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February 12, 2011

HearHim.net
Andre Rabe

The Incarnation

… What no one could imagine … The authentic Creator, the true light that enlightens
every man was coming into this world. His mission

T
hroughout the ages God revealed fragments was nothing less than shattering our illusions, expo-
of His mind. The Old Testament is a record of sing the unreal, unoriginal and fake identity that we
the many prophets, priest and scholars, scat- embraced outside of Him. He came with the clear
tered throughout many generations, who perceived message to darkness that its time was up. Darkness
portions of God’s purpose. The best scholars steeped has had all the opportunity it needed and failed to
themselves into detailed studies, trying to piece to- fulfill man, failed to provide a viable alternative.
gether this puzzle. The priests diligently performed The incarnation reveals that our true selves, our
their rituals, aware that the very repetition of these true humanity can only be found in union with God.
rituals pointed towards an event and meaning that
would eclipse their activities. Jesus brings the final and thorough judgement that
the law failed to bring: judgement on the ignorance
A picture started to emerge … and it was shocking. and lies that man so desperately embraced. The
All the fragments joined together, all the prophetic emptiness and futility of separation is exposed by
utterances stitched together painted a picture of … a Christ.
shadow! However amazing these revelations were,
they were still only a shadow of what God was about Simultaneously He introduces us to our true subs-
to unleash. The substance behind the shadow was tance, to our existence in Him. The Creator became
about to appear! part of creation to redeem it from the grasp of cor-
ruption. In the incarnation He draws His creation
Despite the thousands of years of inspired utterance back into the significance and value for which He
and scholastic studies, there remained a mystery created it. He reveals our true significance, our eter-
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which no eye had seen, no ear had heard – a mystery nal origin and destiny in Him.
beyond the capability of any imagination!
… Fully God …
No one except God could ever have conceived such
a plan: Eternity would enter time; the infinite would Jesus represents God in the fullest, truest sense
enter space. God would become a man! possible. Jesus not only represents God, He is God.
What He says, God says; what He does, God does.
The Word, the expression of God, the exact represen- Jesus Himself said “if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen
tation of God became flesh! This was no half-hearted the Father”. Paul wrote in 2 Cor 5:19 that God was
attempt by which God simply disguised Himself in in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
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a human body. This was a permanent commitment


by which God forever joined Himself to humanity The implications of this incarnation are staggering!
– His eternal destiny bound up in the destiny of God became man without ceasing to be God. Jesus
man. He became man in the fullest sense possible boldly declares “… before Abraham was, I AM.” Nei-
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and would remain a man forever. ther did this transformation, this form of existence
as a man, frustrate God. In fact Col 1:19 shows that
this was a pleasure! Col 2:9 reveals that God in all

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The Incarnation

His fullness found expression in the body of Christ unbelief. Despite the fact that Jesus was no longer
Jesus! Man is God-compatible! omnipresent, omniscient or omnipotent, God was
still able to fully be Himself in Christ! Why? Because
God does not consider the human body an embar- in essence God is love and the human existence is not
rassment to His desire to reveal and express Him- in any way an inferior expression of His love or life.
self. He knows that our very existence is the result
of His artistic expression to portray His image and He lived fully and continues to express Himself wi-
likeness. The most accurate and exact reflection of thout constraint in the man Christ Jesus! Our huma-
God was revealed in the man Jesus Christ. “...Jesus nity is not a constraint to God’s ability to fully and
is the radiant and flawless expression of the person freely express Himself. You are not a frustration to
of God. He makes the glory (intent) of God visible and God, you are His opportunity to be.
exemplifies the character and every attribute of God
in human form.” (Heb 1:3) Christ did not come to Jesus did not come to change the heart and mind of
bring another dim or obscure view, but a full and God concerning man. He came to reveal the truth
complete and crystal clear view of our Father and about God and about us and in so doing make us
our likeness to Him. true – genuinely ourselves.

Whatever the Word was in God, before the incar- “God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—
nation, He now is within human form. He was not not because of anything we have done but because
reduced in person or expressive ability when He of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given
became man. He is still the eternal Word, present us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it
to God, face to face with God, the mirror image of has now been revealed through the appearing of our
God, who Himself is God … and is man. To exist as Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and
a man was His plan from the beginning. has brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel.” 2 Tim 1:9,10
So in the person of Christ God gave unhindered ex-
pression to Himself and in so doing, revealed what God’s mind and attitude toward us was established
He was really like. Jesus is the revelation of the true before time began. He gave us grace – gave us Him-
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identity and character of God. Against a backdrop self even before we were born, before we could do
of rituals and laws and judgements which confused anything to deserve it, or not deserve it. Before we
so many about the character of God, He shows up had any opportunity to impress or disappoint Him,
personally to remove every misconception. He is He was already impressed – impressed with the
not vengeful – He is willing to take our just punish- image and likeness He stamped upon our beings.
ment for us. He is not easily offended, but rather at From His point of view we were found before we
the peak of our enmity against Him, He is willing were lost – He found us in Christ before He lost us in
to reconcile us to Himself even while we were still Adam. We were given grace before the fall. He was
dead in our trespasses and sins. simply waiting for the opportune time in which to
appear – in which to reveal what has always been:
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God is often described in lofty terms such as: Om- the reality of our salvation in Christ Jesus.
nipresent (present everywhere); Omniscient (all
knowing); Omnipotent (all powerful). However in … Fully Man …
becoming man in Christ Jesus, He limits Himself to
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a single location; we read that He grew in knowle- God became man in the fullest sense possible – He
dge and wisdom, and that in His home town He embraced humanity in this act of incarnation to
could not do many mighty works because of their such an extent that all of humanity would be re-

