12/21/25 “Love Incarnate”
“Love Incarnate”
Luke 2:11-20
The most awarded female country music singer of all time was a woman by the name of….(Any Guesses?) ……. Loretta Lynn.
Loretta Lynn had 16 number 1 singles on the country charts…
…She also won 3 Grammy awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 8 CMA’s….and she was the first woman in country music to receive a certified gold album.
…she was also the first woman to be named CMA ‘Entertainer of the Year’ in 1972….and named the ‘70’s ‘Artist of the Decade’ by the Academy of Country Music
Many people remember Loretta Lynn for her most famous song ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ – an autobiography about growing up in rural Kentucky.
I also remember hearing another Loretta Lynn song that came out back in 1971 - the year I was born – called “You’re Lookin’ at Country”
The last phrase in that song goes like this: “If your eyes are on me, you’re lookin’ at country”
The message was – of course – that Loretta was raised in a very rural environment….
Out in the back 40, one might say…
…so much so, that when anyone interacted with her…they would also be experiencing a pure slice of southern Americana as well.
Or to put it another way…Loretta Lynn embodied country life to the extent that one could say she was “Country Incarnate”
Well…that word “Incarnate” is a word that also gets used quite often in Christian circles…
…especially this time of year when we celebrate the birth of the savior, Jesus Christ.
If you were to look up the definition of the word “Incarnate”, It would read something like this: (Adjective)…embodied in flesh; or in human form.
For something to be incarnate, it involves the taking on of humanity…
Something that is not human becomes visible and physically tangible in human form….in human flesh.
We sometimes use the word incarnate to describe the nature of certain fictional characters from various books or movies…
For instance, one could say that Yoda from Star Wars was ‘wisdom incarnate’…
Or that Darth Vader was ‘evil incarnate’
….or that Harry Dunn and Lloyd Christmas were ‘dumb incarnate’
But in all of human history…never could it be said that someone was truly God incarnate…except for one person.
…and that person is Jesus of Nazareth.
In that small cave-like stable in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago…a baby was born who was literally like none other…
This baby was completely unique in his nature…
On one hand, he was a full-fledged member of the eternal triune Godhead…the second member of the Trinity…the Son of God…
…and yet he was also fully human…complete within humanity’s form and function….yet without humanity’s natural sinfulness that we all inherit from Adam.
In the first words of his letter, the apostle John describes Jesus this way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1-2)
…and then continuing with verse 14: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
John the apostle is describing the nature of the incarnate Jesus Christ…
God with us…in human likeness.
The apostle Paul also describes the nature of Jesus’ incarnation in the book of Philippians where he writes: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. Being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-9)
The fact that Jesus was both God and Man at the same time…
I’ll be honest….it boggles my mind.
…actually, it confuses all of us.
The duality of Jesus’ nature – something theologians refer to as the Hypostatic Union – is well beyond our comprehension…
…We cannot understand how the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present God was able to enter time and be born of a human mother…a virgin, no less…
…in the fullness and frailty of human flesh.
…with bones, and blood, and skin, and eyebrows, and fingernails.
Related to that….I love the words of a song from 2005 titled “Here With Us”
The lyrics go like this: “It’s still a mystery to me, that the hands of God could be so small, How tiny fingers reaching in the night, Were the very hands that measured the sky…..It’s still a mystery to me, how His infant eyes have seen the dawn of time, How His ears have heard an Angel’s symphony, But still Mary had to rock her Savior to sleep…
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Heaven’s love reaching down to save the world, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, son of God, servant King, here with us…You’re here with us.
….and he continues to be here with us.
That’s why verse 10 of Luke chapter 2 (Luke 2:10) the verse leading up to our passage for today quotes the Angel telling the shepherds that his good news of great Joy will be for all the people.
“All the people” …..that includes You and I today – right now in 2025.
That’s why we celebrate this season called Advent…which means “arrival”
…And that’s why we commemorate one day out of the year to acknowledge God coming into the world that he created – coming as a frail, human child.
Folks…this is why it is so important for us as believers to keep Jesus at the center of everything we do this time of year.
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the culturalization…and the commercialization of the season, right?
Maybe we focus more on the presents under the pine – than the presence of the divine…
We find ourselves pursuing seasonal contentment through things like Hallmark movies rather than experiencing contentment through the hallmark of human history…the coming of the Messiah
We find ourselves motivated more by Black Friday….than Good Friday
We find ourselves more excited about a child’s reaction to a fictitious man driving a sleigh…than to the baby sleeping in the hay.
We find ourselves living to fulfill our own desires…rather than desiring to be fulfilled in Christ.
Verse 11 of our passage for today reveals the greatest news ever given to mankind: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
This single verse not only conveys the truth that man is in need of a savior…but also that a savior has indeed come….
..and that he has been born in the town of David – which was another name for Bethlehem
This verse also conveys the truth about Jesus’ identity by referring to him as both ‘Christ’ and ‘Lord’
The term ‘Christ’ is a title (Like ‘Doctor’ or ‘President’) coming from the Greek word ‘Christos’…meaning ‘Anointed One’…
…and Christos comes from the Hebrew word ‘Mashiac’…meaning ‘Messiah’
So… the word ‘Christ’…in the original languages…literally means ‘The Anointed Messiah’
When we say “Jesus Christ” then, we are literally saying “Jesus, the Anointed Messiah”
Then….the word ‘Lord’ was used to reference Jesus’ divinity…
The word ‘Lord’ literally translates as ‘Kurios’ in the Greek…and Kurios is translated from the Hebrew word ‘Yahweh’….
….Yahweh is the Hebrew name for the one and only eternal God.
