In preparing for today’s Word for the Day message, I was struck about how there was very little if any discussion on this matter by other theologians.  There were many messages and writings on the Biblical mandate for the personhood of Jesus, and evidence for His incarnation, but very little talk about the implications of that.  Specifically, we all know and believe that Jesus took on human flesh and was resurrected in bodily form (he did not go back to being a Spirit) forever, but why?  What does this tell us about God?  God is free to do whatever He wills in as much as it conforms to His nature (such as God is not able to lie, because it would contradict His nature).  God certainly was under no requirement to save, or take on human form, unless He chose to do so, and if He did choose to do so, it says something about His nature that should be encouraging to us.  That is what I want to focus in on today.

Because I mostly want to focus in on the implications of Jesus’s Incarnation (taking on flesh), for brevity’s sake, I will only put for the following Scripture as evidence that Jesus was at one point outside of flesh, and chose to take on flesh.

John 1:1-4 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

People often mistakenly believe that Jesus was God’s “Plan B” after Adam sinned.  This is a mistake.  God ordained man to fall (ordination is different from causation which is a topic for another day).  Jesus was God’s plan A because God created all things for His glory to be manifested and known, and God’s glory shines brightest through Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Ephesians 1:3-10 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

What I want to answer two questions from this passage in Ephesians – when did Jesus choose to come and die?  and then what does that tells us about God’s nature?

The answer to the first is given clearly – “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world”  Before Genesis 1:1, before anything had been made, according to the purpose of God’s will, He purposed to save a people through Jesus dying on a cross.  The answer to part of the second question is also given – “In love he predestined”, “to the praise of his glorious grace“, “In him we have redemption“, and “the forgiveness of our trespasses”.  The incarnation of Jesus tells us about the love of God, the grace of God, God as a Redeemer, and the forgiveness of God.  If I can be bold here, the glory of God, specifically the perfections of His love, His unmerited favor (Grace), His being a Savior, and His forgiving nature, would not be known to us in as full a measure as we know God apart from Jesus taking on flesh to die for us.

Let’s keep going with Philippians 2:5-8 – “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The incarnation of God, tells us about the humility of God, and His servant nature.  Why is this important?  Because for those of us who genuinely know God enough to fear His Holy name, we would rightly tremble at the mere thought of approaching Him apart from Jesus.  This is why we can have confidence in Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Apart from the Incarnation of Jesus, we would not know in as full a measure the humility and meekness of God, and we would not know God’s desire to serve (to draw people to Himself).

Finally, the last passage I want to look at is Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The Incarnation of Jesus tells us that our God desires intimacy with us; to know our struggles and temptations, and to be able to offer sympathy and comfort to us.  When we call on God in prayer, we are calling on a God who loves us, who is humble, who sympathizes with us, who offers forgiveness and grace, who redeems, and who always desires to draw us to Himself.  All of this was shown fully in the incarnation of Jesus, and in Him we can have confidence to approach God to receive mercy and grace each day.

My exhortation is to meditate on this scripture.  Sometimes our feelings about God are rooted in “what we think” rather than “what God has revealed” through His Word.  My hope and expectation is that your faith would be edified, that the foundation of your faith in Jesus grows stronger, as you consider how great the love of God towards us truly is in Christ Jesus, who did not need to redeem us, but chose to, and who does not need to receive us now, but desires to.  He has adopted us; we were purchased by His blood.  We are His and He is ours. This was done by taking on flesh to die on a tree for us, so that we could live to know Him and make Him known.  I hope this finds each of you well, and you are taking a step closer to God day by day.

Grace and Peace,

Adam