God with Skin On: Christophanies and the Eternal Incarnation

Dec 22

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Imagine if God walked into this room right now. What would you do? How would you react if the Creator of the universe stepped into our world? Well, that’s exactly what happened at Christmas. But the incredible thing is, when Jesus took on flesh, He didn’t just make a temporary appearance. He didn’t just visit for a few years, die, rise again, and then leave everything behind. No—He took on flesh forever. He has always existed. He has been evident throughout the entire Bible. And He will be incarnate forever.

Jesus didn’t stop being human after the resurrection. He didn’t ascend back to heaven and shed His human form like an old coat. The incarnation wasn’t a short-term mission. It was God’s eternal commitment to us. The birth of Jesus wasn’t just a miraculous event in history. It was the beginning of something permanent.

Today, as we wrap up our series Reason for the Season, we’re going to explore how Christmas changed everything forever. We’ll see how the Christophanies of the Old Testament foreshadowed this truth and why it matters that Jesus remains incarnate for eternity. Christmas isn’t just a holiday. It’s the moment God came to stay.

Jesus has always existed.

If you think the Christmas story starts in Bethlehem, you’re late to the game. It doesn’t begin with a manger, shepherds, or a star in the sky. The Christmas story starts before the beginning. John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

Did you catch what’s going on here? Before the manger, before the stars, before anything—Jesus was there. He has always existed. Christmas isn’t about the arrival of a new creation. It’s about the eternal stepping into time. Jesus didn’t begin in Bethlehem. He was there when the world was spoken into existence. He was the one who formed the mountains, filled the oceans, and breathed life into humanity.

But here’s the incredible part of the incarnation—the eternal Word, the One who created all things, chose to step into His own creation. Think about that. He didn’t have to. He could’ve stayed at a distance, watching the world unfold from a throne in heaven. But instead, He chose to enter our world, to become one of us. The incarnation was the plan from the start.

But why does this matter? Because if Jesus has always existed, then He wasn’t just another great teacher or prophet—He is God. He wasn’t born simply to give us a good example or to show us how to be better people. He came because, from eternity, He had a mission. The eternal Word took on flesh to rescue us.

This is why Christmas is so much more than just a holiday tradition or a feel-good story. If we only think about Jesus as the baby in the manger, we miss the power of who He really is. The baby in the manger is the Creator of the universe, stepping into the very world He made. This wasn’t a backup plan or a reaction to a broken world. It was God’s eternal purpose.

Jesus appeared in the Old Testament.

If you’ve ever thought the Christmas story started in the New Testament, here’s the reality: Jesus was showing up long before the manger in Bethlehem. Theologians call these “Christophanies”—appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament.[1] These moments are a foreshadowing, in a sense, of what God would ultimately do through the incarnation. Jesus didn’t wait until that silent night in Bethlehem to show up. He’s been active throughout history, long before that.

Think about Genesis 18, where the Lord appears to Abraham as a man, announcing the promise of a son. It wasn’t just a random visit—this was God, the eternal Son, stepping into history to deliver a message of hope. He is called the Lord (Yahweh), and Abraham is talking to Him in person. Hear how it starts out:

Genesis 18:1-3: 1 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.

And remember when Jacob wrestled with God in Genesis 32?

Genesis 32:24–25, 28–30: 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him… 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

The text tells us he wrestled with a “man” all night, and afterward, he said, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered” (Genesis 32:30). Who was that man? Many believe it was Jesus, showing up long before His incarnation to engage with Jacob, who would be renamed Israel. He was present and interacting with His people.

And then, there’s the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into the flames, and suddenly there’s a fourth figure walking with them. Nebuchadnezzar says, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3:25). That wasn’t just any angel. That was Jesus. Long before He took on flesh in Bethlehem, He was there, walking in the fire with His people, delivering them.

Other times you see Jesus appear on the scene, many believe is when “the Angel of the Lord” is mentioned.[2] For instance, when this “Angel” appears to Samson’s mother to tell her that he would be born.

Judges 13:3–6: 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name.

These Christophanies reveal a profound truth: Jesus didn’t first arrive on the scene in Bethlehem, but He has always been present, involved, and working in the world. These Old Testament appearances are a preview of the ultimate moment when He would take on flesh permanently. Christophanies show that God has been making Himself known to humanity all along, and the incarnation is the culmination of that revelation. God wasn’t distant in the Old Testament, and He isn’t distant now. He was, and always has been, actively revealing Himself.

The same Jesus who showed up to wrestle with Jacob, who delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and who spoke to Abraham, is the same Jesus who came to dwell with us permanently. The incarnation is the fulfillment of every appearance of Christ in the Old Testament, showing us that God’s plan wasn’t a last-minute rescue. It was an eternal commitment.

So why does this matter for us today? It means that Jesus’ involvement in the world didn’t start and won’t end with Christmas. He’s been there from the beginning, walking alongside His people, guiding, protecting, and revealing Himself. When He took on flesh, it was the culmination of a story He’d been telling all along. The God who was with Abraham, Jacob, and Daniel is the same God who is with us now.

