Significance of the Incarnation

8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

Beginning = ἀρχή archē = the beginning of the existence of created things; the first moment of time.

13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam’s sin brought death, condemnation and judgment to all of mankind.

As a result, “we were by nature, objects of [God’s] wrath.” (Ephesians 2:3)

Why were we “by nature” objects of wrath?

Because we inherited a fallen and corrupt nature, as a result of Adam’s sin.

There was no getting out of it; the penalty for sin and the end result of God’s wrath is eternal death.

Eternal death was not a ceasing to exist, but an eternal separation from the goodness and love of God in an everlasting, never-ending lake of fire.

Because Adam sinned, we all suffer the consequences of sin. Because Adam sinned, sin came into the world, and with that sin came death.

Because Adam died, I am under the death sentence of God. I will be executed in this world. Yes, I will live forever, I will be raised from the dead, but I must pass through the veil of death because I am a child of Adam.

It is because I am a child of Christ that the sting of that death will be removed, and I will be raised again to eternal life.

Because of the disobedience of Adam to God’s one command, sin and its consequences, death, entered the world.

Sin entered the world.

Sin, singular, not sins, plural, entered the world.

Sin does not represent a particular unrighteous act but rather the inherent propensity to unrighteousness. It was not the many other sinful acts that Adam eventually committed, but the indwelling sin nature that he passed on to mankind.

Just as Adam bequeathed his physical nature to his posterity, he also bequeathed to them his spiritual nature, which henceforth was characterized and dominated by sin.

When Adam sinned, all mankind sinned, and because his first sin transformed his inner nature, that depraved, sinful nature was also transmitted to mankind.

Because he became spiritually polluted, all his descendants would be polluted in the same way.

That pollution has accumulated and intensified throughout the ages of human history.

Instead of evolving, as humanists insist, man has devolved, degenerating into greater and greater sinfulness.

John 1:1, 14 (NIV84)

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh. Incarnation.

Incarnation = “in” and “caro,” “to make into flesh” or “to be made flesh”

Became = γίνομαι ginomai = to experience a change in nature and so indicate entry into a new condition; Spoken of persons or things which receive any new character or form; become, to come to or acquire or experience a state.

‘the Word became a human being’ or ‘the Word became a person’ One must beware in the case of Jn 1:14 not to employ some expression which would suggest that Christ had lost his divine nature in becoming a person or that he only appeared to be human (Docetism).

The birth of the Lord Jesus was unique. When any other child is born into this world, it is the creation of a new personality. A new life is created, one that never existed before.

But when Jesus was born, it was not the creation of a new personality at all. It was the coming into this world a person who had existed from all eternity. This was something new in the history of the universe.

Dwelt among us = eskenosen = pitching a tent.

“He tabernacled among us”

The tabernacle was “all glorious within,” but its glory was a hidden glory. There was no great beauty about the tabernacle’s outward appearance.

All the furniture of the outer court was made of ordinary brass (copper). The curtains of the outer court were of unadorned linen bleached white by the sun. The only flash of color was at the gate, which gave access to the brazen altar and hinted at the hidden beauties within.

On the outside, there was nothing particularly glorious about the tabernacle. To the eye of the casual beholder, it was just another tent, spaced off from the tents of the common people and more imposing in its dimensions, but just a tent. Even when the tabernacle was moved from place to place, every piece of golden furniture used within the tabernacle itself was carefully covered from the eyes of the curious.

The inside of the tabernacle, seen only by the priests, was glorious. The inner hangings were of blue, purple, and scarlet, and were fine linen. All the inner furniture was of gold or overlaid with gold. That mysterious shekinah cloud, which overshadowed the camp of Israel, came to rest on the mercy seat in the holy of holies where it bathed all with the light and glory of another world.

The glory of the Lord Jesus was a hidden glory.

When he came to pitch his tent among us, he did not lay aside his Deity, but he veiled his glory.

We beheld His glory = etheasametha = being a spectator with emphasis on the beholder; gazing with a purpose; of regarding with admiration.

Gazing on the incarnate Son of God, they saw one full of grace and truth—the sum total of divine revelation.

Grace corresponds with the revelation of God as love; truth corresponds with the revelation of God as light.

Hebrews 2:14–18 (NIV84)

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—

15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.

17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

V. 14, have = κοινωνέω koinōneō = to have in common; having something in common with others.

All human beings have flesh and blood.

