Chapter 17
Chapter 17

Jesus Christ and the Incarnation

   We now come to the study of the most striking miracle of creation, the Incarnation. We have seen that if man were to be redeemed, the incarnation was inevitable.
   Man’s need demanded an incarnation of God’s son. Man was spiritually dead (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12, 18; Ephesians 2:1-4), a child of Satan, without any approach to God.
   The incarnation of Deity and humanity united in such a manner that the incarnate one could stand as man’s mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
   Being equal with God on one hand and united with man on the other, He could bring the two together and thereby bridge the chasm between fallen man and God (John 14:6).
   Also being Deity and humanity united, as a man he could assume the obligations of human treason and pay the penalty, be freed from the authority of Satan (Hebrews 2:14,15; Colossians 1:13,14) and given the right to receive the nature of God (John 1:12).

An Important Fact about the Incarnation

   The incarnate one could not be born by natural generation. It was not possible for God to come into a child who had been born of natural generation, and make that one an incarnation.
   We have seen that by one man death (the nature of Satan) entered the world and passed upon all men (Romans 5:12). So that by the trespass of one man, Adam, the whole human race died spiritually (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12).
   Read Romans 5:12-21. "Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world, and so death passed upon all men." The 13th verse of Romans chapter five -- "so through one trespass judgment came upon all men to condemnation."
   If Jesus had been born of natural generation and God had come into him, he would have been born a child of Satan with God dwelling in Him. That would not have been incarnation. Such a procedure would utterly destroy the thought of a perfect incarnation of God.
   If on the other hand, God could have eradicated spiritually death from the spirit of one man and dwelt in him, making that one an incarnation; He could have changed the nature of the entire human race in the same way.
   To do this would have been an injustice to Satan, and an injustice to Himself, for the sin problem had not been settled, the penalty of man’s transgression had not been paid.
   The redeemer must be one over whom Satan had no legal claims or authority. This could only come by a redeemer being conceived and born, as was the Babe of Bethlehem.

Born of a Virgin

   God’s first promise of an incarnation is given in His conversation with Satan just after man’s sin of High Treason.
   Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
   God, our heavenly Father, realizes that man’s need can only be met by the incarnation of His son. He realizes that the incarnate one could not be born of natural generation, so He gives a prophecy that a woman shall give birth to a child independent of natural generation, and that it shall be called the seed of the woman.
   Isaiah 7:14, "And He said, hear ye now, oh House of David: is it a small thing to weary men, that you will weary my God also, therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel."
   The child is going to be born of the House of David and the Lord Himself will give you a sign.
   Here He uses the name "Adonai," the God of miracles, Himself, shall show you a miracle, a wonder. Something out of the ordinary is going to take place, and we say, "What is it?"
   He says, "the virgin" as though He had marked her out, "shall conceive and bear a son and His name shall be Emmanuel."
   A virgin is going to give birth to a son, in a supernatural way, and she is going to call His name Emmanuel — God with us, or Incarnation.
   Take in connection with this, Luke 1:31-36, "And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the most High: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David, and He shall reign over the House of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end."
   "And Mary said unto the Angel, How shall this be seeing I know not a man?" "And the Angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also the Holy Thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God." The child, you will notice, is conceived of the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural birth.
   God had looked down through the ages and marked out Mary, the daughter of Heli, and the family of David. She was a cousin of Joseph who was also of the family of David; so the prophet exclaimed, "Oh House of David, is it a small thing that you weary me, I will show you a sign."
   He is marking out this daughter of David, who is going to give birth to that wonderful being in a manger cradle in Bethlehem 750 years later.
   Jeremiah 31:22 God declares, "A woman shall encompass a man." More literally, "a woman shall encompass a man-child." This incarnate one could not be born of natural generation, because man is a fallen being and his offspring is subject to Satan.
   This seed must be one who is not a subject of Satan, and so this wonderful being must be conceived of the Holy Spirit, and the womb of the Virgin is to be simply the receptacle of the Holy one, to clothe Him in flesh and then to be born as a Babe.
   Isaiah 42:6 says, "I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness and will hold thy hand and will form thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles."
   Adam was created; the rest of the human race was generated by natural processes, but this child that was going to be born, is to be formed by a special act of Divine power.
   Hebrews 10:5 "Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me." God gave to His son a prepared body, by avenue of the Virgin birth.
   Paul speaks of His birth in the following words: "Who existing in the form of God counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and being in the likeness of men, He humbled Himself becoming obedient unto death, yea the death of the cross."
   Notice these terms: He had existed always in the form of God, but now He empties Himself and takes the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man.
   All these suggest a separate and distinct operation of God, different from natural generation. He is a being with whom God performs a miracle, by taking Him out of the Godhead or from the Godhead in heaven, and placing Him in the womb of a Virgin to be in union with flesh by a unique conception.
   This is the reason for Paul saying: "Wherefore, when He cometh into the world He saith, sacrifice thou wouldest not but a body thou prepare for me" (Hebrews 10:5). We repeat: God prepared a body, a special body for this being, called the Son of God.

