”Thoughts on the Lord’s Day”
“D-Day Invasion vs. the Incarnation.”
Twenty months before I was born, the invasion of Normandy took place on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It’s still the largest seaborne landing in history. It has not only taught young men and women the horror and carnage of war, it also displayed the tremendous courage of American, British, Canadian, Polish and Free French troops during this pivotal moment during World War II.
In the first few hours, more than 2,400 died at Omaha Beach. The first wave of troops at Juno Beach suffered 50 percent casualties in the hail of bullets as the boat ramps were lowered. Over the next few weeks as the allies pushed inward, the US would lose 29,000 men and more than 100,000 wounded and missing.
The preparations and costs in terms of human lives was enormous. But, the successful invasion on D-Day settled the outcome of World War II. Once the allied forces had established a beachhead in Europe, the die was cast. And, the final outcome was no longer in doubt, despite the Battle of the Bulge and a couple of other last desperate attempts by Hitler and fascism.
However, a far greater invasion took place nearly 2,000 years earlier than D-Day. God, in the great cosmic struggle between good and evil, chose to deal with Satan’s rule over the earth. He invaded earth, but not with massive logistical support and huge armies. It was a quiet invasion. Few people knew about or even understood what was happening.
God chose to invade planet earth in the person of His Son, what Christians call the Incarnation–God made flesh. He did so to rescue fallen humans. He became human so we could become holy. God, in the form of a baby, appeared not with trumpets sounding and hoof beats of great armies thundering at His command.
He was born in a borrowed manger, a feeding trough. Road into town as an adult on a borrowed donkey. When He was buried, He was buried in a borrowed tomb. His message was radical and signaled the end of Satan’s reign. He truly was a man for all seasons, a suffering servant, not ashamed to call the despised and forsaken His brothers and sisters, nor to bear the sins many keep secret.
The revolutionary nature of God’s invasion of our world is far more significant than all other invasions taken together. The invasion by one Man established the possibility of the rule of God in every human heart and began the reclamation of our world as God’s very own.
This is the heart of Christianity. Jesus’ invasion, the establishment of a spiritual beachhead on earth, Satan’s territory, assured that victory is assured and will become completed. Not when He comes alone the second time, but when He comes accompanied by all the armies of Heaven. As a Believer, I intend to be in that Army of the Redeemed, forever ending the kingdom of darkness. How about you?