Why do we need the incarnation?

Church Family:
The train wreck of Nehemiah 13 is so very discouraging. When you read the last chapter in Nehemiah you wish that the LORD had led Nehemiah to end his letter at Nehemiah 12. In his last chapter, Nehemiah is throwing furniture (13:8), threatening physical violence upon merchants (13:22), speaking curses on people, beating them up and pulling their hair out (13:25). Buy why? Why is the last word that we hear about God’s people for 433 years until the incarnation of the Son of God is that they have failed once again?

The inability of God's people to keep God's law at the end of the Old Testament era declares to us our need of the one Messiah who kept God's law perfectly. God wants us to have joy in that He has redeemed us from living defeated lives of condemnation under the law, so that we might receive an eternal adoption as sons, no longer miserable slaves to the law, but heirs of God through Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:4-7). The failure of God's people once again in Nehemiah points forward not for another new and improved temple made of stone but Jesus Christ as the Temple where we worship in Spirit and Truth. It points not to another imperfect priesthood but to Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, who has reconciled us once and for all. It points not to another sacrifice of animals but to our final sacrifice, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The end of Nehemiah makes us long for the first Christmas, the coming of the Son of God incarnate to take away our sins. Nehemiah 13 creates joy in us that God has become like us in order that we might become like Him in Jesus Christ (Heb. 2:17).

The eternal Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, became human in the person of Jesus Christ for your joy filled salvation! God's profound love for you is declared through the incarnation. By becoming flesh, God shows His desire to be near you and unite with you in the most intimate way possible. The incarnation declares that you have absolute certainty of eternal joy. The incarnation promises you that you can experience a personal, intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, which is the one source of deep joy. Let the joy of the incarnation fill your heart at Christmas and beyond.

See you Sunday, filled with joy in the incarnate Son of God: Steve