Long ago in Bethlehem . . .

There is a difference between a word from God and the Word of God, yet both of them are the means by which God makes Himself known. The first one tilts toward communication while the Word of God is about incarnation.

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. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1–5) 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 1:14)

“Word” in these verses is “logos.” It started out as a technical philosophical term, then became a concept for the Stoics to describe principles that gave the world its character and coherence. Then Philo, a philosophical theologian of Judaism, tried to reconcile Greek philosophical theories about the universe with the biblical accounts of creation by God’s spoken word.

In the Bible, John and others choose this Word to designate Jesus, God the Son, who became flesh to mediate between God and us. The Logos is both God’s creative means and His revelation of Himself. He also holds the world together by “the Word of His power.”

When Jesus began His ministry, the people wanted signs to prove who He was. He calmed the storms, turned water into wine, healed the sick, and raised the dead, but that wasn’t enough. “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11).

While the Jews expected their Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression, they did not expect God Himself to come. They looked at the divine things He did and the human body that He was in and said No, this is not possible. Our God is too holy, too transcendent, too almighty to be born in a stable, to become one of us. He must be blaspheming.

Yet our God did become human. We cannot see Him, so He accommodated our need to see. I could speculate about His birth, but instead accept that it was the first miracle — Jesus was not born of a father or any man, yet He was born in the flesh. This is not so strange when I remember that this Word who became flesh also made the first father and mother by speaking, so why could He not be virgin born? Nothing is impossible for God.

Jesus offered signs and wonders. He performed miracles. He never sinned, not once. But He also claimed to be God — and for that they rejected and killed Him.

As He suffered and died, the Logos asked His Father to forgive those who nailed Him there. In that suffering and death He paid the penalty for our sin and brought forgiveness and the offer of eternal life. As the Bible says, “To all who did receive him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

This Logos could not be held in death by a tomb or by the will of man. In the resurrection, He offered the final proof, the final miracle to show everyone who He is and why He came. If this does not show His deity; if this cannot be believed — then there is nothing left for those who ask for more proof.

God’s wisdom is revealed in the God-man

That Jesus is fully man and fully God is incomprehensible even to Christians who believe it. The divine and the human are the Son of God and Son of Man. Little wonder that this union is the “wisdom of God.”

To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (is) the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24)

First I must remember that God’s thoughts are higher than my thoughts. If I could fathom His mind, then I would be closer to being equal to Him — which is utter nonsense. God is God and no one can grasp the totality of who He is or how He thinks and works.

Yet God became man so I could know Him. He retained His distinct properties and so this Man was fully a man. Both were unchanged by the union, even though human wisdom cannot comprehend how this works, nor adjust the connection between them without muddling both.

This amazing reality is the first revelation God gave me. I knew, without any explanation or description from others, that all that is glorious in God and all that is excellent in humanity belonged to Christ. I knew instantly that He is God yet also human. The heavenly became one of us, without ceasing to be God. The Creator became the creature, yet in doing so, He remained deity, a being of time, yet eternal, finite yet infinite, mortal yet immortal.

My life changed at that revelation. Even though I cannot make a perfect link in my mind, I know that the two parts of the universe are linked by incarnation. Earth knows what the Godhead is because God the Son came here to live with us, and heaven knows humanity as deeply as possible because human nature now sits at God’s right hand in the person of Jesus Christ.

This is why He is called the wisdom of God. Who could dream up such a scheme? No mortal would devise a plan that God would come to earth, live among us and die for our sin, because in the first place, no mortal would readily admit that our sin is so serious that it requires that sort of radical punishment.

Also, only God could and would determine to unite Himself with us, then come as baby besides. He entered the womb and began life where we begin it. God did that? Such humility. He joined Himself to us at the beginning of human existence. He was made of a woman, linked to woman and woman to him. He is a man, linked to man and man to him. He was an infant, a child, a boy, a youth, and that links all ages to Him, the God-man who united himself to us, knows our trials, joys and sorrows, even consecrated all stages of our development.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31)

What a marvel of wisdom in the incarnation. Jesus spreads before us treasures of knowledge that link our earthly lives to heaven and eternity. Because of His grace, we can know that He is God — and that this life is not all there is. Truly, Jesus is the wisdom of God!

Peace on earth?

The carols proclaim the words of the angels, at least the words as translated in the old favorite King James Bible: 

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! (Luke 2:14)

In the days that the KJV was translated from the original languages, the focus may have been a hopeful one that looked toward that day when Jesus returned the second time to bring peace on earth. The translators may have liked the sound of those words and the idea of God’s goodwill toward all. I know that I do.

Yet is there peace on earth? We joke about the beauty pageant hopefuls who desire “peace on earth” in their short speeches and smile at children who ask for the same thing, but this is a serious matter. The earth has known only extremely short periods of peace since the birth of Christ. War prevails. War is happening somewhere on the planet all the time. Were the angels merely song writers out of touch with reality? Or did the people who translated the KJV make a mistake?

The original manuscripts are long gone. Paul’s letters, the Gospels, the Old Testament texts have not survived. Fortunately they were copied over and over, partly for circulation among the churches, and mostly because those who copied them knew their value. These ancient texts were penned by men but inspired by God.

When Christians agreed on the writings that were definitely God’s inspiration, they compiled them into a two-part volume. Those were then also copied, and recopied. In the Gutenberg Museum located in Mainz, Germany, I saw dozens of hand-copied bibles. I knew the people who did this counted characters and carefully checked in other ways to make sure their copies were accurate. I wept because their dedication meant that I could read the Word of God.

Later, I became aware of the differences in the manuscripts used for translation. Some are numerous.  Others are older and considered more reliable. While they both declare the same glorious message, there are some small differences between the two. Another result of finding more manuscripts is that scholars today realize that there are more accurate translations of some passages. One of those is Luke 2:14. The better translations show that it should say: 

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men on whom God’s sovereign pleasure rests (Luke 2:14).

This makes sense. Peace on earth has not happened (yet), but peace has happened in the hearts of those whom God has blessed. This peace with God is a corollary of justification. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I don’t know of peace on earth, but I do know peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful reality, and it was God coming to earth in human flesh that made it possible. For that, I praise Him!

I don’t think the angels made a mistake. I’m thinking the KJV translators did not err either, but had more than good intentions. God did promise that this child would reign in a never-ending kingdom, a kingdom of peace. While it hasn’t happened yet, the Bible tells of the day when Jesus will return and reign on earth, so the idea of peace on earth is also possible.

This peace does not mean a universal salvation, but it does mean peace with God is available to anyone who responds to the goodwill of God toward them. His goodwill was demonstrated when He entered His creation as a babe — a babe who would eventually die on a cross so that all who believe, both in heaven and on earth, could enjoy peace with Him.