When you delve into the biblical theology of the body, you are invited to consider something extraordinary in the Incarnation. Imagine an artist stepping into their own painting or an author becoming a character in their story. The Incarnation is similar in that the Creator stepped into His creation. Through this mystery, God affirms the sacredness of our physical world, revealing the profound significance of our embodied lives. Timothy Tennent’s book, For the Body, offers a powerful perspective on this theme, and I highly recommend his insights.
The Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, embodies God’s ultimate affirmation of the physical world. As we find in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This miracle shows God’s commitment to our world by His choice to enter our material reality fully. Jesus, the eternal and preexistent Word, became incarnate to reveal God’s love and redemption. By taking on flesh, God validated the goodness of His creation, proving that our physical lives matter deeply.
Through Christ’s Incarnation, our world becomes a sacred space where God’s purpose unfolds. In placing humanity upon His divinity, Jesus showed His commitment to the goodness of the physical world and the worth of our physical existence. Tennent beautifully states, “The Incarnation forever affirms the significance of the human body… it is through Jesus’s body that God chose to manifest His presence and redeem His people.” We are called to care for, honor, and use our bodies as vessels for God’s work, rejecting any notion that diminishes their importance.
Philippians 2:5-8 further reveals the humility of Christ. “Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant.” This has been called the “hymn of Christ” and is a testament to God’s self-giving love. Jesus, though fully God, embraced human limitations, even to the point of death, showing His desire to meet us in our brokenness and raise us to new life. His humility teaches us to embrace the vulnerability of our humanity as part of God’s purpose. As Tennent notes, “Jesus’s willingness to take on human flesh and become vulnerable shows us the profound humility and self-giving love of God.” How can we do any less than use our bodies for God’s glory and the betterment of others?
How can we understand Christ’s humility in the Incarnation? Consider a king who steps down from his throne to serve his people. Christ’s Incarnation is God exchanging divine privilege to live among us. This act of humility invites us to honor God by serving others through physical acts of love and compassion, embodying Jesus’ example.
Following Jesus means living out our faith through embodied love and sacrifice. The body is not inherently evil; it is a temple for God’s presence. Christ’s redemptive work invites us to use our bodies as instruments of worship and service. Together, John 1:14 and Philippians 2:5-8 show that Jesus’ Incarnation affirms humanity’s worth and calls us to live with purpose, using our bodies to serve and glorify God.
Let’s celebrate the God who took on flesh, honoring His image in us by embodying His love to those around us. May the Incarnation deepen our appreciation for our physical lives and inspire us to follow Christ’s example of humble, embodied love. As we reflect on the Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, we discover the sacredness of our bodies and how they can be used to exemplify God’s design for embodied living. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!