Deconstructing Christmas

If you believe a virgin gave birth to the Son of God, you've already stepped into the unexplainable. That's the wonder of Christmas, and for some people it's also the stumbling block. You don't have to understand everything about the incarnation to believe it. You can study what God has revealed, trust Him with what He has concealed, and let the mystery lead you to worship.

What does the incarnation mean?

The incarnation means God the Son took on human flesh in Jesus. He is fully God and fully man. At the center of Christmas is a holy, transcendent God becoming present with us.

That's what the name Emmanuel means: God with us. Jesus is the God who is completely other than us and the God who came close. You can relate to Him as a man who was hungry, tired, and tempted, and still not relate to His perfection. Both are true at the same time.

The gospel writers tell this in different ways. Matthew and Luke describe what happened in Bethlehem. John goes back before creation.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:1 to 3

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Why would we want a God we can't fully understand?

We need a God we can't fully understand, because a God you could fully comprehend would be smaller than you. The weekend message at Calvary put the question this way. If you could contain everything about God, who would be greater: the one doing the containing or the one being contained?

Kirk Matthews, Pastor Sean Sloan's guest on Beyond Sunday, shared an old saying about Scripture. It is shallow enough for a child to drink from without fear of drowning. It is also deep enough for a theologian to swim in without ever touching the bottom. There's no education level you need to reach before the gospel can reach you. And there's no depth where you'll have figured it all out in this life.

A God big enough to save you is also a God you will never exhaust.

What did the early church believe about Jesus?

The early church confessed that Jesus is true God and truly human, and it rejected teachings that simplified Him into one or the other.

Some early teachers said Jesus only appeared to have a body, that His flesh was an illusion. The church quickly called that error. The apostle John wrote that every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Kirk pointed out that many early errors came from trying to make Jesus simpler than He is.

In AD 325, church leaders met at the Council of Nicaea and wrote a creed many churches still recite. The Nicene Creed confesses Jesus as "true God of true God, begotten not made." It says that for our salvation He came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. Kirk describes it as a document with real tension behind every line. It was written to answer people who claimed the Christian faith but taught something else.

The struggle has shifted over time. The early church had less trouble with Jesus' humanity, because people had seen Him, and more trouble with His divinity. Many who grow up in church today have the opposite struggle. And many non-believers call Jesus a good teacher and stop short of calling Him God.

Why did God become one of us?

God became one of us so that we could become His children. John says it plainly.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

John 1:12

As the episode put it, He became as we are so that we can become as He is. God made a way for us to be in relationship with Him, and the only way was Christ. He didn't come only for you as an individual, either. He came to birth a people, children born of God.

What about deconstruction?

Deconstruction is a common term for tearing down the faith you were taught in order to examine every piece. The problem the weekend message named is an attitude that says, "Unless I can fully understand it, I will not believe it."

The message gave an everyday example. For example, most of us don't understand exactly how a car works, yet we drive one to work every day. We trust the people who built it, the mechanic who repaired it, and the fuel we put in it. We extend that kind of trust all day without noticing. How much more can you trust God?

Kirk suggested a balance: chase hard after what God has revealed, and submit to what He has chosen to conceal. Study Scripture feverishly. Know what God says about who He is. But notice when your questions keep circling what He hasn't told you.

He also offered a better question. Instead of "God, how did You make me?" ask "God, why did You make me?" That simple pivot moves you from details you may never know toward purpose. It points you to the part you play in God's mission.

How do you respond to what you can't explain?

You respond the way Mary did: with a willing yes. The Holy Spirit is how God did the unexplainable, and Mary's part was to yield.

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:38

She couldn't explain how this would happen, and she still trusted. At some point all of us come to the end of our logic. Then faith says: all I know is God did it, and He did it for me.

Common questions

What does the incarnation mean?

The incarnation means God the Son took on human flesh in Jesus. John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Jesus is fully God and fully man.

What is the Nicene Creed?

It is a statement of faith first written at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. It confesses Jesus as true God, begotten not made, who became man for our salvation, was crucified, rose again, and will come again.

Do I have to understand everything to believe in Jesus?

No. Everyone eventually reaches the end of their logic. Study what God has revealed in Scripture, and trust Him with what remains a mystery.

What is deconstruction in Christianity?

Deconstruction usually means tearing down the faith you were taught to examine every piece. The danger is an attitude that refuses to believe anything it can't fully understand, when we already trust many things every day that we can't fully explain.