The incarnation of Christ
by Taylor Martin, Reporter
The incarnation of God is often viewed as a single event in the history of humankind; the coming of Jesus Christ to our world over twothousand years ago. Yet to say that God limited himself in a physical form to our world for nearly 33 years ignores the history of God incarnate since the time of Abraham.
"Why did God choose Israel?" A common criticism of the Old Testament is that God showed favorites by singling out Israel as the only people able to receive grace and salvation. While this is one way to look at it, there is another interpretation of God's blessing upon Abraham and his descendants. We often use the same adjective together with Christ and Israel - chosen - and yet we fail to see the similarities in their roles as God's hands and feet to the world. I contend that God did not choose Israel in order to limit grace to a single nation, but instead chose Israel in order that they may, in effect, be Christ to the world.
From the time of Abraham, God makes it clear that it isn't simply about blessing Abraham, but instead it is so that the whole world may be blessed through Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:3). Isaiah is also filled with many redemptive themes, and not just for Israel. In Isaiah 49:6, God says to Israel, "I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
God intended Israel to be a nation of community; it wasn't originally designed to be under the rule of a king. It was supposed to be an example to the rest of the world about the grace and concern for justice found in Yahweh. A large community like Israel caring for the sick and the forgotten fits perfectly in with the messages of Jesus, and with the New Testament idea of the church being Christ to the lost.
If Israel was the incarnation before Jesus came around, and Christ fulfilled the role until his death, who is the incarnation in today's world? The church. We are the literal hands and feet of God reaching out to the lost and needy of this world. In today's world the church is Jesus. We are Israel.