Incarnation

The word "incarnation" is not used in the Bible.


But a proper knowledge of this crucial truth in the Scriptures is essential to fully understand and appreciate God's plan for redemption and the goal of our salvation. I would even say that the incarnation is the beginning of the manifestation of the gospel of God and a revelation of His eternal purpose.


Incarnate -- to give bodily form and substance to, to give a concrete or actual form to.
Incarnation -- the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form, the union of divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ. (Webster)


I believe the greatest question anyone could ever ask is "Who is Jesus Christ?". Even Jesus himself asked his disciples this exact question (Matt. 16:13-15). Was he really God? And if so, how could that be? How did that happen? What does this mean? Or was he just the Son of God? In what way was he the Son of God? And was he a genuine man? Was he just like us? Did he ever sin? Was he even tempted to sin? What kind of man was he?


All of these questions and more are answered in the incarnation!


There is a wonderful verse in the Old Testament that says, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). This verse is clearly a prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus Christ. A child, a son, who is called the Everlasting Father. A mystery? Yes! But a mystery that has been uncovered. Read Romans 16:25-26.


Now let's take a look at some of what the New Testament says about this mystery of the incarnation:

Matthew 1:18 -- "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit."

- A child conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the young virgin Mary.

- He would be called Jesus, which comes from the Hebrew name Joshua and means "the salvation of the Lord." He was to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).

- He would also be called Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23) meaning "God with us"; the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. Jesus! Emmanuel! God with us! This is the incarnation; God becoming man; divinity putting on humanity; God manifested in the flesh; the eternal, being clothed with the temporal; God and man becoming one!

John 1:1, 14 -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

- The Word was God; the Word became flesh.

- No one had ever seen God; now He was embodied in the flesh (Col. 1:19; 2:9).

- His opposers knew He was making Himself equal with God (John 5:18).

- He told them that if they knew Him, they would know the Father (John 8:19).

- At least four times, He told them He was in the Father and that the Father was in Him (John 10:38; 14:10-11; 17:21).

- He told His disciples that if they have seen Him, they have seen the Father (John 14:7-9).

Romans 1:1-4 -- "Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

- The gospel of God, which is also called the gospel of the promise (Acts 13:32), is concerning both the incarnation and the resurrection of the Son of God.

- His humanity was in the lineage of David; His divinity was from the Holy Spirit of which He was conceived.

Romans 8:3 -- "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh."

- Although He was a genuine man, He came only in the likeness of the flesh of sin.

- Yes, as a man He was tempted like us (Heb. 2:18).

- Yet, He was without sin (Heb. 4:15).

- Through Mary, God took on humanity; He put on the likeness of the flesh of sin. But having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and not the seed of man, the sinful nature was not passed on to Him.

Now that we have some basic understanding of the manifested mystery of the incarnation of God, the next question to ask is "why?". For what reason did God become a man? Why did divinity become one with humanity? My simple answer would be: to accomplish redemption and produce many sons of God (Gal. 4:4-5).

Since next week's topic will be on redemption, followed by other related topics including the salvation which makes us sons of God, I expect that a greater understanding and appreciation of the incarnation will develop during this period of time. Glory be to God!

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