Thinking About the Incarnation

Just in time for Christmas Eve, I want to pull together a few resources on how we might better think about the mystery of the Incarnation in the face of a society that has over-sentimentalized and commercialized the season where we celebrate the greatest miracle in the universe: God the Creator becoming a man, our Redeemer. Those in Invert youth Sunday School will recognize some of these as the basis of my talking points for our lesson on the Incarnation.

First up, Russel Moore's blog post about the "holly jollyness" of much of our Christmas music and how it betrays the stark reality of God's purposes in Christmas. We should be careful not to overstate the point - I think it is absolutely appropriate to celebrate holidays with lots of festive cheer, and I love listening to Christmas music on repeat all of December (just ask my wife!).

In a time of obvious tragedy, the unbearable lightness of Christmas seems absurd to the watching world. But, even in the best of times, we all know that we live in a groaning universe, a world of divorce courts and cancer cells and concentration camps. Just as we sing with joy about the coming of the Promised One, we ought also to sing with groaning that he is not back yet (Rom. 8:23), sometimes with groanings too deep for lyrics.
http://www.russellmoore.com/2012/12/18/crucify-your-holly-jolly-christmas/

Next, the historical-theological masterpiece of Athanasius, On the Incarnation. Athanasius, who battled Arius over the deity of Christ at a pivotal stage in church history, can wax a little philosophical in his writings, but I think students of most ages can get through at least a chapter or two and benefit a lot from his reflections. The whole thing can be read in a few hours. Just reading C.S. Lewis' introduction to this translation is worth the time to click through:

 His epitaph is Athanasius contra mundum, "Athanasius against the world." We are proud that our own country has more than once stood against the world. Athanasius did the same. He stood for the Trinitarian doctrine, "whole and undefiled," when it looked as if all the civilised world was slipping back from Christianity into the religion of Arius—into one of those "sensible" synthetic religions which are so strongly recommended today and which, then as now, included among their devotees many highly cultivated clergymen. It is his glory that he did not move with the times; it is his reward that he now remains when those times, as all times do, have moved away.
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm

It's a little late to really dive into and savor a good Advent devotional, but this one by John Piper is certainly good enough to read at any time and any pace (you could read the whole thing in the next 2 days and finish while the rest of your family is napping on Christmas evening!). http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/books/good-news-of-great-joy

Finally, a couple contemporary Christmas songs that melodically make the point that Christmas is much more than decorations and singing carols, both from my favorite Canadian Christian band, downhere. The first is "Christmas in Our Hearts."

The second is perhaps my favorite Christmas song written in the last 100 years, "How Many Kings."

I hope you enjoy this Christmas and take time to reflect on how Christ came into this world not just to give us a squishy feeling, but that all of God's eternal and divine purposes came together in this event: God became Man.