Incarnation
Overview
The incarnation is the eternal Word’s becoming flesh: the divine Son taking to himself a true human nature, born of a woman, without ceasing to be God. In Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, deity and humanity are joined in one person for our salvation.
Canonical Development
The Old Testament prepares the way with promise. Isaiah foretells that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son called Immanuel, “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14), and that unto us a child is born whose name is “The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Micah names Bethlehem as the birthplace of one whose goings forth have been from everlasting (Micah 5:2). The New Testament announces the fulfillment: the Word who was in the beginning with God and who was God was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1–14). Paul writes that when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law (Galatians 4:4), and that Christ, being in the form of God, took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:5–8). Paul calls this the great mystery of godliness: “God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). Hebrews explains the purpose: because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise took part of the same, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and deliver them through death (Hebrews 2:14–17).
Key Anchors
- Incarnation — The Word made flesh, foretold in Isaiah and fulfilled in the Gospels
- Annunciation and the birth of Jesus — The promise entering human history through Mary
- Mary (Mother of Jesus) — The woman of whom the Son was made
Key Books
Notes
The incarnation is the ground of atonement: only one who is truly man can die for men, and only one who is truly God can give that death infinite worth. Immanuel means that God has drawn near to dwell with us forever.