By: William Hemsworth
In sacred scripture, we read that man was created he had a perfect relationship with God. Man is the pinnacle of creation. God gave man everything.
In return the Lord asked man not to each of one tree in the garden. Man did not listen, rebelled, and had to face the consequences of sin for the first time.
The sin of our first parents also applies to us. We all have sinned, and the penalty for that sin is death. Saint Paul had the same opinion in Romans 6:23 which states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. However, the second person of the blessed Trinity, Jesus himself became incarnate to atone and redeem us from our sin.
Incarnation—Bridge from us to God
The Incarnation was needed because we could not atone for our sin on our own. Only someone who was perfect, and without sin could do that. As I write this it is the final days of Advent.
The time of preparation for the birth of Christ is soon coming to an end. Soon we will be celebrating his glorious birth. The second person of the Trinity loving us so much that He became man. He lived as we did with hunger, fear, betrayal, and even death.
Hebrews 4:15 sums this idea up perfectly when the inspired author writes, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.”
This far we have seen that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses, but this doesn’t completely answer who he is. Who He is the ultimate gift that we experience this time of year.
Identity of Jesus
So who is Jesus? This question goes back to some of the greatest controversies in the early church.
There were some, such as the Arians, who tried to explain Jesus as being the first thing created. The problem here is that Jesus, as the second person of the Blessed Trinity, has always existed. There are many verses that show this and John 1:1 is one example. That passage of scripture states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
He always was, yet he took the form of a man, and was born in the humblest of conditions. In our society we have been conditioned to view the manger scene in a very sanitized way. That manger that the divine Son of God was laid in after his birth was a food trough used for livestock!
The creator of the universe became a man because he wants us to live. His love for us is that immense. In the letter to the Philippians St. Paul writes, “Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness and found human in appearance he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).
Fully Man and Fully God
While on Earth he did not appear as a man, nor was He a spirit that possessed man until the point of the crucifixion as the Docetists and Gnostics would say. From the time of His conception in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary he was both fully God and fully man. This was stated by many church fathers, declared at the Council of Nicea, and at the Council of Chalcedon this became known as the Hypostatic Union. Jesus was not either or, but He has BOTH a human nature AND a divine nature.
That is why the Incarnation is so amazing, and to be perfectly honest this barely scratches the surface. As you gather with your families over the next few weeks and exchange gifts and hugs may we remember the ultimate gift. That ultimate gift is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. The second person of the Blessed Trinity, who became man, and experienced everything that we did but was without sin. He died as the perfect offering for our sin because He loves us that much and he thinks that we are worth being with for eternity!
About our guest blogger:
William is a convert to the Catholic faith. Before entering the church he was ordained as a Baptist and Lutheran and earned a Master of Divinity from Liberty Theological Seminary. William lives with his wife and four children in Tucson, AZ and teaches religious education for children and adults. Check out his website/blog at williamhemsworth.com for more great and informative Catholic content!
