The Incarnation of the Lord Jesus

In the fullness of time the Word, who created all things Himself, became flesh: “In the beginning was the Word… All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1-4,14). With the incarnation of the Word He temporarily surrendered His glory but not His essential deity.
In self-sacrificing love He condescended from His throne position in heaven to take upon Himself the likeness of men. He even came in the likeness of a servant who had no comeliness or beauty that we should desire Him (Is. 53:2).
He humbled Himself to be scoffed at and be crucified to die a cruel and despicable death on behalf of all sinners: “Christ Jesus who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8).
“Christ’s humiliation included His making Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, and being made in human likeness. These statements indicate that Christ became a man, a true human being… He emptied Himself… ‘Likeness’ suggests similarity but difference. Though His humanity was genuine, He was different from all other humans in that He was sinless (Heb. 4:15). Thus it is seen that Christ, while retaining the essence of God, was also human. In His incarnation He was fully God and fully man at the same time. He was God manifest in human flesh” (Walvoord & Zuck 1983:654). He was truly Emmanuel – “God with us” (Mt. 1:23)
For Jesus Christ to be able, according to God’s standards, to become the Saviour of the world, He had to be the perfect God-Man. He had to be born from a human lineage (the house of David in the tribe of Judah) to become the Son of man. At the same time, a man could not beget Him as He would then have inherited the sinful nature of fallen man. Through divine intervention He had to be born from a virgin to also be called the Son of God: “The virgin’s name was Mary… And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Lk. 1:27,35 NKJV).
In the capacity of Jesus as Son of man the Father has begotten Him and is consequently bigger than Him. As a human being, Jesus explicitly subjected Himself to the will of His Father (Mt. 26:39); but in His capacity as God He is equal to and one with the Father, so could say: “I and my Father are one” (Jn. 10:30). If He was only an ordinary human being who was subject to the consequences of the Fall, He would not have been the spotless and perfect Lamb of God who could pay the infinite penalty for our sins.
Jesus, the Word of God that became flesh, “was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (Jn. 1:10). He was not recognised as God in human likeness (Jn. 14:8-9). During His incarnation, the Word took upon Himself a human form and nature that He did not have previous to the incarnation. Apart from still being God, He also became a created being – the Son of man: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Gal. 4:4 NKJV). However, the incarnation of the Word in no way excluded His essential deity.
In John 5, the equality of Jesus and His Father is confirmed in a sevenfold way:
·       They are equal in works: “…for what things soever [the Father] doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (v. 19).
·       They are equal in knowledge: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does” (v. 20 NKJV).
·       They are equal in quickening power: “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will” (v. 21).
·       They are equal in judgement: “For the Father…hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (v. 22).
·       They are equal in the honour due to them: “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (v. 23).
·       They are equal in recreating power: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life…[and] is passed from death unto life… The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live” (v. 24,25).
·       They are equal in self-existence: “For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (v. 26).
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal in glory, knowledge, grace and eternal self-existence.