Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Genesis 3:8a

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 
Exodus 40:34

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 
Matthew 1:23

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In the beginning, God created a garden and humans to dwell within it. And while that garden was home for the woman and man, they weren’t left there alone. God was with them in the garden—not just in an unseeable, intangible Spirit, but in a physical, perceivable way. The man and woman heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden—a rustling of plants, the padding of footsteps on the earth, perhaps a hum or a whisper of hello to the critters scurrying among the trees. A very real, very physical God was with the humans from the beginning. 

Even after humanity was banished from the garden, God’s intention was never to leave the people alone. God called a people out of the brokenness and built a nation, and in the center of that nation, God commanded them to build a tabernacle. A place where God’s presence would dwell among the people. Amidst the wilderness, Moses would speak to God face to face. 

The tabernacle became the temple. The laments of the exiled often include the cries that the people have been taken from their land, away from their temple, separated from their access to the presence of God. 

And then, the virgin gave birth to a son and they called him Immanuel. God with us. 

The path to our salvation is as tangible as it is holy. 

God has always been finding a way to be with us. Not just in the spiritual realm but in the earthly, the gritty, the palpable. There are very few things that are more visceral, messier, more physical than childbirth. The fragility of a newborn, the ever-changing needs of a growing infant, the dirt-on-the-face, scrape-on-the-knees, laugh-at-the-top-of-your-lungs embodiment of a human child—this was the experience of the very God who made us all. 

Jesus was as human as the rest of us. Jesus knew frailty, brokenness, and temptation. Jesus knew prayers and petitions, heart-cries and tears. 

The incarnation shows us that our bodies, our humanity, our physicality matters. Were it all about the intangible spiritual realm, salvation could have come through another path. But because God wants to be with us—all of us—the path to salvation came in the form of a human, redeeming not just our hearts, but our entire being. 

Next Steps

Do something embodied as an act of prayer today. Go on a run or walk,  or make something with your hands. As you do, reflect on the ways you connect with the world around you through your senses. Invite Jesus into the space with you as you reflect, notice, and pray.