Have you ever felt distant from God, as if He’s too far off or unreachable? The beauty of Christmas is that the transcendent God—who is infinite and beyond our understanding—became imminent, tangible, and close to us by coming in the flesh as a baby in the manger. The incarnation of Jesus, the divine becoming human, was an act of love revealing the only way for us to be reconciled with God. Jesus bridged the gap between humanity and the divine. Through His coming, we are no longer separated from God by our sin and brokenness, but invited into close relationship with Him. Jesus is the way back to the Father, the fulfillment of God's plan to redeem us and bring us into His family. This Christmas season, we are invited to walk in the way Jesus opened, the way to God. As we unpack the miracle of the incarnation, you will leave with a deeper understanding of how this act of love changes everything, pointing us back to God.

In the Garden of Eden

Genesis 3:8 – When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.

Sin Separates Humanity from God

Isaiah 59:2 – It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

Ephesians 2:12 –  In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

Incarnation: the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form; embodied in flesh or taking on flesh

Transcendence: God is highly exalted, supremely rules over creation, and exists beyond us.

John 1:1-4 – In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

Immanence: God is present in the lives of people desiring to reveal himself personally and intimately.

John 1:14 – So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Covenant with Abraham

Genesis 12:7 –  Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Building the Tabernacle

Exodus 25:8 – Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. 

Friendship with Moses

Exodus 33:11 –  Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

God’s Desire for Israel

Exodus 19:4 – You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Relationship with David

Acts 13:22 – But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

Through the Prophets

Jeremiah 31:33 – But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Foreshadowing the Acceptance of the Gentiles

Jonah 4:2 – You are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.

The Birth of Jesus

Matthew 1:23 – “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

The Way, The Truth, The Life

John 14:6 – Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

1 Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

John 1:11-12 – He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

An Invitation to Relationship

1 John 3:1 – See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 

John 17:3 – And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 – And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 

2 Corinthians 5:20 – So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 

Acts 1:8 –  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.