The Lord God who could not be looked upon has come near to us and is visible in the person of Jesus. Jesus who seven times in the Gospel of John refers to himself as the “I am” puts the true face on the “I am” God of the Burning bush. We saw his face and we lived. In fact to know him is to live, according to John. The face we see on Jesus we have seen nowhere else. Jesus is startlingly unique. His face is not Moses or Buddha or Mohammad. His face is the face of God.
This is the same God who comes near at the Burning bush, nearer at Sinai, the Tabernacle, the Temple and the Prophets, and then absolutely the nearest and dearest-Immanuel-God with us. This was God in the flesh, but we did not immediately know it to be the case. The revelation of his identity was filtered through the crucible of miracle, parables, foot washing, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. Finally after his resurrection we declared him ”My Lord and my God.” Jesus grew on us.
The humility of the scene at Bethlehem and the quiet childhood in Nazareth intrigued and entranced us. We have always wanted to know more about him.
The Incarnation is not to be confused with the Hindu concept Avatar. An Avatar is a theophany, a visual appearance of a deity to human beings. In Hinduism avatars abound. But avatars are not the one living God becoming flesh and blood. In the incarnation he who is the source of and sustainer of our humanity has entered once and for all into our historical experience to take that humanity forever into his eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus was not a casting off of the human and a resumption of the divine nature. Jesus is forever, God with us.
The human is the manifestation of and the vehicle of the divine both in the earthly life of Jesus and in his glorified humanity. The incarnation, atoning death, and resurrection-ascension of Jesus Christ decisively changed the relationship between God and human kind.
The humanity of the crucified, risen and ascended Christ has become the heart of our union and fellowship with God forever. The risen Christ remains in heaven right now the human face of God!