Watson:
Jesus was poor that He might make us rich. He was born of a virgin that we might be born of God. He took our flesh that He might give us His Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven that He might bring us to heaven….that the Ancient of Days should be born, — that He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle, — that He who rules the stars should nurse at His mother’s breast, —that a virgin should conceive, — that Christ should be made of a woman, and of that woman which He Himself made, — that the branch should bear the vine, — that the mother should be younger than the child she bore, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother, — that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God: this was not only amazing but miraculous.1
What Watson is drawing our attention to are the glorious paradoxes of Jesus — He who is truly man and truly God. Jesus is:
Yes and yes! A paradox is a statement or situation that appears to contradict itself or defy logic. Within Christendom they invite reflection and help sharpen our thinking about Jesus. And, most importantly, they should lead us to having our affections stirred towards our Savior.
Speaking of Jesus Athanasius has said, “The successes of the Savior, brought about by His incarnation, are of such kind and magnitude that, if one wished to go through them all, it would be like those who gaze at the expanse of the sea and try to count the waves.”2 We aren’t going to count the waves so we will focus on just one: the fact that in Jesus God is with us.
God With Man
In order to properly understand the affection-stirring reality of this statement we need to go back to the Old Testament. In the beginning, humanity lived in the fullness of joy in the presence of the God who made them (Ps 16:11). Adam and Eve were feasting on the abundance of the house of God and regularly drank from the river of God’s delights (Ps 36:7-8).
Intimacy, joy, pleasure and closeness abounded between God and man!
God and Man Separated
But that was all destroyed at the Fall. Among the litany of punishments God meted out perhaps the most soul-crushing was to be removed and barred from returning to God’s life-giving joy-producing presence (Gen 3:23-24). The warmth of summer was replaced by the frigid coldness of winter. The satisfaction of mission and purpose was replaced by self-absorption and aimlessness. The comfort of having a friend was replaced with the fear of now having an enemy.
God and man were now separated and only God could provide the needed rescue from this horrible condition.
The long process of God’s return and the costly price of restoration, hinted at in the middle of the curse God pronounced to Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15; 21), began with God’s covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen 12:1-3; 26:23-25; 28:10-17). It continued as His chosen people grew into a nation and it culminated, at least in the OT, with the giving of the Law to Moses and the building of the Tabernacle.
It was here that God began His return to the people as His glory and the cloud of His presence filled the Tabernacle (Ex 40:34-35). To an extent what had been lost at the Fall was now restored as God had returned! Sadly, though, this was a conditional arrangement dependent upon the people and their obedience to God and His commands (Ex 19:5-9).3 And this was not something they could do.
Consequently, nine hundred years later and at the nadir of their existence due to their continued and relentless disobedience, God (again) fully removed His presence from the nation of Judah. Ezekiel writes of this poignant moment as God’s glory, already having departed the Temple and now standing at the city gate, left even that and fully departed the city and God’s people (Ezek 11:22-23). Once again, the soul-crushing separation between God and His people had occurred. God was no longer with His faithless people.
And that is how it remained for the next five hundred and eighty or so years until an angel appeared to a young girl named Mary. She was told that God had found favor with her and that she would conceive and bear a son who would rule forever (Lk 1:30-32). At the same time an angel appeared to Joseph, her fiancé, telling him what to name this son of theirs — Immanuel which means God with us (Matt 1:23; Is 7:14).
God With Man Again (and Forevermore!)
And this, the return of God, is the wave I want to briefly focus on. No longer is God’s continued presence with us conditional based upon our obedience. No longer is it mediated by unworthy lambs, bulls, goats, men or sacrifices.
Instead, Jesus added humanity to His divinity bringing the two natures together in the one person of Himself. And in so doing He fully and perfectly represented us and vanquished sin and its consequences. At the same time, as God, He fully procured and is forever securing our salvation having sufficiently paid its price.
In the person of Jesus God has returned to His people! It is He who does the work. It is He who forever remains faithful. And it is He who brings us freely and safely into the presence of the Father.
No longer do we need fear God and risk death by approaching Him in an inappropriate way (2 Sam 6:6-7; Lev 10:1-3; Lev 16:1-2). Instead, we can ‘with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and grace to help in a time of need’ (Heb 4:16).
Because Jesus is God with us we can behold the face of God and be fully satisfied (Ps 17:15).
Because Jesus is God with us we can have all our desires fulfilled (Ps 145:19).
Because Jesus is God with us our souls can be as satisfied as we are with fat and rich food (Ps 63:5).
Because Jesus is God with us we can be radiant over the goodness of the Lord (Jer 31:12).
And because Jesus is God with us the great Uncreated and His creation are no longer separated. His dwelling place will forevermore be with man (Rev 21:3)!
May our contemplation of this single wave of the successes of Jesus produce joy and contentment in us this Christmas season. We do this because “Contemplating the splendor of God and so stoking our fearful wonder at Him is at the heart of Christian health. The grandeur of God pulls our focus up and away from ourselves. We wonder at a Being greater than us. We therefore diminish. His magnificence distracts and woos us from our daily self-obsession. We develop a taste for something other than ourselves. At the same time, our thoughts are lifted and cleansed as we consider One who is greater and purer than us.”4
Jesus is Immanuel — God with us!
1. Jonathan Gibson, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Crossway, 2023, page 97.
2. Ibid, page 193.
3. The people made this same bold claim repeatedly throughout the giving of the Law in Exodus. See also Exodus 24:3 and Exodus 24:7.
