Lesson 8 - God the Son: His Incarnation

God the Son: His Incarnation

"When considering the Incarnation, two important truths should be realized: (1) Christ became at the same time and in the absolute sense very God and very man, and (2) in becoming flesh He, though laying aside His glory, in no sense laid aside His deity. In His incarnation He retained every essential attribute of deity. His full deity and complete humanity are essential to His work on the cross. If He were not man, He could not die; if He were not God, His death would not have had infinite value."[1]

1. The Son, Who was with God and is God, took upon Himself humanity (John 1:1; 14; Phil. 2:6-7; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:3, 8).

The Fact of Christ’s Humanity

1. The humanity of Christ was purposed before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-7; 3:11; Rev. 13:8).[2]
2. Every type of prophecy of the Old Testament concerning Christ was an anticipation of the incarnate Son of God (i.e. Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:21-23 & Isa. 53:6; John 1:29 & Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:1-5).
3. The fact of the humanity of Christ is seen in His annunciation and birth (Luke 1:31-35).
4. His life on earth revealed His humanity. “(1) by His human names: “The Son of man,” “The man Christ Jesus,” “The Son of David,” and the like; (2) by His human parentage: He is mentioned as “the fruit of the loins,” “her firstborn,” “of this man’s seed,” “seed of David,” “seed of Abraham,” “made of a woman,” “sprang from Judah”; (3) by the fact that He possessed a human body, soul, and spirit (Matt. 26: 38; John 13: 21; 1 John 4: 2, 9); and (4) by His self-imposed human limitations.”[3]
5. The humanity of Christ is seen in His death and resurrection. It was His humanity that suffered and died on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), and resurrected bodily from the grave (Luke 24:39; John 20:27).
6. The fact of the humanity of Christ is seen in that He ascended to heaven and is now, in His human glorified body, ministering for His own (Acts 1:9; Heb. 7:25).
7. When He comes again it will be the “same Jesus” coming as He went, in the same body (though glorified) in which He became incarnate (Acts 1:11).

Reasons for the Incarnation

1. He came to reveal God to men (Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; 14:9; Rom. 5:8; 1 John 3:16). By the incarnation the incomprehensible God is translated into terms of human understanding.[4]
2. He came to reveal man. He is God’s ideal man and as such is an example to believers (1 Pet. 2:21); but He is never an example to the unsaved, since God is not now seeking to reform the unsaved, but rather to save them.
3. He came to provide a sacrifice for sin. For this reason He is seen thanking God for His human body and this in relation to true sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:1-10).
4. He came in the flesh that He might destroy the works of the Devil (John 12:31; 16:11; Col. 2:13-15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8).
5. He came into the world that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God (Heb. 2:16-17; 8:1; 9: 11-12, 24).
6. He came in the flesh that He might fulfill the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:16; Luke 1:31-33; Acts 2:30, 31, 36; Rom. 15:8). In His glorified human body He will appear and reign as “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS,” and will sit on the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32; Rev. 19:16).
7. As incarnate, He becomes Head over all things to the church, which is the new creation, the new humanity (Eph. 1:22).

 

[1] Lewis Sperry Chafer; John F. Walvoord; Major Bible Themes (Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan Publishing, 2010), 56.

[2] These seven points are taken directly from pages 57-8.

[3] Ibid., 58.

[4] These seven points are taken directly from pages 58-59.