The Incarnation
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Explain the meaning and significance of the incarnation.
John Milton’s Paradise Lost, God speaking to Jesus: “Thee from my bosom, and right hand, to save, By losing thee a while, the whole Race lost. Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeem, Their Nature also to thy Nature join; and be thyself Man among men on Earth, made flesh, when time shall be, of Virgin seed, by wondrous birth.”
Meaning:
[Council of Nicea A.D.] “Incarnation denotes the embodiment of a deity in human form.”
John 6:38-39 – For I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will but the will of Him that sent me; and this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all that He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
Benjamin B. Warfield, the principal of Princeton Seminary: “The purpose of the incarnation is therefore primarily to please God the Father, and to perform His will. We cannot avoid the implication that the incarnated one comes, therefore, in a subordinate capacity. He came down from heaven not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. He was sent. He was given a commission, a work, to do.”
How was this accomplished?
Luke 1:26-38 – Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Why the Incarnation was Necessary:
Man is Sinful.
Habakkuk 1:13 – “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrong.”
Matthew 6:48- You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Romans 3:10-12 – As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is non who does good, no, not one.”
John Piper, “The Holiness of God, Our Sin, and the Love of Jesus,” April 16, 1981:
All the evil in the world is an offense against the holiness of God and is preparing this world for a cataclysm of divine vindication. The zeal of God burns for the holiness of his great name.
But Man cannot pay for his sin.
“Now if God should call to us an account for the most inoffensive day that ever we passed over, what would become of us? “If though shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, Who could stand?” Ps 103:3… So here we are “without strength”, altogether unable to come up to the obedience of the law of works… we may increase the debt but we cannot lessen it.” Thomas Manton (1620-1677) “Man and Sin.”
Jesus, through the incarnation, paid for our sin.
Hebrews 2:14: “As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise; that through death he might destroy the devil.”
2 Corinthians 5:19: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them”.
Ephesians 1:7 – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
“You paid a debt you did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. And you have nailed it to Your cross. You have taken my sins away. Now I am alive in You. I have redemption through Your blood.”
Significance:
**Our Salvation**
The Teaching of the Apostles would have been lies. The Scriptures would be false.
Application:
Philippians 2:5-8 – Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Katherine McNair
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