Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #9: The Incarnation of God

Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #9: The Incarnation of God: "After viewing 'The Nativity Story', analyzing your chosen Christmas carol, and reading Philippians 2:1-7, reflect on the meaning of Christma..."


I chose the Christmas carol, “Joy to the World”. In the first stanza it is talking about how the world should be happy for the Lord, Jesus has come. “Let earth receive her King”, in this verse I think earth could have meant earth itself or Mary. It also suggests that every heart on earth should prepare him room. This implies the scene where Mary and Joseph find the manger. Then, it talks about how both the heaven and nature sings, which means they are all joyful for the lord, Jesus to come.
In the Philippians, it talks about Jesus’ attitude; how he never forces himself to think he was equal with God. Instead, he sacrificed himself for the nature.
Christmas is a time when God came down to earth in the form of flesh, as a human. He comes down to be the savior of his people.
In the Christmas carol Jesus is described as the “Lord” and “King”. The scriptures describe him as a human being who’s love comforts people, never forcing himself to think he was equal with God, and always put others first, while being humble.
The verse of “Joy to the World”, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come!” is the time when Mary feels the baby coming. The whole stanza is about the baby coming and the people preparing to have the baby born.
There were a few important characters that allowed Jesus to be born safety. First of all there is Mary, Jesus’s mother. Mary is definitely a necessary person because she was the virgin who was conceived with God’s baby. She is also part of the miracle, because Jesus had been born from a lady who was a virgin.
Then there is Joseph, who had taken special care of Mary while coming to Bethlehem from Nazareth by foot. Joseph like Jesus put others before him. He put Jesus and Mary before him.
The role of the Persian astrologists was very important because each of their gifts foreshadowed his life and roles he was to play later on. He was given gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold was given because he was to be a King of Kings. The frankincense was given because he was to be a priest of the priests. Finally myrrh, it was used to purify after death. This gift foreshadowed Jesus’ crucifixion, his sacrifice on the cross.
I think that an innocent, caring, humble God would come to earth as a baby. This God would also put others first no matter what.
God chose Jesus to come to earth as a baby because he is someone who is pure and doesn’t have a bit of evil in him. I think he also sent him as a baby because when babies are born they are subjects of love. And like babies, once Jesus was born many loved him and thought he was special. Another reason he might have been sent, as a baby is that God wants the people to know that even a humble, innocent baby can lead the people in the right direction.