Nothing known to man in all his past, present, or future will have had such an enormous impact in its accomplishment or in its ramifications as this singular event. We speak of that monumental act when God became man. Theologians called it the “incarnation”. Incarnation is related to the word “carnivorous”, having to do with meat or flesh. Flesh-eating animals are called “carnivorous”, as opposed to herbal or vegetarians like elephants. We eat “chili con carne” which means beans with meat. When we attribute human flesh to deity, we call it the “incarnation.” It is the “infleshment” of God, His becoming one of us.
John 1 refers to Jesus Christ also as the divine “logos”, or the “Word”. A word is the essence of communication, however it is conveyed. Words are always used, and words mean things. To call Christ the “Word” or the “Logos” means he is the essence of communication from the Creator to the creatures. The “Logos” is also the source of our English word “logic”. It is not a stretch to say that Jesus Christ is not only the essence of communication from God to man, Christ is also the “logic” of God.
When the task of redeeming fallen humanity came up on the divine agenda of the Trinity, it was the divine logic of it all that would be applied. That logic…the logos, the word…, John tells us, became flesh and dwelt among us. This whole concept is utterly staggering to contemplate. God, the Deity, the Maker and Sustainer of heaven and earth, became as one of us? How can that be? The transition is breathtaking to consider. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” How? By being born of a virgin, He became as we are, yet, without sin. Why? “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Can this possibly be true? If it is, would it not be the best news the world could ever hear? Indeed, it is. It’s given the very name “gospel”, which means “good news”. Well, then, why haven’t more people appropriated this truth if it’s such good news? The reason is: the good news is so often complicated, cluttered, confiscated and misrepresented by so many who are supposed to announce it loudly and clearly, the message often goes misunderstood and confused. Men encumber the Gospel with “churchianity”, philosophy, human effort, “do goodism”, and religiosity so that the purity and simplicity of the Gospel is hard to see. This is why Christianity Clarified exists, and with great clarity and simplicity, Paul, the apostle, states the message that cost him his life which he gladly gave for it. “For I delivered unto you that first of all which I received, how that Christ died for our sins.”
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