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The Incarnation and Anthropology

Last semester, I wrote a thesis paper on the Incarnation, and it was one of the most spiritually enriching research assignments I did at Moody. Spending four months reading and reflecting on the Incarnation, talking to professors about it, and learning so much about it in preparation to write the paper did much more to my heart than I could write on. Today, I am sitting in a coffee shop in Chicago with my husband, Jake, and I am reading and reflecting on that thesis paper, and I thought I would share just a couple of reflections on the ways that the Incarnation has strengthened my own heart and has led me to worship Christ deeper. This will be the first post of many that I will write on the Incarnation in the future, but here’s a start!

And the Word Became Flesh (Jn 1:14). I think these may be some of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture. Marveling at the mystery and beautiful depth of these five words nourishes and strengthens the heart of the Christian. The Incarnation is central to our understanding of atonement, but it is also central to our understanding of anthropology. We receive our identity and come to learn what it means to be a person, as we come to know that God, in the self-giving love that He is, voluntarily lowered Himself to unite Himself to us, through assuming full humanity in a womb. We can only know who we are and the purpose and design of our humanity, when we look to Jesus Christ, who is the ground of our humanity. What renewed joy we find in the beauty of our incarnate, enfleshed hope, that our God humbled Himself to unite us to Himself as an embryo, fully God and fully man. What depth of hope that Jesus Christ assumed the fullness of humanity from the moment of conception, without ceasing to be fully God.

The Problem of Gnosticism and The Antidote of the Incarnation

Towards the end of the first century, the heresy of Gnosticism was emerging, which basically rejected anything material, claiming humanity to be inherently bad, creating a divide between the physical and spiritual. Gnosticism views all things material and physical to be inherently evil. Reflecting on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, however, encourages us to completely reject Gnosticism and calls us to a view of humanity that is inherently good. That God took on flesh, affirms the sanctity of humanity. The Incarnation shows us that redemption is not a disincarnation, but a restoration of the inherent goodness of human bodies. Even though we as humans are completely distorted by sin and the effects of the fall, humanity and the material world is not inherently bad, and we can eagerly and joyfully await the beautiful and complete restoration of the material world in Christ Jesus.

Through the beautiful mystery of God as a fully divine and fully human embryo, we Christians receive our identity and come to know what it means to be a person. Through the Incarnation, the ordinary aspects of our every daily life become a context for theological formation and for the radiance of offering worship to Christ in the mundane. The Incarnation sanctifies the ordinary. Jesus Christ, the Lord and ground of all humanity deserves all of our affection and worship and He defines our personhood.

The Incarnation Shapes our Theology of Human Finitude

Kelly Kapic, in his book, “You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News”, explains a theology of finitude, calling his reader to a greater appreciation of their human limitations. As Christians, we may share the gospel with those around us all day, but it is easy to fail to rest in the grace and mercy we have received in Christ. How often do we live our lives in an earning mentality, placing our worth and identity in what we do and how well we do it? I know this is definitely a struggle of mine! The temptation to find our identity through performance is such a struggle. The Incarnation however, presents us with a rich theology of finitude that enables us to see that our humanity is inherently good. Our finitiude, our weakness, and our limitations are not to be transcended or overcome, but are to lead us to deeper dependance on Christ. Living with utter dependence on Christ in weakness, we picture the gospel in a way that we never could through strength. For, in our weakness, Christ’s power is displayed (2 Cor 12:9).

What a joy the Incarnation brings as it affirms the sanctity of life as inherent, rather than achieved. In resting in this truth, we are able to remove the weight of meritocracy, and truly live into the grace we have received in Christ. In doing so, we can truly thank God for our finitude, viewing it truly as a blessing to embrace, rather than a burden to break free from. We can model to a world that is longing for satisfaction that this world cannot offer, what it means to live as humans whose identity is received in Christ, rather than achieved by themselves.

The Incarnation Shows that Human Personhood is Received, not Achieved.

Where our world has a very utilitarian view of personhood (that we are what we do), the Incarnation of Jesus Christ affirms that our personhood is received, instead of achieved. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ rejects entirely a utilitarian view of personhood. All people are image-bearers from the moment of conception. Our identity is received, not achieved. Jesus Christ, who is the measure of what it means to be human, assumed full humanity at conception, displaying that our humanity is received before we have the opportunity to earn it. Let me unpack this a little more. Jesus Christ, assuming the fullness of humanity in the womb, demonstrates that function and performance are not the ground of personhood. An unborn child cannot perform, achieve, or contribute to society; they simply exist in the womb, fully and entirely dependent on the nutrients from their mother in their bloodstream. Jesus Christ in the womb was not performing in the way our society measures performance, but merely existing as the fully human and fully divine embryo in the womb of Mary. What hope to know that the perfect measure of humanity, Jesus Christ, assumed the fullness of humanity before ever performing or contributing to society as a human. I will write more on this some other time, when I write on how the Incarnation affirms the sanctity of life and should shape our view of abortion (but I’ll go deeper into that in a separate post!) What depth of hope, rest, and peace the Incarnation echoes to the soul of the Christian.

As we gaze upon the beauty of Christ, who demonstrated that the sanctity of our humanity is truly inherent, we can come to reject utilitarian views of personhood. In doing so, we can stop bowing down to the altar of performance, and rest in the gospel, with all of its hope and grace, that echoes the beauty of our inherent worth as deeply loved image-bearers created for union with Jesus Christ.

A High Priest Who Sympathizes With Us

Gregory of Nazianzus is renowned for saying, “what was not assumed cannot be healed.” In doing so, he calls us to recognize the centrality of the Incarnation to our hope; for if Christ had not assumed the fullness of humanity, he would not have been able to heal the entirety of humanity.

What hope and joy to know that our God wept, was hungry, was tired, and thirsted. Gnosticism creates the problem of viewing our bodies and all things material as bad. The Incarnation rather sanctifies our limitations and shows us the inherent goodness of human bodies. We can rest in knowing our bodies are inherently good and will be completely renewed and restored in Christ in the future.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” -Hebrews 4:15

Image-Bearers Created for Union with Christ

All humans bear the Image of God and are created to worship Jesus Christ. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is the ground of our knowledge of self. Bearing the image of Christ, we are created for worship, made for union with Jesus Christ, and created to reflect Him to those around us. We can know ourselves only as we know Jesus Christ. John Calvin, in his, Institutes of the Christian Religion, has a section where he really well explains why knowledge of God always has to come before knowledge of self. Knowing that Jesus Christ is the ground of our humanity should lead us to ground all knowledge, pursuits, and aspects of life in Him alone. We should then seek to understand and speak of the world in a manner that grounds everything in Christ, and to lead others to see the beauty of the gospel of Christ.

The mystery and depth of our Incarnational hope leads us to worship Jesus even deeper in the ordinary aspects of every day life.

NOTE: With all of my posts forward, I will be linking one of my blog articles on “What is the Gospel” to the bottom of every one of my posts. I have been humbled and encouraged that many of you have been sharing and forwarding my writing with your friends! So, I think it will be awesome to have the gospel in each post. This is both for us to be reminded of our hope, and for those who are new here to hear the gospel if they never have before! So here it is:

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