{"id":1624,"date":"2017-12-24T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-24T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1624"},"modified":"2017-12-24T09:00:37","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T14:00:37","slug":"the-incarnation-and-the-word-became-flesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/the-incarnation-and-the-word-became-flesh\/","title":{"rendered":"The Incarnation: \u201cAnd the Word Became Flesh\u2026 \u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we celebrate Christ\u2019s birthday, let us remember the reason for the season! \u201cGod so \"\"<\/a>loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life\u201d (John 3:16). God\u2019s love is so great for each one of us, that he sent his Son to enter our humanity and live among us. God wants us to know Him, in the flesh! He became man, just like us in all things, except sin! Through the Incarnation, the Word became flesh (John 1:14), and we celebrate this Incarnation on Christmas Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Far greater than any gift sitting under the Christmas tree, or sitting in our driveways, adorned with ostentatious bows, is the gift of Christ Himself \u2013 in our hearts. God\u2019s gift of Himself, via the Incarnation, is a piece of God\u2019s plan for the salvation of mankind. God\u2019s master plan required Jesus to enter humanity, not only so that we could come to know and love God, in the flesh, but also so that Jesus could redeem us from our sins and make us holy in God\u2019s sight. <\/span><\/p>\n

The gift of Christ, in our hearts, is a gift of pure love. By Christ\u2019s gift of Himself, we come to know and love the Father. Son and Holy Spirit. Through the teachings of Jesus Christ, as both God and Man, we\u2019ve come to learn that as omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent as God is, He will not force His love upon us; He will not force the gift of salvation upon us. It must be our choice to decide if we will accept Christ\u2019s love. Also, we play a part in our own salvation. It is up to us to decide whether we will accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the plan unfolds anew today, with the babe in the manger. Will you accept the gift of Christ\u2019s love? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God; conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary? Will you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? I pray that you will say \u201cyes\u201d to these questions, and by doing so, accept the gift of Christ\u2019s love on this Christmas Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

From all the Theology faculty at Saint Joseph\u2019s College, we wish you a blessed Christmas season filled with God\u2019s love, peace and joy. May your new year be filled with hope, patience and trust in Christ\u2019s generosity, mercy and forgiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia Lieto<\/strong>\u00a0teaches theology for Saint Joseph\u2019s College Online. She is the author of\u00a0children\u2019s book\u00a0Finding Patience<\/a>\u00a0and blogs at\u00a0www.virginialieto.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we celebrate Christ\u2019s birthday, let us remember the reason for the season! \u201cGod so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life\u201d (John … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1],"tags":[65,144],"class_list":["post-1624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spirituality","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas","tag-incarnation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}