So…the angel tells the shepherds – and by extension, us - that Jesus is not only the anointed Messiah…God’s chosen King, Savior, and promised deliverer….but that he is also – literally – God.
All of this - from a sentence for the ages uttered by an angelic visitor to a group of humble shepherds watching their sheep near Bethlehem.
No wonder the shepherds were excited…and we should be excited as well. Amen?
Are you excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus this week? (Me too 😊)
Today marks the final Sunday of Advent…the time of year when we celebrate the arrival of Jesus…both his historical arrival – and his future arrival…
….when he will come again to this earth as the sovereign King of kings…and Lord of lords.
…and, traditionally, the 4th Sunday of Advent carries with it the theme of…love.
There’s also a great deal of love in verse 11, isn’t there.
What else could motivate God to redeem His lost and sinful creation through His own sacrificial death….?
…only love could draw up a plan such as this
…and only love could carry it to fruition
But it’s really not surprising when we understand that God – in His very nature – is love.
1 John 4:8 reminds us that “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”
…And all of you know John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God has many attributes to His nature such as grace, righteousness, mercy, holiness, truth, justice, goodness, kindness….
….and they all coexist with each other in a divine mosaic of perfection…
but – as the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “….the greatest attribute of all – is that of love”
Love is the greatest motivator…the greatest defender…the greatest power…the greatest force that has ever existed…
When it comes to inspiration and motivation, things such as fear and hatred…they don’t hold a candle to love.
…And we serve a God who is love to its fullest – and most perfect – form.
The miracle baby we read about in our passage for today is literally ‘love incarnate.’
Corrie Ten Boom once said: “Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son.”
Max Lucado adds: “The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us.”
When Mary & Joseph looked upon their newborn infant…not only were they looking at God in the flesh…Or, as we sang earlier, the great ‘I Am’….
They were also looking upon perfect, agape love…in human form.
The message of love and hope wrapped up in this tiny human being also proved to be a great motivator for the shepherds…
Verse 16 (Luke 2:16) tells us that the shepherds – after being visited by the angels – hurried into Bethlehem to see the human manifestation of this hope, joy, and love…
First…They heard the news about a savior…
…and understanding that they were sinners in need of a savior…they went to seek out this savior the angels told them about…
So….they seek him - and they find Him….and their meeting with the savior changes them forever.
…then – because of their newfound joy - they go and tell others about the savior.
…this same thing happens today.
People hear about Jesus…they’re convicted, they come to understand that they are sinners in need of a savior…
…they seek him out…and they find him….
...then - they can’t’ help but tell others about him.
The prophet Jeremiah issues a beautiful promise from the Lord when people wholeheartedly seek after him.
He writes “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
It’s important to note here that the text says “With ALL your heart”…
A half-hearted effort of pursuing God just doesn’t cut it…
…Jesus literally gave everything – including His life - for you…therefore the expectation is that you give ALL of yourself to him..
...That means – in repentance - turning over every dark corner of our lives to his sovereign authority…
Back in 2002, I was watching a football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks…
9ers wide-receiver Terrel Owens scores a touchdown…then for a celebration stunt - he proceeds to take a black sharpie out of his sock and autograph a football before giving it to someone in the stands…
Owens was fined $5,000 for the incident, as having unseen objects such as sharpies in your sock were against the rules…
Before Owens revealed the sharpie, no one knew it was there…It was completely hidden from sight…
So often, that’s what we try to do when it comes to our relationship with Jesus….we try to hide those secret, personal, “Sharpie” sins….sins that on one else can see…
….But it’s an act in futility….because God sees them…and He knows if you are being honest when you come to Him in repentance…
He knows if you truly mean what you say….or if you’re just playing games with Him…
…and He expects us to lay everything – all of our “dirty laundry” - bare before Him when we come before Him seeking forgiveness…
…those secret sins…those stolen pleasures that are in opposition to His Word of moral truth must be surrendered to the savior in order to become a genuine born-again believer….
Proverbs 28:13 says “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy”
If you’re seeking God’s forgiveness, make sure the spiritual Sharpie’s are all out of your socks…then you will find what you are seeking after…
Jesus himself says in the sermon on the mount “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
If you are a born-again believer, at some point in your life, you heard about Jesus…
You realized that you needed him…you sought him out…you found him…
...he changed you – he replaced your heart of stone with a heart of flesh…
He changed your desires…
…he redeemed you…and now you live to tell others about Him.
After being a persecutor of Christians, the apostle Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus…and that meeting changed him forever…
He said in his letter to the church in Corinth: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)
Paul’s entire life would now center around His relationship with Jesus…and a new, fervent desire to tell others about Him.
He understood that the message of salvation through Christ was the most important message ever conveyed to mankind…
…and it still is today.
Verse 20 (Luke 2:20) tells us that “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
They came, they saw, they were changed – forever.
This is how the gospel works…
This is what genuinely seeking and finding Jesus will do….
Maybe this morning….you’re needing to hear this message of hope through Jesus Christ…
Maybe you’ve been seeking for truth…
You’ve seen that the system of this world is broken…that things are not how they should be…
You’ve felt convicted of sin in your own life…
You’re ready to make Jesus Lord and savior….
You’re ready to turn everything over in humble submission to Him…
You’re ready to experience permanent, settled joy & peace in your life…
You’re ready to live for a higher calling…a higher purpose…a higher authority
You’re ready to meet the savior….and live for Him.
If that’s you this morning…there is no better time than right now – today….
…the season of Advent – to make Jesus Lord of your life…
To accept His offer of salvation….and to follow him.
Because…if your eyes are on Jesus…you’re looking at love..
….love incarnate.
…you’re looking at peace…
….you’re looking at God.
Let’s Pray.
