Have you ever stopped to think deeply about the astonishing details and the remarkable theology surrounding the birth of Christ? It's enough to make our heads spin! Jesus was born of a virgin. The Creator of the universe was held by human hands. Jesus was both fully God and fully man. The Son is distinct from the Father and the Spirit, yet all three are the one true and living God.
Such details of the Incarnation are beautifully mysterious. I recently heard a lecture in which Scott Oliphint touched on quite a few fascinating aspects of the doctrine of God, including the Incarnation and the Trinity. I’m paraphrasing, but he said as we think about such things and think God’s thoughts after him, we will always bump up against mystery. While we will never reach the bottom of the depths of him, that does not mean we cannot articulate what we think and know about him with words. God is incomprehensible, but he is not unknowable. In other words, we will never fully comprehend God, but we can steadily grow in our knowledge of him.
God is incomprehensible, but he is not unknowable. In other words, we will never fully comprehend God, but we can steadily grow in our knowledge of him.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne gloriously describes the adventure of growing in our knowledge of God when he says, “Unfathomable oceans of grace are in Christ for you. Dive and dive again, you will never come to the bottom of these depths. How many millions of dazzling pearls and gems are at this moment hid in the deep recesses of the ocean caves! But there are unsearchable riches in Christ.”
Friends, we have the lifelong privilege of diving and searching for those riches! We are disciples on a mission to learn about our Savior and share his truths with others. According to Jen Wilkin and J.T. English, a disciple is “a person with words about God learning to have true words about God and to live in light of them.” Let’s learn as many true words as we can! Christmas is the perfect time to learn such words because there is so much great theology to be learned and discussed during this most wonderful time of the year.
The glory of Christ is on display throughout the pages of Scripture. We get to see that glory as we read about the Word made flesh. We get to ponder the mysterious truths of our knowable Savior. We get to dive into his unfathomable oceans of grace for the rest of our lives learning something new dive after dive. What joy should fill our hearts as we do so!
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