




God had created a dilemma. He had given authority over the earth to humans, and he does not go back on his word. Only a human could win the world back from the spiritual powers of evil. However, the spiritual powers of evil controlled humans, so they would not let humans give God authority to intervene.

God had an amazing solution. He would become a man. That was amazing enough, but he could not just become an adult man (like Adam), he had to be a descendant of Adam (and Abraham). The only way that could happen was for God to be born of a woman.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and Jesus was conceived in her womb. He was truly human, so he would grow to be a man with legal rights to authority on earth. He would live a righteous life, so he could defeat the spiritual powers of evil and take authority over the earth back from them.

Why a Baby

Why did God send Jesus as a baby? Why did he not send him as an adult? He could have done that as he did with Adam and Eve. It would have been much safer.


Step Down

We have heard the story of Jesus birth so often, we have forgotten how amazing it is. Imagine a toymaker making wooden dolls. If something went wrong with the dolls, the toymaker could turn himself into a wooden doll so that he was small enough to assist them. This children's story has never been written, because it is just too absurd. Why would a creative human being turn himself into a tiny wooden doll?

What human would turn themselves into an ant to rescue an ant's nest that was in danger of being destroyed? A kind person might stoop down to look. They might try to remove the danger. But no human would think of turning themselves into an ant to live with them and rescue them. The idea is totally stupid.


No wonder the angels went mad with joy. I guarantee that when the idea was first mooted, some angels were surprised and said it would never happen. God would not become a human, a little lower than the angels. Yet that is what he did. That is why the angels sang, "Glory to God in heaven" and "Wow, the humans who messed up the earth have got a lucky break".


Jesus had to be human, but he also had to be God. Our God is so amazing that our finite minds struggle to understand who is. By becoming human in Jesus, God gave us a revelation of himself that our human minds can grasp. We can know God truly, because Jesus has revealed his character and nature to us.

Imagine a man who damaged the entrance to the hole of an ants' nest by mistake when he is hoeing his garden. He had not known the nest was there, so he wanted to tell ants the ants that he cared about them, even though he has damaged the entrance to their place of safety. Communicating with the ants is a nearly impossible task. The ants might hear his voice, but they would understand what he is saying. They might hear the noise, but they would not understand that human language carries meaning.

The ants would see the dark shadow of the man's foot as it approached, so he was a source of fear. From their perspective, the garden he had created was a jungle in which they lived. They simply could not understand his care for the garden. The biggest animal they knew was a dangerous beetle that tried to eat them, so they would never understand the man’s kind nature.

Even if the man could discover the method by which the ants communicate with each other, it would not help him much, because this communication method would be capable of describing his love, honesty, knowledge, etc.

The only way that the man could communicate his character and personality to the ants would be to become an ant himself. He could then show them what he was really like. He could prove that the did not want to destroy them. He could show them that they could trust them. The thought of a human becoming an ant is absurd, but it is what God has done in Jesus. He came as a human so that we could have a true understanding of his nature and character. This is why Jesus was God.

We cannot know God through human philosophy or human religion. We can know him through Jesus, because he came down to our level. We must shape our understanding of God by the revelation we received through Jesus' words and actions. The only way to know God truly is through Jesus.


Coming to earth as a baby was highly dangerous for God. If the spiritual powers of evil could kill him before he grew up, they could foil God's plan to rescue his people and his creation.







When Jesus was baptised, the spiritual powers of evil realised that he really was a threat. They went into the wilderness and tried to get him to disobey God and disqualify himself for his mission. Or to take a rash action that would result in him being killed.


Although the angels were there to protect Jesus, it was an enormous risk. What if the people had stopped praying, or Joseph had ignored the angel and stayed in Bethlehem. God loved us so much that he was willing to risk his son on a mission to rescue us.



When God became a man, he did not just become a human, he became an illegitimate child.


Joseph assumed the worst. He could not marry a woman who was already pregnant, but he was a kind man so he offered to divorce her quietly. Only when an angel spoke to him in a dream and confirmed Mary's account of what had happened did he agree to marry her and care for her baby. Marrying Mary was a tough choice for Joseph, because everyone in the village would see that she was pregnant, but not married. He would be labelled as the man with an illegitimate son.

The label stuck with Jesus when he was growing up. When he entered the synagogue at the beginning of his ministry, the people scoffed.

Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son (Mark 6:3).

They were offended by Jesus. They called him "Mary's son". That was a reminder that his father was not known. Deut 23:2 said that an illegitimate person could not enter the assembly of the Lord. They believed that he had no right to speak in the synagogue.

When the Jewish leaders challenged Jesus, they threw the same insult at him. They asked him.

Where is your father (John 8:19).




God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son. He did not just become a man. He was born amidst poverty and insults. What amazing love.

God with Us


The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him they will name him Immanuel,
which means "God with us" (Matt 1:23).

What a wonderful promise.




Paul explained the incarnation of Jesus to the Colossians.


John said,

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory (John 1:14).
