The Word Made Flesh
By Paul Copan
The Word Made Flesh
by Paul Copan
Many of us will enter into the Christmas season singing Charles Wesley’s “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Several lines in this carol are particularly moving to me: “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail th’ incarnate Deity,” and “Mild, He lays His glory by.” In John 1, Jesus is described as “the light coming into the world” and “the Word” that “became flesh and dwelt among us.” Light came into darkness, and the Word spoke into our confusion and sin. The good news reminds us that the bad news would not be the last word.
Perhaps you—as I do—have precious memories of Christmas growing up, particular family traditions (like our European tradition of opening our presents on Christmas Eve), singing together, baking cookies with your parents, experiencing the magic of the lighted tree surrounded by a loving family. Though Christmases may still be a wonderful time for us as we grow older, we increasingly see just how broken the world is and how seriously it needs redemption. Christmases may also be a time of remembering shattered dreams, broken relationships, or the loss of a loved one who died in the past year. For many of us, Christmas vividly reminds us of “already” and the “not yet.” We have already begun to witness the light and hope that Christ has brought to our world, but we see all around us that the world is not yet repaired.
Yet the Christmas season reminds us that God has not forgotten us. He has stepped into our broken world and experienced its cruelties and pain and has suffered alongside us. He is with us (“Jesus, our Emmanuel”) and he is for us. He sees you and loves you, my friend, and it is to this unshakable reality we cling when so much seems to be falling apart around us. No, this damaged world is not the last word. The Word made flesh, through his death and resurrection, guarantees that a restored order is coming when all tears will be wiped away and all sorrows dissolved into joy.
Even as we engage in the apologetic task and offer resources to equip and assist readers in their faith, this task is meant to buttress the proclamation of the great things of the gospel, its life-transforming power, and the blessed hope to come.
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