“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” ~ Col 1:17
The incarnation is one of the most interesting theological mysteries in the Bible. There are countless questions that the incarnation raises, and one of the most complex is how the One Being through whom all matter in the universe holds together could take on human flesh as a baby.
Think through why this is so radical. First, the Bible teaches that all things that exist hold together in Him. The author of Hebrews says that all things hold together ‘by the word of His power’, and Paul affirms this reality in Col 1:17. The obviously implication is that all matter—stars, flowers, your eyes as you read this—are being actively held together by the power of Jesus now. Further, all things that have ever existed were held together by His divine power at all points in history.
The Bible also teaches that Jesus was born as a baby in the town of Bethlehem. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, and fell asleep. He grew into a toddler, picked up sticks in the field, grew in wisdom and knowledge, learned carpentry, ate dinner with his family, and many other activities.
These sound like two radically different people.
However, they are not different. They are the same, and what’s more, they are the same person concurrently. Jesus was a baby in a manger, and was holding all things together by His power. He was sharing a loaf of bread with His brothers, and was maintaining the material universe.
How can these things be?
To be honest, I have no idea. Theologians can conjecture, and we should try to understand these types of deep theological mysteries. But there are things about God that are mind-bogglingly complex and incomprehensible.
This is ok. If we could understand all the nuances of the incarnation, and we could grasp all the complexities of who God is, we would no longer worship God, but would BE God. But we are not God, and God has come to us!
This is the point of the incarnation, and the reason why the authors of Scripture pay so much attention to the entrance of the Son of God into the world, and to His sustaining character. They don’t try to explain them away, and they don’t try to unite them. They simply explain both, and we are left to worship the power, wisdom, might, and glory of the One who has come.
