Often with big theological words, pastors or teachers are wont to simplify the definition. They say, "This is a big word with an easy definition." One colour-coded chart and two snappy illustrations later, you wonder why you were ever apprehensive. You think confidently, "This theological jargon isn't too hard to understand at all!" But I've never heard anyone say that about the Incarnation. Never. And I know why. It's because the Incarnation isn't easy. It's hard. It's complex. It's a struggle to grapple with, because the Incarnation is a massive concept with massive implications.
What is the Incarnation? It is when God became man. John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh." This is the Incarnation, when Christ took on flesh and was born in a crude stable in Bethlehem. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.
D.A. Carson explains,
The word "incarnation" comes from the Latin word "carna," that is, "flesh" or even "meat." So incarnation is the enfleshing of God. ... [Thus,] by the doctrine of the incarnation we're talking about how the eternal Son of God, the Word Himself, appeared not just in superficial form. ... He actually became a human being and thus was manifested to us as a human being, in real history, in real time and space ... the One with the eternal God actually became One with us.
This is Christmas for the Christian - the birth of God as human. See what I mean about the complexity here? God incarnate in the flesh of a man. The Creator humbled to the form of His creation. The Master taking on the form of a servant. The self-existent, self-sufficient, omnipotent Being confined to a womb and born as a helpless, needy baby. The Incarnation is mind-boggling. Jared Wilson says this,
When we put our minds long to the idea of Jesus being one hundred percent God and simultaneously one hundred percent man, they naturally feel overwhelmed. The orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation is compelling, beautiful, biblically sensible, and salvifically necessary, but it is nevertheless utterly inscrutable. And that’s okay. In the end, the Incarnation is not for analysis but for worship.
How true and appropriate. Over the years people have tried to explain away the Incarnation, saying Jesus wasn't actually God or He wasn't actually human. They are afraid of this doctrine because they can't completely understand it. But "the Incarnation is not for analysis but for worship." Jesus did not come to be scientifically picked apart but to be worshiped. He came for His glory.
And that's something worth celebrating this Christmas.