The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35 (New Living Translation, NLT)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14 (NKJV)

When Jesus came to earth, everything changed. The Son of God became a man. He left His place in the triune Godhead and became a human being. He laid aside His deity for a time, gaining a body of flesh and living among us as one of us. He lived on this earth for about 33 years, and then He was crucified, died, and resurrected.

The arrival of Jesus on earth as a tiny baby began the execution of a brilliant plan to return man to intimate fellowship with his Creator. Jesus made the way for us to be reconciled to God, and the relationship between God and mankind radically and totally changed. Man’s access to God was restored, and man and his Creator could relate to each other personally. There was no longer a separation between God and man.

When Jesus came, everything was forever changed for mankind. However, when Jesus came, everything was forever changed for the Godhead as well. Jesus became a man, and when He returned to heaven, He regained His status as a coequal member of the Trinity. But, Jesus retained His human form. It was transformed into a glorified body, like the one Adam had before he sinned, but it is still the body of a man. He is now what we would call the God Man. Jesus loved us that much.

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.”  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?”  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence. Luke 24:36-43 (NKJV)

When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He still had flesh and bone, like a physical human. He did not have blood because it had been shed at the cross, but He said Himself that He had flesh and bones. And He ate physical food like physical people do. His body was physical but it was covered in the glory of God and He was able to do things He could not previously do in His human form such as pass through doors and walls to appear in a locked room. When Jesus restored man to His rightful position with God, it opened up the way for man to once again be like Adam was. The glorified body of the Second Adam was like the body of the first Adam before he fell. At the rapture, we too will be changed. Our mortality will put on immortality, and we will have glorified bodies like Adam originally had and Jesus now has (I Corinthians 15:52-53). When we see Him, we will be like Him (I John 3:2).

After Jesus was resurrected, He still had scars. He never lost the scars in His hands, feet and side. They are a permanent reminder of the price that was paid for us by a God Who loves us more than we can imagine. When Jesus came to earth at Christmas, it changed everything for us, it changed everything for the Lord, and things will never be the same again. What a God!

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Jim and I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May you be reminded this season and always of the immeasurable love of God!