Picture yourself wearing the finest garment daily, symbolizing the greatest honour and achievement. Instead of keeping that on, you trade it for an old, worn-out shirt that you would wear for the hardest, dirtiest tasks. Would you do it? Jesus did exactly that. Though He was God, He left His throne above in heaven and chose to live among us, not with the power and glory of a king, but in the humble role of a servant.

This passage in Philippians, called the hymn of Christ, is extraordinarily rich and deep. Here, we see three portraits of Jesus: His deity, humanity and servanthood. The first is Jesus’ pre-existence in substance and being, which is equal to God in every way. He is the God of every god and has never lost sight of His divinity.

Didn’t He pray, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5)? He also claimed to be God when He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Second, He descended and took upon Himself human clothing—born of the Virgin Mary, stripped of all His privileges, glory and power. Still God, but now in the flesh. “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way …” (Hebrews 2:17a). He is truly God and truly human. He is fully one of us but without sin.

Third, He descended further down and took the lowly clothing of a servant. John the Baptist, another miraculous birth whose parents were past the child-bearing age, was born to a father who was a respected priest. John was special, but not Jesus. Jesus was born to ordinary parents and lived without drawing attention in any way. Jesus got His identity through His service. Remember the scene in the upper room where He washed His disciples’ feet with a basin and a towel (John 13)? That was always His posture. He served in total dependence on and obedience to God, doing God’s will (John 4:34) rather than His own (Luke 22:42). God’s will for Him finally led Him to the cross, the ultimate place of the surrender of the flesh to the will of God, which is also the ultimate sacrifice and the most extraordinary love story!

Jesus’ incarnation reveals that both the physical and spiritual realms are equally sacred and will dwell together in integrity for eternity, contrary to the common belief that matter and flesh are evil. It also exposes the graveness of sin in terms of its cost. But above all, it reveals God’s great love for us, that He became Emmanuel, God with us, died our death, redeemed us and reconciled us to God.

In Nagaland (India), a Christian state, we rally around the slogan “Nagaland for Christ.” After 150 years of Christianity, Sunday involves tremendous traffic and packed churches. The churches are frequently the most noticeable structures in prominent areas around the state. Prayer houses are found on nearly every street. People tithe religiously. But there’s a disturbing truth lurking beneath this seeming devotion. Unfortunately, Nagaland is known less for faith and more for its corruption, falling-apart infrastructure, wasteful spending and rising unemployment. We need more than simply Christianity. We need to return to Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, who offers genuine transformation.

Just as Christ put on the garment of humanity and served others, we are now called to put on Christ. This means clothing ourselves in humility, kindness, patience and love (Colossians 3:12). The incarnation is not just a story we remember but a call to live differently. Think of your life as a wardrobe. Each day, we choose what to wear. Will we wear pride, selfishness and anger, or will we wear the garments of humility, service and love? Christ wore the clothes of servanthood, love and humility. These new clothes don’t just change how we look on the outside. They change who we are on the inside.

This Advent, as we ponder the greatness of the incarnation, may we remember that the incarnation continues in and through us. Have a merry Christmas, everyone!