The Fullness of the Incarnation

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about Him, and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.’”) For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

John 1:14-16; Colossians 2:8-9

Here we are again. Another Advent season. Christmas is coming. The words of the season ring in our ears: “Merry Christmas!” “Happy holidays!” “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” But for some reason, I’m focused on a different word this week. It’s the word made famous by that Scrooge Ebenezer. It’s the word, “Bah!” But I don’t mean, “Bah! Humbug!” I mean BAH, a new acronym I coined. In my mind, these letters stand for “Be All Here.” Now I realize: BAH probably won’t become a movement, but it’s moving in me. It’s the word I can whisper to myself when I’m distracted by my phone and missing a moment with my wife or my children. “BAH. Don’t miss this. Be all here.” It’s the word I can rehearse when fear and anxiety cloud my vision of things unseen. “BAH. God is at work in ways you can’t see. Be all here.”

Isn’t it interesting that we even need a reminder to “be all here”? Babies don’t need encouragement to be fully present. Their world is their immediate surroundings, and they’re able to be all there naturally. But somewhere along the way, we lose our way. Now we’re everywhere and nowhere, here but somewhere else. Missionary and martyr Jim Elliot once said, “Wherever you are, be all there.” The older I get, the more I realize how important that is…and how impossible. It’s so hard for us to be fully present. When we’re at home, we’re thinking about work. When we’re at work, we’re thinking about home. When we’re not with people, we’re wishing we were. When we’re with people, we’re thinking about the game, the groceries, and the gifts we need to buy. Among all living creatures, humans uniquely struggle to be present. “Bah! Humbug!” some of us might say. “That’s just the way it is.” But I say, “No. BAH. Be all here.” In the middle of the struggle, there’s good news.

We’re not fully present when we’re alone or with other people. But our presence problem is bigger than that. Because of our sin, we’re not fully present to God. The Bible says that we were at the beginning, but Adam chose independence over dependence on God. He chased what his eyes saw instead of trusting what his ears heard. When Adam fell, he and Eve lost the joyful presence of God. And the rest of the story is about how the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve might get it back. Spoiler alert: We can’t, not on our own. And that’s why the message of Christmas is so earth-shaking. When we couldn’t get to God, God came for us. As John says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit didn’t remain in their Trinitarian cul-de-sac. Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, put on flesh and moved into our neighborhood. We’re stirred by the stories of people moving into the slums of India or the inner-city of America, but nothing rivals the movement of God into our world. “Word” and “flesh” aren’t supposed to go together. But in the Incarnation, they do. God becoming man is the great mystery to our feeble minds and the great comfort to our aching souls. Are we in awe of the mystery? “The Ancient of Days has become an infant” (John Chrysostom).“ He was carried by hands that He formed” (Augustine). “The tiny baby in the manger contained the power which created the galaxies and set the stars in their courses” (Madeleine l’Engle). Are we embracing the comfort? “In Him the fullness of God dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). So when Jesus walked the Earth, God was all here. The fullness of God is in Jesus Christ, who came to live and die and rise again so that we might know the fullness of His presence in our lives. What could be more comforting?

This Christmas, as we struggle to be all here, let’s meditate on the wonder of the Incarnation. In this mysterious moment over two thousand years ago, God was all here. He became like us so that we might become like Him. By the power of His Holy Spirit, God is still all here. He is with us, working in us that which is pleasing to Him. This Christmas, we may be looking for many things, but only in Jesus can we find the fullness for which we long. “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). This Advent season, as we remember the Lord’s coming and wait for His return, may the Lord give us grace to be all here. BAH!