Examining CHRISTMAS: Resurrection and Incarnation

Hank continues his special series leading up to Christmas Day featuring his acronym CHRISTMAS. Today, he picks up with the third and fourth letters of the acronym, “R” and “I”. The “R” in CHRISTMAS refers to Resurrection. This is so transcendently important because, without the Resurrection of Jesus, there is little point in even discussing Christmas. As the Apostle Paul put it in a letter to the Corinthian Christians, “if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless” (1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT). In light of St. Paul’s words, it is incumbent on us to demonstrate that the Christ of Christmas had the power to lay down His life and take it up again. The “I” in CHRISTMAS represents the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—the Incarnation that makes Resurrection possible. Jesus took on all the essential properties of human nature, but he did not take on that which is non-essential—namely, sinful inclinations. In fact, as Adam was created without a proclivity towards sin, so the Second Adam was untainted by original sin.