The incarnation is an important aspect of Christian doctrine. The incarnation only happened once in history and it will not be repeated again. The word “incarnation” can be thrown around to a great extent within Christian circles, theological books, and research papers, yet many people do not know what the incarnation is or what it really means. The question of “What is the Incarnation?” has erupted many times throughout different Christian Ministry classes I took in undergrad. I have also heard many members in the church ask about the incarnation. This article aims to answer the highly anticipated question: “What is the incarnation?”
When anybody refers to the “incarnation” within theological circles, they are referring to the incarnation of Christ. The incarnation of Christ is when Jesus came down from heaven to take on human flesh. In other words, God took on flesh as a human to redeem us from our sins. Since Jesus is the second member of the Trinity, He is God. The two other members of the Trinity are the Father and the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus took on the form of man, which means the incarnation is strictly related to Jesus. Jesus took on human form by being born of the virgin Mary (Galatians 4:4). Unlike mankind, Jesus’ conception was different from the normal union between a man and a woman as He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:34-35).
Throughout Jesus’ life, He never committed a single sin. This is because Jesus is God. God absolutely despises sin and evil, thus, God in the flesh would never commit a sin. The nature of God is love, peace, and forgiveness. There is no darkness or sin within God as He is only light (1 John 1:5). John 1:14 talks of the incarnation as John says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” When John refers to the “Word,” he is referring to Jesus.
The incarnation of Christ is extremely important to Christian doctrine as it attests to the truth that Jesus was fully God and fully man. Jesus being fully God and fully man is known as the hypostatic union. This entails that when Jesus took on human form in the incarnation, He never lost any of His divinity. Throughout Jesus’ earthly life, He displayed His divinity in many ways, such as in His miracles and in His “I AM” statements (John 6:36, 8:12, 10:7-9, 10:11-14, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1-5). The seven “I AM” statements of Christ reflected the “I AM” statements God spoke in the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14). By Jesus making the statements of “I AM,” He was attesting that He was the true I AM, which meant He was informing everyone He was God. Many people believe Jesus never claimed to be God, but He did, such as in the I AM statements.
The incarnation demonstrates not only the divinity of Christ but also His pre-existence. Before the incarnation, Jesus was living outside earth's realm with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 1:1). All three members of the Trinity have been in existence forever as they are all God. One God, yet three distinct Persons. During the Creation of the world, Jesus was with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Many people think only the Father created the world; however, Jesus and the Holy Spirit also equally helped in the creation of the world (Genesis 1:1-2).
After God created the world, He created mankind. Adam was the first man God created and then He created Eve, the first woman. Not long after God had created mankind, Adam and Eve rebelled against God and disobeyed Him. God had told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any of the trees in the Garden, except for one. Not long after this, Eve was tempted by Satan and ate the forbidden fruit. She offered some to Adam and he also ate the forbidden fruit. Once they had committed the sin, they immediately recognized they were naked. Adam and Eve were no longer innocent and without sin. Since they knew they had disobeyed God and now had realized they were naked, they hid from God. God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins to cover their nakedness and then banished them from the Garden. Adam and Eve were also cursed by God because of their sin (Genesis 3:17-19). Due to the original sin committed by Adam and Eve, mankind was now separated from God because of our sins.
All people today are still separated from God unless they place faith in Jesus. Placing faith in Christ is the only way to be reconnected to the Father and have a right relationship with Him. The incarnation made this possible. Due to Adam and Eve’s sin, a way had to be made to reconnect God with His children. The way was through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation could only be obtained through the death of Christ. The death of Christ could only be accomplished if Jesus was born into the world to save mankind for our sins through the incarnation. Without the incarnation, there would not have been any way for mankind to be redeemed from our sins. In other words, without Jesus taking the form of a human man, dying for the sins of the world, and being resurrected from the dead, we would have no chance of being forgiven. Forgiveness, redemption, and salvation are found in Christ alone. Jesus’ incarnation made it possible for us to know Him and accept Him as our Savior.
Another crucial aspect of the incarnation is the fact that Jesus took on humanity when He left heaven to die for the sins of the world. As previously mentioned, Jesus was fully God and fully man during His incarnation, and He still is fully God and fully man today in heaven. Jesus never gave up His divinity and He will never give up His humanity. The important part to remember when we talk about Jesus’ humanity is that He knows what it is like to be human. He knows what it feels like to be in pain, to cry, and to be tempted. The Lord overcame all of His temptations, yet He can still sympathize with us when we are going through our temptations and give us a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” In every struggle, trial, and temptation that you will go through in your life, Jesus knows what it feels like. He knows what it feels like to be hungry, tired, and deeply anguished. In fact, the Lord has known greater pain in His years on earth than we will ever have to experience.
Ultimately, for all mankind, Jesus suffered immensely on the cross to die for our sins in order for us to be reconciled to the Father. In addition to the extreme physical pain Jesus experienced during His earthly life, He also experienced extreme emotional pain—not to mention that He experienced the pain of separation from the Father as He hanged on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Through the incarnation, Jesus experienced what it was like to be a human, extreme physical and emotional pain, and separation from the Father as He died for the sins of the world. The incarnation was Jesus taking on the form of man in order to redeem us from our sins. We should never forget the importance of the incarnation and how it affects our lives. Even in heaven today, Jesus is still fully man and fully God, and He dearly loves us. Through Jesus’ incarnation, we see the undying love of the Creator trying to reconnect with His lost children.
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