When Heaven's Royalty Wore an Earth Suit

  The wonder of Christmas is not a snow-covered lawn. The real wonder is that God would send His Son to earth to be the Savior. That one event set the stage for how the Savior would change the world.

John penned these words by inspiration: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (John 1:14 NIV). Many respond, “The Word became flesh! What does that mean? How can a word become a real being with flesh? That is totally impossible!” Yes, with men it is; but with God all things are possible!

We Are Talking About the Incarnation

That is a word that need not be thrown around every day with a whim. In fact, it is a word that should hold us in awe. Incarnation is defined as a god or supernatural being taking on human form in human flesh. This brings us to another scripture. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1).

Today, Christmas centers on the birth of Christ, and well it should. But may we never forget that is because of the incarnation — when Heaven’s royalty put on an earth suit!

The Necessity of the Incarnation

Putting on the earth suit was not just a notion of God… it was a necessity! There had to be a time when One who was like us had to take away the sins of the world — yet He would know no sin Himself. The Law burdened Israelites for centuries, but it was only a teaching tool. It was not a means of salvation. Mankind did not merely need to be schooled… we needed to be saved from the condemnation of sin!

“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God,’” (Heb. 10:4-7).

The Heavenly Had to Become Humanly

There is a term for this: it is called the “hypostatic union.” Simply put, God took on the human form, an earth suit as I call it, taking on human nature — while still remaining fully God.

Two thousand years ago, when that baby was born in Bethlehem and was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger of straw, that was God being wrapped in an earth suit! That is the hypostatic union. Jesus Christ was one being — but He was fully God and fully man. That was God’s plan from before the creation of the earth and universes.

Now this is where we find why we have Christmas. It is not really about us giving and receiving gifts to and from family and friends. It is about the giving of the Greatest Gift by the Father and the receiving of that precious Gift by sinners — that is you and me!

How Heaven’s Royalty Wore an Earth Suit

You likely heard the old saying, “The suit does not make the man.” Well, it is proven when we see the Supreme Creator, the Royalty of Heaven, put on the earthly suit of humanity. Certainly, it was not the suit that made the Man, but the Man who made the suit… Jesus Christ. There has never been a human who wore the earth suit like the Son of God who was born in Bethlehem.

The Cost of Royalty Wearing the Earthly

I remember my drill sergeant at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. telling us when we put on our first pair of army fatigues: “Men, these clothes are given to you free… but it may cost you something to wear them. It may cost you your lives.” That sank in real fast!

The truth is that when Jesus — Heaven’s royalty — put on the earth suit in Bethlehem, it was going to cost something on Calvary! He was going to die for the sins of the world; my sins, your sins, your neighbor’s sins — the sins of the entire world.

Christmas did not begin in Bethlehem… it began in Heaven. God was going to give the Greatest of All Gifts. He was going to give Himself. He laid aside the splendor of Heaven to take on the earth suit of humanity. There had to be a birth for there to be a death. Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the World accomplished all of that — for you and me!