THE REAL CHRISTMAS DOCTRINE
When Christianity was barely 50 years old, already false doctrines were being taught concerning Jesus. One of those false doctrines was that Jesus didn’t have a “real body,” but only a spiritual one. They denied the true doctrine that Jesus, the Son of God, had come in the flesh.
The apostle John called one who taught such a false doctrine “a deceiver and an antichrist.” It seems he was standing against an early deception called gnosticism, which believed that the flesh was evil and that only the spiritual was good. This belief therefore concluded that Christ could not have literally come in the flesh. This conclusion denied the incarnation. It denied the name given to Jesus at His birth, which was “Immanuel,” God with us. John guarded his eyewitness testimony that Jesus is God in the flesh. This was why he was so specific in his first letter to say he had seen, examined and touched Jesus (1 John 1:1). He was affirming the doctrine that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
The incarnation is not only the central theme of Christmas, it is the true doctrine concerning Christ. Jesus is God in the flesh. He really came. He really died for our sins. He really rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. Jesus came in a real body and He is really coming again.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we love to consider the mystery of the incarnation. That You would send Your only begotten Son to us in the flesh is a wonderful reality that amazes us. We are so thankful. Fill us afresh with Your joy today and strengthen us to declare the real Christmas doctrine this season. In Jesus’ name, amen.