4. Michael Reeves, Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord, Crossway, 2021, page 80.
Consider these words of Thomas Watson:
Jesus was poor that He might make us rich. He was born of a virgin that we might be born of God. He took our flesh that He might give us His Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven that He might bring us to heaven….that the Ancient of Days should be born, — that He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle, — that He who rules the stars should nurse at His mother’s breast, —that a virgin should conceive, — that Christ should be made of a woman, and of that woman which He Himself made, — that the branch should bear the vine, — that the mother should be younger than the child she bore, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother, — that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God: this was not only amazing but miraculous.1
What Watson is drawing our attention to are the glorious paradoxes of Jesus — He who is truly man and truly God. Jesus is:
- God and man?!?
- Creator and created?!?
- The Ancient of Days who was born?!?
- Omnipotent and dependent?!?
- Older than His mother?!?
Yes and yes! A paradox is a statement or situation that appears to contradict itself or defy logic. Within Christendom they invite reflection and help sharpen our thinking about Jesus. And, most importantly, they should lead us to having our affections stirred towards our Savior.
Speaking of Jesus Athanasius has said, “The successes of the Savior, brought about by His incarnation, are of such kind and magnitude that, if one wished to go through them all, it would be like those who gaze at the expanse of the sea and try to count the waves.”2 We aren’t going to count the waves so we will focus on just one: the fact that in Jesus God is with us.
God With Man
In order to properly understand the affection-stirring reality of this statement we need to go back to the Old Testament. In the beginning, humanity lived in the fullness of joy in the presence of the God who made them (Ps 16:11). Adam and Eve were feasting on the abundance of the house of God and regularly drank from the river of God’s delights (Ps 36:7-8).
Intimacy, joy, pleasure and closeness abounded between God and man!
God and Man Separated
But that was all destroyed at the Fall. Among the litany of punishments God meted out perhaps the most soul-crushing was to be removed and barred from returning to God’s life-giving joy-producing presence (Gen 3:23-24). The warmth of summer was replaced by the frigid coldness of winter. The satisfaction of mission and purpose was replaced by self-absorption and aimlessness. The comfort of having a friend was replaced with the fear of now having an enemy.
God and man were now separated and only God could provide the needed rescue from this horrible condition.
The long process of God’s return and the costly price of restoration, hinted at in the middle of the curse God pronounced to Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15; 21), began with God’s covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen 12:1-3; 26:23-25; 28:10-17). It continued as His chosen people grew into a nation and it culminated, at least in the OT, with the giving of the Law to Moses and the building of the Tabernacle.
It was here that God began His return to the people as His glory and the cloud of His presence filled the Tabernacle (Ex 40:34-35). To an extent what had been lost at the Fall was now restored as God had returned! Sadly, though, this was a conditional arrangement dependent upon the people and their obedience to God and His commands (Ex 19:5-9).3 And this was not something they could do.
Consequently, nine hundred years later and at the nadir of their existence due to their continued and relentless disobedience, God (again) fully removed His presence from the nation of Judah. Ezekiel writes of this poignant moment as God’s glory, already having departed the Temple and now standing at the city gate, left even that and fully departed the city and God’s people (Ezek 11:22-23). Once again, the soul-crushing separation between God and His people had occurred. God was no longer with His faithless people.
And that is how it remained for the next five hundred and eighty or so years until an angel appeared to a young girl named Mary. She was told that God had found favor with her and that she would conceive and bear a son who would rule forever (Lk 1:30-32). At the same time an angel appeared to Joseph, her fiancé, telling him what to name this son of theirs — Immanuel which means God with us (Matt 1:23; Is 7:14).
God With Man Again (and Forevermore!)
And this, the return of God, is the wave I want to briefly focus on. No longer is God’s continued presence with us conditional based upon our obedience. No longer is it mediated by unworthy lambs, bulls, goats, men or sacrifices.
Instead, Jesus added humanity to His divinity bringing the two natures together in the one person of Himself. And in so doing He fully and perfectly represented us and vanquished sin and its consequences. At the same time, as God, He fully procured and is forever securing our salvation having sufficiently paid its price.
In the person of Jesus God has returned to His people! It is He who does the work. It is He who forever remains faithful. And it is He who brings us freely and safely into the presence of the Father.
No longer do we need fear God and risk death by approaching Him in an inappropriate way (2 Sam 6:6-7; Lev 10:1-3; Lev 16:1-2). Instead, we can ‘with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and grace to help in a time of need’ (Heb 4:16).
Because Jesus is God with us we can behold the face of God and be fully satisfied (Ps 17:15).
Because Jesus is God with us we can have all our desires fulfilled (Ps 145:19).
Because Jesus is God with us our souls can be as satisfied as we are with fat and rich food (Ps 63:5).
Because Jesus is God with us we can be radiant over the goodness of the Lord (Jer 31:12).
And because Jesus is God with us the great Uncreated and His creation are no longer separated. His dwelling place will forevermore be with man (Rev 21:3)!
May our contemplation of this single wave of the successes of Jesus produce joy and contentment in us this Christmas season. We do this because “Contemplating the splendor of God and so stoking our fearful wonder at Him is at the heart of Christian health. The grandeur of God pulls our focus up and away from ourselves. We wonder at a Being greater than us. We therefore diminish. His magnificence distracts and woos us from our daily self-obsession. We develop a taste for something other than ourselves. At the same time, our thoughts are lifted and cleansed as we consider One who is greater and purer than us.”4
Jesus is Immanuel — God with us!
1. Jonathan Gibson, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Crossway, 2023, page 97.
2. Ibid, page 193.
3. The people made this same bold claim repeatedly throughout the giving of the Law in Exodus. See also Exodus 24:3 and Exodus 24:7.
4. Michael Reeves, Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord, Crossway, 2021, page 80.
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