Why did God become flesh?

Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. The peace of Christ must control your hearts—a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people. The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-16, CEB

Why did God become flesh? This question sounds like the setup for the most boring joke ever written.

We’re going to take a break from our Heroes series to say a word or two, or 500-1000, on Easter. Well, maybe this question has more to do with Christmas. Easter and Christmas combined really. We can’t really say much about the resurrection without talking about God’s mission.  

One thing we keep saying over and over in our heroes series is that the Bible is not the story of a bunch of heroes doing great things. It’s the story of God working through people to bring about His ideal version of His creation. Creation will one day perfectly embody God’s vision for human life- meaning that all life will be defined by God’s grace, mercy, acceptance, forgiveness, patience, and so on (feel free to add in whatever attributes are important to you). 

Sometimes people have a rather large part to play in God’s story. Sometimes individual people have a rather large part to play in God’s story. We tend to call these people heroes. But it’s significant that their lives are often chaotic and messy because this is what points us to who is really doing the work, God. We’ve made this point so many times at this point it’s quite likely that if you hear it again you’ll throw up. So let me say another word or two about God’s work. Here’s the story of the Bible in a rather large nutshell.

God creates everything there is and allows all of his creation the freedom to explore life. This freedom comes with choices, people can live in imitation of God or not as they see fit. Early on, all of humanity acts like one big group of hormonal teenagers who are given the keys to a car for the first time. They’re wide open. They go everywhere and do anything. In the process, the idea of God becomes lost in ideas about gods and so many different ways of life are invented that people, on the whole, don’t know who the one true God is or what it would look like to live according to His values. 

God then decides to use a small group of people, beginning with Abraham, later the nation of Israel, later the Hebrew people, later the Jews, to reintroduce Himself to creation. So this group of people, by virtue of how they live, is supposed to point others to God. He protects them and provides for them, pulls them out of slavery, and promises to give them a land they can call home so they can stop living the life of a nomad. They can have consistent food and water. They can plant deep roots. They can be safe and secure. 

It’s often thought that this group was exclusive. That God chose Israel and excluded others. This is not the case. There are plenty of examples in the Old Testament where God includes Gentiles in His plans. Israel was a starting point, not the end game. The end game is that all will come to know God through Israel. 

Israel does some things well and some things poorly along the way, when it comes to showing the world who God is. Sometimes they remember their call- to model God’s love for the world to see- and other times not. For instance, God, for hundreds of years, begs the people to care for the poor, the widows, and the orphans among them, and to worship Him alone. And they don’t do it. So, after hundreds of years, God allows His people to be carried out of the land which was their home, and into exile elsewhere. In the process, some of the people were left behind- and they are referred to as the remnant. God’s people are to be reborn from this remnant. From those left behind. 

There is quite a gap of time in the Bible following the end of the exile, the beginning of a new era of God’s people, and the arrival of Jesus. But- here is the purpose of Jesus. God enters the flesh to live among us to be the perfect Israel. Jesus completes Israel’s mission to demonstrate to the world God’s vision for human life. Jesus is the perfect Israel. A person who perfectly demonstrates God’s way of seeing. And as that vision is perfected, it then spreads to all people across the world. 

We have talked at length over the years about how God’s plan is to create a new reality, aka the Kingdom of God, that perfectly demonstrates God’s values and His desires for human life. That is what we hope for. And, it’s not just that. His work is not just to create this place. It’s to gather all people together in this place. 

I was talking to a friend this week. He’s from Singapore- now living in Australia and planting a church there. His church is small, about 30 people, and they’re from all over the world. And he said to me, “You know, we are 30 people who shouldn’t have anything to do with one another if it weren’t for God.” 

I believe what he meant was, they couldn’t be more different. They speak different languages, they come from different cultures, they don’t always understand each other- whether that’s verbally or their behavior or their customs. But God has drawn them together because that is, ultimately, God’s plan: To bring all people together. To live a common life dedicated to mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love. 

Our differences will not define us and they will not separate us, will not tear us apart. They will be a part of us, but not the most significant part, because the most significant part will be our identity as children of God, drawn together by His love. 

And so when we talk about God’s plan- this is what we mean. God’s plan is not so concerned with whether you get to the bus stop on time or whether you said your prayers at the appropriate time of day or whether you were able to stay out of trouble. You can’t stop God’s plan either. Whether you got yourself into trouble, or if you were the victim of something unspeakable, or if you just can’t stop doing the thing you keep promising to stop doing. 

None of that stops God’s plan- to draw all people together by His love. You can’t stop it. He has already come for you. And his work continues now and it will continue long after each of us is gone. It started with one person and has spread to many.