Hail the Incarnate Diety
What do Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Carrie Underwood, and Amy Grant have in common? Probably a few things, for instance they’re all singers. But here’s one thing you may have not thought about: at one point in their music careers, they sang these words:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail th’ incarnate deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Immanuel
I wonder if they understood what profound theology they were singing. Those words were penned by Charles Wesley in 1739. They celebrate one of the most profound truths of Scripture, one which has been sung about for millenia and will be the cause of the praise of the saints for all eternity: the incarnation of the Son of God. God became man.
The Scriptures teach that God exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They teach that God the Son assumed a human nature in the incarnation while retaining the fullness of his divinity. As a man, he suffered and died for men, paying for their sins on the cross before rising again on the third day. By his resurrection his deity was proven and his claims were vindicated. And all through the ages, the church has worshiped the man Jesus Christ as God.
Perhaps we take it for granted that Jesus is God. 1700 years ago, however, a theological battle raged around this issue. Many people in the Christian church were being influenced by a theologian named Arius, who taught that Jesus was a created being. He was a great being, even worthy of worship - but not fully divine. The Father and the Son, according to Arius, were distinct beings.
In 325 AD, the Emperor Constantine called a group of 318 bishops - pastors and theologians - to think through Arius’ claims at what came to be known as the Council of Nicaea. St. Nicholas was there. He’s famous for two reasons: first, his legend eventually grew into Santa Clause, and second, old stories say that in the midst of the theological dispute, he punched Arius in the face. Go Santa!
The council produced the Nicene Creed, one of the most important theological statements in the history of the church. In it, Arius’ teaching was condemned as heretical, and doctrine of the trinity was protected, and the divinity of Christ defended.
Unfortunately, many Christians don’t understand the importance of having biblical doctrine, and as a result they believe in the wrong Jesus. The Jesus they believe in is is not the Jesus of Scripture. They have Jesus-the-good-moral-teacher, Jesus-the-life-coach, Jesus-the-guru, Jesus-the-religious-radical. They have a made up Jesus, a false Jesus; a Jesus which is no savior at all. In ignorance, they worship a vain idol.
Praise God he has revealed the truth about Jesus in his word, and that it has been preserved and protected in the Nicene Creed. This magnificent statement, written in 325 AD, defends the true humanity and full divinity of Christ like this.
The creed, defending Christ’s deity, states that Jesus is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made.” He is “consubstantial with the Father,” which means he is of the same substance. Defending Christ’s true humanity, the creed states that he “came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” Truly God. Truly man.
The one who laid in that Bethlehem manger was he who made the heavens and the earth (Col. 1:16). It is he who upholds the universe by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3). It is he who has all authority everywhere (Matt. 28:18). Why did he come? “For us men and for our salvation.”
This is our God, the true and living God; the only God who is. He is a God who became man, for us and our salvation. This is what St. Nicholas and other faithful believers defended all those years ago at Nicea. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.
Jesus is Immanuel - God with us. This Christmas, a little theology might make your celebration all the richer. Take some time to ponder the mystery of the incarnation, and let it raise your hearts to worship.
