Advent: December 15 – God Becomes Human

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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
John 1:1–5

God becomes human—truly human. While we often try to rise above our human nature, to leave it behind, God chooses to become human. This shows us that God wants us to embrace being human—fully and completely.

We often separate people into groups like godly and ungodly, good and evil, noble and ordinary. But God does not do this. God loves real human beings, all of them, without making distinctions. God stands with real people and the real world, even against those who accuse them.

However, it is not enough to simply say that God cares for human beings. This truth is based on something much deeper and more profound. When Jesus Christ was conceived and born, God became human in a physical, bodily way. Through this act, God showed his love for humanity in the clearest and most certain way possible. He became one of us. He shared in our nature, our essence, our guilt, and our suffering.

Out of love for humanity, God became human. He did not choose the most perfect person to join with. Instead, he took on human nature just as it is.

This is about the birth of a child, not of the astonishing work of a strong man, not of the bold discovery of a wise man, not of the pious work of a saint. It really is beyond all our understanding: the birth of a child shall bring about the great change, shall bring to all mankind salvation and deliverance.

“The Government upon the Shoulders of a Child,” Christmas 1940

^{Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. God Is in the Manger : Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Louisville, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2012.}