from Israel My Glory, Vol. 60, No.1
The Incarnation:
Why Would God Do Such a Thing?
by Peter Colón
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
—Charles Wesley
When Jesus Christ came to
Earth to dwell among
men, the greatest onetime
event in all history finally
occurred—the manifestation of
God in the flesh. Jesus, the eternal
second person of the triune God,
took on Himself humanity (Jn.1:1,
14). Incarnation is the term used to
convey this essential Christian doctrine,
which has at its core the fact
that God so loves us that He condescended
to become one of us so
He could do for us what we could
not do for ourselves.
Scripture teaches that God purposed
and planned the incarnation
before the foundation of the world (1
Pet.1:20; Heb.10:5). It even was foretold
in the Old Testament. Isaiah 9:6
states that “a child” (Messiah) would
be born, a reference to His humanity;
but it also states, “a son is given,”
suggesting His purpose and divinity.
Further more, this verse says this
child will be called “The Mighty
God” and “The Everlasting Father.”
Jesus Christ possessed a human body
but with one big difference: He was
sinless. Scripture is clear that He
came “in the likeness of sinful flesh”
(Rom. 8:3, italics added).
The question often arises, Why
would God take on the frailty of
human flesh and dwell among
men? The Bible asserts three major
purposes for the incarnation.
To Redeem Sinners
(Jn. 6:38–40)
Remarkably, God wanted to
identify with humanity in order to
provide an effective sacrifice for our
sin. A poet once said, “He forsook
the courts of everlasting day and
took with us a house of darksome
clay.” Redemption was the divine
reason for the incarnation. Adam
and Eve’s transgression in the
Garden of Eden doomed mankind
with an active sin nature (Eph. 2:1–3)
and severed our relationship with
God. Then, to add more misery to
man’s hopeless predicament,
Scripture states that the payment for
sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Whether the
world knew it or not, it desperately
needed a Savior.
In Old Testament times, animal
sacrifices served as short-term
solutions. However, something
far better and permanent was
needed. God became flesh so He
could die a physical death as the
final sacrifice for our sins.
Because Jesus is God, His onetime
death and resurrection were sufficient
to pay for the sins of all
humanity (Heb. 10:1–9), “once for
all” (Heb. 10:10). As Jesus said, “If
any man hear my words, and
believe not, I judge him not; for I
came, not to judge the world but
to save the world” (Jn. 12:47).
Paul, the former rabbi of Tarsus,
left no doubt as to the intent of the
incarnation: “This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). God
became a man to redeem lost sinners.
An old hymn by Cecil F. Alexander
aptly reflects this sentiment:
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He, only, could unlock the gates
Of heaven and let us in.
To Regenerate Sinners
(Jn. 10:10)
During World War II, a pilot on
a bombing mission in the South
Pacific got lost and could not find
his aircraft carrier. His plane was
low on fuel; and he knew the crew
would have to land on one of the
islands that dotted the ocean,
many of which were inhabited by
cannibals. The pilot was desperate.
As they neared an island, the navigator
called out, “We’re all right;
there’s a church down there. I see a
cross on the steeple!” Later, when
remembering how relieved he was
to have seen the church, the pilot
became a Christian.
The navigator knew the church
meant that chances were good
the inhabitants no longer were
cannibals and would be governed
by biblical principles.
This account illustrates the
second purpose for the incarnation:
to regenerate sinners and
destroy the Devil’s influence on
mankind (1 Jn. 3:2).
This world is governed by the
powers of darkness (Jn. 14:30;
16:11; Eph. 2:2; 6:12; Col. 1:13). The
incarnation challenged Satan in his
own arena:
Forasmuch, then, as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of
the same, that through death he
might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil,
And deliver them who, through
fear of death, were all their lifetime
subject to bondage (Heb. 2:14–15).
Since God incarnate took the initiative
to redeem us back to
Himself—to purchase us out of
Satan’s clutches—He also had the
prerogative to bestow His holy
nature on those who believe and are
saved. To be regenerated means a
whole new life, one that reflects the
image of God and godliness. God,
having become flesh, made it possible
for sinful people to live “abundant”
lives (Jn. 10:10), unfettered by
sin and its awful consequences.
Lew Wallace was a famous
American Union Civil War general
and literary genius. He and his
famous ungodly friend, Robert
Ingersoll, once agreed to write a
book that would forever destroy the
“myth” of Christianity—the main
“myth” being that Jesus was God in
the flesh. For two years, Wallace
gathered information from the leading
libraries of Europe and
America. He got no further than
chapter two when he suddenly
found himself on his knees, crying
out, “My Lord, and my God.” He
had found his evidence, and it overwhelmingly
and conclusively supported
the deity of Christ. He could
no longer deny that Jesus Christ
was the Son of God. So Wallace
abandoned his project and became
a Christian. Later he wrote one of
the finest novels ever written concerning
the time of Christ, Ben Hur.
Only the incarnation can make
possible such a change and enable
sinful people to live God-filled, God-centered lives. Scripture states
that God “hath saved us, and called
us with an holy calling . . . hath
abolished death, and hath brought
life and immortality to light through
the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:9–10). God
became flesh to instill a godly
nature into sinful man and crush the
Devil’s authority over humanity.
We'll continue with the third major purpose for the incarnation next week.
 Peter Colón is the Southeastern States director for The Friends of Israel.
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