Jesus Came As God

Jesus came as God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.... No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known. –John 1:1-3, 18

“I’m not a mind-reader!”

“Why don’t you just tell me what you’re thinking?”

“What are you thinking?”

Whether it’s a husband and wife talking in a living room or co- workers collaborating on a project in an office, communication is often a struggle. We want others to tell us what is on their mind and deliver us from our ignorance, doubts, or worries. We often live with the suspicion that more could be said than we’ve heard. Christmas is celebrated for this very reason. As Carl F.H. Henry once said, “Had God insisted on remaining incommunicado, we would know nothing whatever about Him.” But the incarnation represents God’s insistence on being known. The Second Person of the Godhead, the One who was with God and, indeed, the one who was God, has come among us that God—yes, even God!—might be known.

This revelatory purpose is why Jesus is called the Word. Words communicate the thoughts of the heart, the inmost being. And so with the incarnation we are not left in the dark wondering if God could say more. God has bared His loving heart—clearly, perfectly, finally— by sending His Son, the One who was in the beginning with God the Father. Most likely, we will give and receive many gifts this Christmas season. But nothing will surpass the gift God has given in sending Christ, for He who is at the Father’s side has made the Father known. What more could we want? What more could we have?