Jesus took on flesh at the incarnation and will remain incarnate forever.

If there’s one name that sums up Christmas, it’s “Immanuel.” In Matthew 1:23, the angel declares, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” Immanuel” reminds us that Jesus is not an ordinary baby. He is God. He is truly God and truly man.[3] Now, it’s easy to think that this passage just refers to Jesus coming to earth as a baby and growing up among us. But if that’s all we think it means, we’re missing the full power of the incarnation.

God didn’t just take on flesh for 33 years and then leave us. He didn’t return to heaven and shed His humanity. No—when Jesus became human, He became human forever. The miracle of Christmas isn’t just that God came near. It’s that He made a permanent commitment to be with us. Jesus chose to remain fully God and fully man, even after His resurrection.

The same John who wrote “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” also saw Jesus again after His ascension into heaven. And hear how he describes Him.

Revelation 5:4-6 – 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…

The eternal Son of God, who had always existed, joined Himself to humanity forever. When He ascended back to heaven, He didn’t discard His human body. He brought His glorified, resurrected humanity with Him. Think about that. The eternal God, who had no need of anything, chose to take on flesh and remain in that state permanently. Why? Because that’s the kind of commitment He has toward us. He didn’t want to remain distant or separate. He wanted to forever bridge the gap between God and humanity.

This truth should change how we view Christmas. We’re not just celebrating a temporary event in history. We’re celebrating the beginning of an eternal reality. The God who walked with Adam in the garden, who appeared in the Old Testament as a man, has committed to being with us permanently. The incarnation is God’s eternal declaration that He is committed to being with us, not just in spirit, but in flesh, for all of time.

Jesus affirmed everything we have said about His deity, Him being God in the flesh. And thinking about it forces us to confront what the reality of Christmas means.

Jesus is either liar, lunatic, or Lord.

When you think about Jesus, what comes to mind? Some people say He was a great teacher, and others think He was just a prophet or a kind man who lived a long time ago. But Jesus didn’t leave us with the option to see Him that way. He said things that demand a response. In John 8:58, He looked at the religious leaders and said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” He wasn’t just saying He existed a long time ago. He was claiming to be God, using the very name God gave Moses at the burning bush, “I Am.” The people knew exactly what He meant, and they picked up stones to kill Him because they thought He was committing blasphemy.

This forces us to ask a huge question. Who is Jesus? Because if He made that claim, and if everything we’ve talked about in this series is true, we really only have three options. He was either lying, or He was crazy, or He was exactly who He said He was.

Think about this. If Jesus was lying, then He intentionally deceived people. He told them He was God, knowing it wasn’t true, and He led them to trust Him with their lives and even die for Him. But does that make any sense? His whole life was about truth and love. He stood up to hypocrites and called out injustice. He healed people, forgave sins, and brought hope. Does that sound like someone who would lie about the most important thing? And if He was lying, why would He go to the cross? Why would He let Himself be tortured and killed for something He knew was a lie? People don’t die for things they make up.

But maybe He was delusional. Maybe Jesus thought He was God but was just out of His mind. That’s what some people think, but does that line up with what we see? Look at His teachings. They are full of wisdom and depth. They have changed the world for thousands of years. And look at the way He lived. He was calm when everyone else was panicking, and He was focused when everyone else was distracted. He forgave the very people who nailed Him to the cross. Is that how someone crazy acts? His life was consistent, and His words were powerful. There’s no sign of delusion.

C.S. Lewis, who was an atheist turned Christian, famously made this argument in his book Mere Christianity. Hear what he says:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . . . Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”

The only option left is that Jesus is who He said He is. He is Lord. He wasn’t just a teacher or a prophet or a nice guy. He is God. And He didn’t just claim it. He proved it. He rose from the dead. He walked out of the grave and appeared to hundreds of people. His resurrection shows us that everything He said is true. At Christmas, God the Son took on flesh to live the perfect life we can’t live to die a death on a cross that we deserve. And to defeat it. To rise victoriously to give us life now and forevermore in His presence.

So the real question isn’t whether Jesus claimed to be Lord. It’s whether you believe it. If He is Lord, then you can’t just admire Him or celebrate Him at Christmas. You have to surrender to Him. He came to save us and invite us into a relationship with Him. So who do you say He is? That question changes everything. And you must answer that question. Will you confess Jesus as Lord today?

Romans 10:9: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

[1] https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/incarnation/theophanies-in-the-old-testament

[2] Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of this “Angel” as given in the various passages.

The “Angel” is referred to with masculine pronouns (Genesis 16:13; Judges 6:21).
He is identified as God (Judges 6:11, 14; Zechariah 12:8).
He performed miracles (Judges 6:21; 13:20).
Gideon and Manoah thought they would die because they saw the “Angel” face to face (Judges 6:22; 13:22).
The “Angel” accurately foretold future events (Judges 13:3).
His name is “wonderful” (Judges 13:18; cf., Isaiah 9:6).
He destroyed 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army in one night (2 Kings 19:35).

[3] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/theological-primer-hypostatic-union