The Pre-existence of Christ

   The Incarnation presupposes that this being who became Incarnate, had a separate existence previous to His coming to the earth.
   Seventeen times in the Gospel of John, it is declared that Jesus was sent forth from the Father and came to the earth, and that He again left the earth and went unto the Father.
   The entire Gospel of John is based upon the fact that Jesus had a previous existence with the Father, and that while He was walking on the earth, He remembered His experiences in the other world, and spoke to the Father of these experiences. "And now Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory that I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5).
   Christ, while He was facing crucifixion, remembers the glory He had with the Father before the world was. Read also John 3:16, 8:42, 13:13 and 16:28-30.
   Micah 5:2 is a remarkable prophetic utterance of the preexistence of Christ, and His coming to earth: "Out of thee Judah shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler of Israel, and his goings forth have been from of old, even from everlasting."
   Here there is one going to be born of the family of Judah, to be ruler in Israel, and His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
   He has traveled up and down through the eternities and left His footprints on the ages.
   John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "In the beginning" this being, existed in the beginning - in eternity. "The Word was with God" — the eternal one was with God, with Him in fellowship and purpose, working with Him.
   Hebrews 1:2 It was "through him He made the worlds." John 1:3 "All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."
   It is well at this point to recall in the opening lessons that the word "God" in Genesis 1:1 is "Elohim," a plural word, revealing the trinity at work in creation.
   In Genesis 1:26 we hear His words: "Let us make man in our own image." This being who became incarnate, that He might become man’s redeemer, we behold at Creation. "The Word was God." This eternal being who was in fellowship and companionship with God was God. He possessed the same nature. He existed in the same form on an equality with God (Philippians 2:6).
   John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father."
   This being became flesh. He became man and dwelt among us. He became human, as much man as though He had never been anything else; yet, He did not cease to be what He had been. He made His home among us and we beheld the glory of God. He was the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). He was the exact representation of God’s being (Hebrews 1:3 Rogherham).
   From the time of the entrance of spiritual death into the world, until His birth, God was working toward the Incarnation and repeatedly gave promises of Christ’s coming, ministry, death, and resurrection.
   His sufferings: Genesis 3:15; Psalm 21:1, 22:1-8, 31:13, 89:38-45; Isaiah 53:1-12; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 13:1.
   His death and burial: Numbers 21:9; Psalm 16:10, 22:16, 49:15; Isaiah 53:8 & 9.
   His resurrection: Psalm 16:10, 17:15, 49:15, 73:24; Jonah 1:17.
   His ascension: Psalm 8:5-6, 24:7, 47:5, 68:18, 110:1.
   His future triumphs: Isaiah 40:10; Daniel 2:44, 7:13:14, 27; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1-7.
   The Redeemer: Job 19:25-27; Genesis 48:16; Psalm 19:14; Isaiah 41:14, 44-46, 47:7, 59:20, 62:11, 63:1-9; Jeremiah 50:35; Genesis 22:8; Isaiah 53:7.

Eternally United

    We note here that when Christ became a man in the Incarnation, that He became a man for eternity. He did not assume humanity as a garment to be worn for 33 years and then cast off and laid aside, but He became a man to be a man forever. Today at the Father’s right hand, there is a man in heaven as a result of the Incarnation (1 Timothy 2:5).

Man in God’s Image

    The fact that it was possible for Deity and Humanity to become united in one individual for eternity reveals the place the first man held in the plan of Almighty God. He had created man in His own image, just a shade lower than Himself (Genesis 1:26 and Psalm 8:5 - Revised Version).
   Man had been created so near like God that it was possible for God and man to become united eternally in one individual. It was possible that God and man become united.
   God can dwell in these human bodies of ours. God can impart His life and nature to our spirits and dwell in our human bodies.
   If Jesus was an incarnation, then immortality is a fact. If we receive eternal life for our spirits, we have positive assurance that our bodies will become immortal at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
   If the Incarnation is a fact, Christianity is supernatural. Every man who has been born again is an incarnation. The believer is as much an incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth. God can eradicate spiritual death from man and give man His life, because the claims of justice have been met in Christ.
   We cannot conceive any one desiring to doubt the Incarnation. It is the only answer to the cry of the human heart for God. It is the only solution to the human problems of sin, suffering, disease, and death.
   The Incarnation proves the preexistence of Christ, and is the foundation and reason for all subsequent miraculous manifestations of Divine power. The Incarnation is the basic miracle of Christianity.


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