The Miracle of the Incarnation

One of the familiar Biblical texts that will have been read many times over the past week or so, is John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father."   This is a simple statement of the miracle that lies at the heart of the Christian faith.  As we move, inexorably, towards the end of this calendar year, it is my intention to share a little about it, in three posts, starting with this one.

In this post, I wish to make the point that the possibility of the incarnation must be admitted.  In other words, no-one has the right to say, dogmatically, that it could not have happened.  It is impossible to deny in the light of the limitations of man's knowledge.  We simply do not know everything that there is to know.  That is why billions of pounds are spent, each year, on research of one kind or another.  It is part of our human DNA to constantly seek to learn.  If we knew everything, then there would be nothing left for us to discover!   Ray Comfort, in his book "God doesn't believe in atheists" makes the very point that even if I can claim, honestly, to have 80% of the sum total of the knowledge available in the universe, that would still leave 20% that I did not know.  In that 20% could well be the particular piece of information that I seek.  If I claim, categorically, that the incarnation is an impossibility, I am claiming that I have complete knowledge of the whole of the created universe - and no person has that!

However, not only is the Incarnation - the Creator of all that is, taking upon Himself the very human flesh that He had created, and entering the time-space continuum in which we live out our mortal lives, and which He also created - impossible to deny in the light of the limitations of man's knowledge; it is also impossible to deny on the grounds of the basis of man's knowledge.  All of our knowledge is, initially, revealed knowledge.  By that, I mean that it is revealed through both my perceptive, and receptive, senses.   I depend on them to come to the conclusions that I reach.   I am incapable of 'manufacturing' knowledge; only of discovering what is already there!  Christianity also claims that spiritual knowledge is based upon revelation - in which man is, again, the recipient.

So, however we may look at it; whether, or not, we believe it; the possibility of the incarnation must, by any right-thinking, and fair-minded, person, be admitted!

A Phone Call from Almighty God

I am unable to personally vouch for some of the stories that I share on this blog.  However, I have no reason to doubt their authenticity.  This one certainly has "the ring of truth" about it!
 

Rick volunteers with prison ministries and in his work he has become friends with a pastor of a store front church. The pastor's church is called Almighty God Tabernacle.

On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn't answer the phone. The pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn't answered before, and she said that it hadn't rung at their house.

They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways. The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he'd called on Saturday night.

The pastor couldn't figure out what the guy was talking about. Then the man said, "It rang and rang, but I didn't answer." The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to call his wife. The man said, "That's OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if You're there, and You don't want me to do this, give me a sign now.' At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'. I just got the courage today to call back.

A tale of three lives.

Over the past few days, I have been struck by the stories of three men.  The first is simply known as martin (not his real name).  He is, according to both radio and newspaper reports, 46 years of age but, about three years ago, he suffered a massive brain-stem stroke and now lies on a hospital-style bed in the converted garage of his home.  His wife is reading a bk to him - a book written by a man who suffered the same kind of stroke and, like Martin, used his eyes to communicate (in Martin's case, using a computer).  But Martin has no such ambition.  He only wants to die and, as his wife is unwilling to assist him, is seeking legal assurances that professionals - such as his solicitor and his doctor - will not face either prosecution or disciplinary action if they provide that assistance.

It sounds like a perfect case to support the legalising of assisted suicide (aka euthanasia).  However, there is a second story.  This concerns a young man named Aaron Denham, who was left in a coma after a road accident in March of this year; was on a life-support machine; and showed no sign of independent life.  It was as the family of the 22-year-old stood at his bedside, trying to decide arrangements for his funeral service, that his mother noticed his hand moving.  The rest, as one might say, is history and Aaron appears to be making a complete recovery!  Hospital staff, as well as family members, are referring to that recovery as "miraculous"! And that story is, for me, one of the major arguments against the legalisation of euthanasia - by whatever name it may be called.

Of course, a lot depends on one's own attitude to life and death.  That's where the third story comes in.  It concerns the father of well-known Christian author, Max Lucado.  Max writes: "The last three years of his life were scarred by ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a form of motor neuron disease). The disease took him from a healthy mechanic to a bed-bound paralytic. He lost his voice and his muscles, but he never lost his faith. Visitors noticed. Not so much in what he said but more in what he didn’t say. Never outwardly angry or bitter, Jack Lucado suffered [with dignity].

His faith led one man to seek a like faith. After the funeral this man sought me out and told me. Because of my dad’s example, he became a Jesus follower.

Did God orchestrate my father’s illness for that very reason? Knowing the value he places on one soul, I wouldn’t be surprised. And imagining the splendour of heaven, I know my father’s not complaining."

Those of us who have the same faith in a loving, and caring, Father God that Jack Lucado had, are able to trust Him with our lives.  He knows when is the time for us to die - and we ought not to want to die a minute earlier.  He has a work for each of us to do and, as the old hymn put it, it's a work that only you, or I, can do!

So whatever your pain; whatever your problem; take it to Him, and ask Him to help you to use it to bring praise and glory to His Name.  And trust Him!  Another hymn-writer said: "My times are in Thy hand; my God, I wish them there."  They couldn't be in a better place!