V. 14, shared = μετέχω metechō = taking hold of something that is not naturally one’s own kind.

We by nature are flesh and blood; Christ was not.

Christ willingly took hold of something which did not naturally belong to Him.

He added to Himself our nature in order that He might die in our place, and that we might take hold of the divine nature that did not belong to us.

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV84)

3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Our Lord took hold of human nature without its sin in the incarnation, and held it to Himself as an additional nature, thus associating Himself with the human race in its possession of flesh and blood.

He took to Himself, something with which by nature He had nothing in common.

Human beings possess human nature in common with one another. The Son of God united with Himself, something that was not natural to Him.

Hebrews 2:14 (ESV)

14Since therefore the children share (koinōneō) in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook (metechō) of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Westcott: Koinonia (κοινονια) (share) marks the characteristic sharing of the common fleshly nature as it pertains to the human race at large, whereas

metecho (μετεχο) (partook) speaks of the unique fact of the incarnation as a voluntary acceptance of humanity.

The wrath of God had to be appeased a specific way.

Because man sinned, man had to pay the penalty required to appease the wrath of God.

What was the required penalty? Death!!

Athanasius of Alexandria: Repentance would not satisfy the law which demanded death; nor would it amend a fallen nature.

It would only cause cessation from sin.

[Jesus] assumed a body to offer it for bodies like His own, and to destroy death and the devil (Heb. 2:14).

As through man death obtained the mastery, so through the Word becoming man, death was abolished, and the resurrection assured (1 Cor 15:21).

The reason why the Lord Jesus became incarnate is that He might die. The reason why He needed to die is that through dying and raising Himself out from under death, He might break the power of death by breaking the one who had the power of death.

The word destroy is the translation of katergazo-mai (κατεργαζομαι), which means “to bring to naught, to render inoperative.”

Satan was not annihilated at the Cross. His power was broken.

Power = kratos (κρατος) = power in the sense of dominion.

Satan’s dominion over the human race was in the form of death. That dominion is now broken.

Hebrews 10:1–10 (NIV84)

1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,

4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

6with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

7Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”

8First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made).

9Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

V. 5, God had prepared a body for Jesus before the foundations of the world, before he came the world.

Came = εἰσέρχομαι eisérchomai = to move into a space, either two-dimensional or three-dimensional—‘to move into, to come into, to go into, to enter.’

Jesus came into the world through a human body that was prepared for Him.

Jesus existed before he was born as a baby.

The many prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and the countless events that surrounded the fulfillment of all those prophecies were orchestrated by God.

None occurred by chance or by the will of man.

Philippians 2:1–11 (NIV84)

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,

2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

Philippians 2:6 (NKJV)

6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

He wasn’t claiming something He had no right to claim. It wasn’t robbery for Jesus to claim equality with the Father.

7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

V. 5-6, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God,”

Jesus Christ’s attitude was one of humility and servitude.

The way of humility is not the way of the world. It is especially not the choice of its honored leaders, who are expected to take the very best of everything for themselves. They are accorded the highest places of honor and respect, and they are expected to be served rather than to serve.

Very nature = form = μορφή morphē = form (essence): the expression of something that reflects or manifests fully and truly the essence of what something is.

“We must here dismiss from our minds the idea of shape. The word is used to denote that expression of being which carries in itself the distinctive nature and character of the being to whom it pertains, and is thus permanently identified with that nature and character … As applied to God, the word is intended to describe that mode in which the essential being of God expresses itself.”

Form refers to that outward expression which a person gives of his inmost nature. This expression is not assumed from the outside but proceeds directly from within.

Our Lord was in the form of God. Our Lord’s outward expression of His inmost being was as to its nature the expression of the divine essence of Deity.

To give expression to the essence of Deity implies the possession of Deity, for this expression, according to the definition of our word form, comes from one’s inmost nature. This word alone is enough to refute the claim of Modernism that our Lord emptied Himself of His Deity when He became Man.

V. 7, made himself nothing = κενόω kenóō = to empty oneself, to divest oneself of rightful dignity by descending to an inferior condition, to abase oneself.

Jesus emptied Himself. Of what? Of His divinity? No. When Jesus came as a Man, He was still divine. Then of what did He empty Himself? He emptied Himself of His divine powers.

Everything Jesus did—the miracles He ministered, the prayers He prayed, the teachings He gave—were not done in His own power. Jesus healed and prayed and taught through the power of the Holy Spirit as He followed the Father’s directives.