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presented in His person. The extent to which He God. There is no conflict in God’s design between
became man, is the extent to which this salvation the nature of man and the nature of God.
is reality to us. We were in His life, His death, His
resurrection and His ascension. He took humanity Man is God’s idea. And so when God became man it
upon Himself, within Himself, with such intensity was the original, authentic idea of man that manifes-
that God would consider His every act as the act of ted in the person of Christ – the perfect man. What
man. His accomplishments would be credited to God always knew to be true of man suddenly burst
the account of mankind. He represents man more upon the stage of human history. “The true light that
completely, truly and fully than any other man. gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
John 1:9 He is the light that reveals the truth about
Your birth did not take God by surprise! When you all of humanity, and to each one individually. The
showed up on planet earth, is not when He found revelation He brings is “…full of grace and truth”.
out about you. He knew you before you were born.
He was intimately acquainted with your design and The fact that God was able to become man, is tes-
chose you individually before time began. tament to the integrity of our design. When He ori-
ginally created man saying: “Be our image and our
What He knew about you before your birth is still likeness”, He did not create an inferior creature to
His only reference for who you are. Your successes Himself – He created exactly what he said: His own
or failures have not changed His mind about you. mirror reflection in form and substance. In Jesus
Love never stops believing the best; never stops ho- we recognise God as bone of our bone and flesh
ping; never runs out of patience and love never fails. of our flesh. This likeness is the basis for intimacy
without shame and without hindrance.
He knows the truth about you. Eph 1:13 describes
this message as the “word of truth – the gospel of … Plan A …
your salvation” This is the good news of the reality
of what God did for you and of what Jesus did on The story of Adam and Eve has sometimes been
your behalf: He redeemed your original design. presented as God’s first attempts at relationship
with man. However the fall forced Him to think of
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We often read, especially in theological books, about an alternative. That is not true.
the nature of man. (It’s interesting that this term is
rarely used in the scriptures.) So I did some research The need for the incarnation did not surprise God –
as to what most theologians mean by ‘nature of man’. He planned this before the fall. The incarnation – the
It means the truth or reality of man! event in which God would become man – was His
idea from the start. The fall did not necessitate re-
That is such a clear and simple definition – the pro- demption; redemption was planned before the fall.
blem is that many try to find the truth and reality
of man in Adam’s fall. We should look a bit further He did not simply endure being human for 33 years
back and discover Gen 1:26 – The truth and reality and then, with great relief, returned to being God!
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of man came out of God. His nature was the origin 1 Tim 2:5, was written after the resurrection and
of our nature. His reality is the substance we were ascension and reveals that Christ Jesus is still a man:
made from! “For there is one God and one Mediator between God
and men, the Man Christ Jesus”. The incarnation is
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The key to understanding the mystery of God-and- permanent. He united Himself with Humanity in
man-in-the-one-person-of-Christ, is to realise that such a way that He would never be separated again.
He designed man for this very purpose of unity with He bound Himself to our existence; committed Him-

