"Love Covered with Flesh"

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' Incarnation. The Puritan, Thomas Watson, described the Incarnation this way,

"Christ incarnate is nothing but love covered with flesh." A Body of Divinity, (Source)

God in Christ has become a man.

This is indeed astonishing, yet for some the idea is blasphemy. The Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, states,

"Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, '[God is] a trinity'. Desist [from this assertion] for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God." (4:171)

For Islam God would never cover Himself with human flesh. He is far remote. He is transcendently above such a thing. He would never have a Son.

Christianity asserts something quite different: God is not remote--He is near. He is indeed transcendent and glorious--and yet wonderfully immanent. He does have a Son--born to a actual human parents. This truth does not tamper with the massive glory of God, but rather displays it.

Jesus is "love covered with flesh." In Christ God has come to reconcile the world to Himself. He is not far off waiting for sinful humanity to come to Him. God has come to sinful humanity. Worship is not hindered, but born in the hearts of those who accept this historic event.

Worship is not only the adoration of being caught up in the transcendence of God, but amazement that God has humbled Himself in the person of Jesus Christ to serve sinful men. God is not looking for men to give gifts to Him, but for men to receive the gift of Himself. God has been made a man to make men sons of God

Christmas is indeed a great reminder of God's great love for the world.

It is not, as the Qu'ran says, "for your own good" to say that God does not have a Son. It is precisely the opposite. It is "for your own good" that God sent His Son to live in this suffering world and suffer on behalf of sinful humanity. God has made a way to Himself through the person and work of His Son. Do not reject this. Rejecting Jesus--"love covered with flesh"--is rejecting God.

You may not believe that God loves you or even what the love of God is. But God has spoken in His Son. The person and work of Jesus Christ is the proof of the divine love of God.

Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, died on the cross, and came back to life three days later that people like you may know and love God. As the apostle John wrote,

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

God's love to the world is on display in the incarnation and crucifixion of Jesus. He has loved sinners and died in the place of all sinners who would trust His work on their behalf.

Love covered with flesh has covered sin. Reflect on this love, this Christmas.