God Came Down

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Jesus is not only the Christ, he is also “God, our Lord and Savior” (Titus 2:13). This is a staggering, almost incomprehensible truth: God Himself has come down on this planet in the Person of His only Son. The incarnation and the full Deity of Jesus are the cornerstones of the Christian faith. Jesus Christ was not just a great teacher or a holy religious leader. He was God Himself in human flesh—fully God and fully man.

Jesus Himself gave frequent witness to his uniqueness and divine nature. To His opponents He declared, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). They immediately recognized this as a clear claim to divinity and tried to stone Him for blasphemy. On another occasion Jesus stated, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30), and again His enemies tried to stone Him “because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33). Furthermore, He demonstrated the power to do things that only God can do, such as forgive sins (Mark 2:1–12). The charge brought against Him at His trial was that “he made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7); and when asked if He was the Son of God, he replied, “You are right in saying I am” (Luke 22:70 NIV).

Irenaeus said it well when he wrote, “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of his great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us what he is himself.” What a sobering—and exhilarating—thought that should be!

Our Father and our God, my little mind cannot comprehend Your greatness. My sinful self cannot understand Your purity. My humanity cannot grasp Your divinity. And yet I can be like You through my relationship with Jesus Christ, Your Son. Thank You, Father, for Your amazing gift of life through Christ, in whom I pray. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).