In December, Christians remember, reflect on, and rejoice in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The incarnation refers to when the Son of God, or the second Person of the Trinity, put on human flesh, or “took flesh to himself.” The apostle John describes it like this: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). And the apostle Paul: “In him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9).
The Ligonier Statement on Christology summarizes this doctrine like this, “Truly God, he became truly man, two natures in one person.” As a church, we happily confess “the mystery and wonder of God made flesh.” This is the glorious bedrock reality that undergirds the Christmas season. Without the incarnation, there would be no Christmas.
There are many ways to apply the truth and beauty of the incarnation of the Son of God to our lives and church. In this article, I want to mention one you may not have thought of before. I know I hadn’t until recently. It’s about the topic of abortion.
On Wednesday, December 1st, the Supreme Court of the United States of America heard oral arguments for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case is over whether an abortion provider in Jackson, Mississippi can provide abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. The case is a direct assault on the landmark Roe v. Wade case of 1973, affirmed in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which says that States cannot prohibit abortion before fetal viability – the point at which a baby can live outside the womb, usually considered to be between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Many think that the Dobbs case will allow the Supreme Court to rule that Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional. This would be the greatest victory for the conservative legal project in our generation, not to mention the answer to the prayers of millions of Christians over the last fifty years. The Court will likely rule on the Dobbs case next June. Until then, pray that God would give the Justices wisdom to know what is right and courage to do what is right in this case.
But what does Dobbs have to do with Christmas? What is the connection between one of the most important Supreme Court cases in our lifetimes and the “most wonderful time of the year”?
It has to do with the nature of the incarnation. Have you ever considered exactly how the Son of God became a man? He didn’t appear as a fully grown, mature man. He didn’t arrive as a child or teenager. He didn’t even arrive as a baby. The Son of God arrived on the earth as an unborn baby. The angel said to Joseph, “Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:20). And to Mary, the angel Gabriel said, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Lk. 1:31-32).
The way God would become a man is through a miraculous conception. The Holy Spirit would fertilize one of Mary’s eggs and the resulting embryo would be the God-Man, Jesus Christ. The God who made galaxies entered the earth as an embryo. Let that truth settle over your mind. Let it captivate your heart with awe and wonder. Let it inspire you and remind you that “nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk. 1:37).
Interestingly, the first person to recognize Jesus was also an unborn baby. Luke 1:41, “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.” There are many reasons why Christians affirm the dignity and value and sacredness of the unborn. One of them needs to be that the Son of God entered into the world as an unborn baby and was first greeted by an unborn baby.
At Christmas, we remember that God entered the world to save his people through an unborn baby. At all times of the year, we need to pray and work in whatever ways God leads us to for the safety and protection and provision of the unborn in our community. May the grace of the incarnate Son of God help and sustain us in this great work.
Pastor John