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self to our destiny. The resurrection is proof that In Christ, God took decisive action to restore and
this God-man union is not a temporary event, but bring you back to what He always had in mind. Christ
an eternal unbreakable union. reveals that God has made a decision concerning
you, and that decision is to unite you with Himself.
God has invested everything He has, everything He God is not slowly making up His mind about man-
is, in mankind. He has no other investment, no other kind as a whole or you individually as He observes
interest, no other occupation than you! He believes our choices and actions. No! He made up His mind
in you, He is fully committed to you. “...How many before He created you and determined that you
are Your thoughts toward me, how vast the sum of would stand blameless before Him, enveloped in
them...” Ps 139:17 His love. Christ Jesus makes known what God de-
cided about you: He believes in you!
… All of mankind …
… Personal …
Authentic speaks of that which is original. The truth
about man, the authentic truth about you, is found This is no impersonal generic philosophy – this Word
in your origin. There is a greater reference and de- is as personal as a mirror. In a mirror, you see your-
finition of man, than Adam’s fall. God individually self. James wrote that if any man hears this word,
knew us even before the fall of this world. The op- he sees the face of his birth (origin) as in a mirror.
posite of authentic, is derived or fake. Adam chose When God became man, He did not only embrace
an unoriginal, unauthorised and fake identity, but humanity, He embraced you personally. He wants
the original reality from which man came remained you to discover yourself in Him.
preserved in Christ.
There is a vast difference between a shop window
As surely as all mankind was represented in Adam and a mirror. A shop window simply reveals poten-
and effected by His act of disobedience, so the same tial – what you could have, could buy, could attain.
mass of humanity was included in the undeserved A mirror reveals reality – what is. Jesus is so much
gift of Christ. (Rom 5:12-21) Christ is called the last more than a moral example for us to follow, so much
Adam – this not only points to His uniqueness but to more than a shop window that shows us what could
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the fact that He brought a final end to the old Adamic be possible. He reveals the present reality of our
race, a race identified by sin and the consequent identity.
guilt and judgement. In His death all and each one
of that race died and in His resurrection, mankind “And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we]
– everyone of us – were restored to blameless in- continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror
nocence before God. the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfi-
gured into His very own image…” 2 Cor 3:18 Amp
He is not only the last Adam, but He is God’s original
thought of man – the original man. Eph 4 refers to Jesus is the mirror that unveils our true face. He
Him as the perfect man. He came to unveil God’s reveals that God did not make a mistake when He
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authentic thought about man, to restore man to the declared you to be His very own image. Beholding
image and likeness for which He designed us; to this reality transforms every aspect of our lives.
break the dormancy of the DNA of God that remai-
ned hidden, in lifeless seed form, in each man; to You were represented in Him. He embraced your
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remind mankind that we belong, that we have the humanity. His death was your death; His judgement
image of our owner stamped upon our being. was your judgement; His resurrection was your re-
surrection; His glorification is yours; His blameless

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innocence is yours. His faith is a gift to you so that His death was the death of the fallen Adamic race.
you no longer have to live by your own convictions, His resurrection was the birth of a new victorious
but by the faith of the son of God – live from His point humanity. His resurrection demonstrates that this
of view! His life is now your life – you no longer union of God and man was not a temporary ar-
have to live yourself, live Him! rangement, but an eternal reality – God embraced
humanity in Christ never to be separated again. 
The incarnation continues: you are God’s oppor- This God-man union faced hell and death and came
tunity to continue to live and move and have His through in-tact.
being amongst His own; His opportunity for the
gift of truth and grace to continue in visible form; His ascension is the restoration of man to the place
His opportunity for the light of life to continue to and position that God always intended for man to
shine, for the revelation of the Father to continue to occupy. If the incarnation was an act in which God
surprise humanity with His goodness. In you He has humbled Himself to take on human form, then the
a face. In you He has a personality. Christ continues ascension is an act of glorification in which man
and you are His body. is restored to a place of honour and completeness.

… God and Man United … Jesus Christ is simultaneously God’s invitation, and
man’s acceptance; He is God’s call and man’s answer;
Jesus is the union of God and man without separa- He is God’s revelation and man’s response of faith.
tion, division or confusion. He fully represents God,
in fact He is God. He fully represents man, in fact So what is left to do? Wake up! Shake of the slumber
He is a man. The following is a short summary of of what seems to be real around you and see your
what this union means: true self – your embraced-by-God-self.

Jesus is God’s initiative to reconcile and embrace Awake to the reality of your true identity:
humanity and He is man’s perfect response to that
initiative. He is both God’s judgement and  man’s As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I
perfect acceptance of that judgement.  He simulta- shall be satisfied, when I awake in thy likeness. Ps
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neously represents God’s demand for perfection 17:15


and man’s perfect obedience to that demand – being
obedient even unto death. He is both God’s act of Awake to the reality of your new position:
salvation and man’s response of perfect faith.
Pursue with diligence the consequence of your co-
When God became man in Christ, He became the inclusion in Christ. Relocate yourself mentally! His
man that God always had in mind. As such He does resurrection co-raised you to the same position of
not represent just one single man, but all of huma- authority, seated in the strength of God’s right hand.
nity.
Becoming affectionately acquainted with Throne
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In Christ God dealt with the old Adamic race, having Room thoughts will keep you from being distracted
forgiven all their sin. In Christ, humanity shed its old again by the earthly (soul-ruled) realm.
sinful identity and received the blameless innocence
provided by God. In Christ, God raised humanity to Your union with His death broke the association with
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a new level of existence – seated at His right hand. that world; the secret of your life now is the fact that
In Christ, humanity responded by taking up this you are wrapped up with Christ in God. Col 3:1-3
new position to reign and rule in life. Mirror Translation

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Awake, awake – the nightmares and contradictions


are part of a temporary slumber. There are eternal
realities to be discovered! Awake!

The practical implications of this God-man union


in Christ is overwhelming! It means that my rela-
tionship with God is not based on my obedience,
but on the obedience of this one man. It means that
even my ‘faith’ is not mine – the faith I present to the
Father has its origin in Christ and its perfection in
Christ (He is the Author and perfecter of my faith)

(Sample chapter from the book ‘Imagine…’ by Andre


Rabe)
Imagine. 
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PUBLIC «-//W3C//
DTD XHTML 1.0
Strict//EN»
«http://www.
w3.org/TR/xhtml1/
DTD/xhtml1-strict. 
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