Prior to His incarnation He was in the form, the essence of God, and after His incarnation He was still in the form of God in spite of His voluntary humiliation.

He never stopped being God.

He was in the form of God before and after the incarnation.

[Jesus] took upon Himself the true essence of a servant. In order to be a servant, He had to become a man and appear in the likeness of men.

By doing this He emptied Himself of the proper recognition that He had with the Father as God who is Spirit and entered into the world of men, most of whom did not at all recognize Him for who He was.

having taken the very nature of a servant = Jesus’ humanity did not displace His Deity in His personality. He took upon Himself voluntarily something which veiled His Deity.

His humanity was the necessary medium through which He would express Himself as a servant of mankind.

The Lord “was made in the likeness of men.”

The words “was made” are the translation of a word meaning to become, which signifies entrance into a new state.

Our Lord entered into a new state of being when He became man. But His becoming man did not exclude His possession of Deity.

He was and is today a Person with two natures: that of absolute Deity and that of humanity.

The text says, “He became in the likeness of men.” The word “likeness” in the Greek text refers to “that which is made like something else.”

Our Lord’s humanity was a real likeness, not a phantom, nor an incomplete copy of humanity.

This likeness did not express the whole of Christ’s being.

His humanity was not all that there was of Him. He was also Deity.

He was not just a man, but the Son of God manifest in the flesh and nature of man.

Philippians 2:8, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even to death on a cross.” (hcsb)

Jesus was crucified. It was the kind of death meted out to criminals, and only to those who were not citizens of the Roman Empire.

1 Corinthians 2:6–8 (NIV84)

6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

If the rulers of this age new God’s mystery plan, they would not have crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s plan would not have been accomplished if Jesus had not been crucified.

John 19:28–30 (NIV84)

28Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

In His omniscience, Jesus knew there was only one remaining prophecy to be fulfilled.

Psalm 69:21 (NIV84)

21They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Jesus knew that by saying, “I am thirsty,” He would prompt the soldiers to give Him a drink. They did not consciously do so to fulfill prophecy or to show compassion. Their goal was to increase the Lord’s torment by prolonging His life.

This was the cheap, sour wine that the soldiers commonly consumed.

It was not the same beverage that the Lord had earlier refused (Matt. 27:34).

That beverage contained gall, which was intended to help deaden His pain so He would not struggle as much while being nailed to His cross.

Jesus had refused it, because He wanted to drink the cup of the Father’s wrath against sin in the fullest way His senses could experience it.

Having received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is finished!” (Gk. tetelestai). Actually, the Lord shouted those words with a loud cry (Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37).

It was a shout of triumph; the proclamation of a victor.

The work of redemption that the Father had given Him was accomplished: sin was atoned for (Heb. 9:12; 10:12;), and

Satan was defeated and rendered powerless (Heb. 2:14; cf. 1 Peter 1:18–20; 1 John 3:8).

Every requirement of God’s righteous law had been satisfied;

God’s holy wrath against sin had been appeased (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10);

every prophecy about Jesus’s birth, death and subsequent resurrection had been fulfilled!

Christ’s completion of the work of redemption means that nothing needs to be nor can be added to it.

Salvation is not a joint effort of God and man, but is entirely a work of God’s grace, appropriated solely by faith (Eph. 2:8–9).

His mission accomplished; the time had come for Christ to surrender His life. Therefore, after “crying out with a loud voice … ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46), He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Jesus voluntarily chose to surrender His life by a conscious act of His own sovereign will. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:18).

That He still had the strength to shout loudly shows that He was not physically at the point of death. That He died sooner than was normal for someone who had been crucified (Mark 15:43–45) also shows that He gave up His life of His own will.

What was the significance of the incarnation?

Adam, or as his name means: Man, sinned.

Therefore, a man had to pay the penalty.

A man had to pay a complete penalty that would appease God’s wrath for all sin.

It would take a perfect and sinless man to appease God’s wrath.

Jesus became a man, to pay the penalty for man’s sin so that God’s wrath would be appeased.

His death brought us life; He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.

Without the incarnation, there would be no crucifixion.

Without the crucifixion and resurrection, we would still be dead in our sins and not freed from the hold of the devil, who holds the power of death.

Hebrews 2:14 (NIV84)

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy (render powerless, nasb95) him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--

“If only in this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:19)

But we do have hope! We do have the complete forgiveness of all our sins! We do have eternal life!

1 Corinthians 15:55–58 (NIV84)

55“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.