Having seen to some degree the importance of the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had a body, I will continue to discuss this actual, physical body our Lord obtained.
The Body of Christ before His Birth
First, I want to look at the body Christ had before He was born. Jesus Christ did exist before He was born. No, I am not teaching the false idea that when Christ was born He was reincarnated. Reincarnation is a lie from hell. However, Christ did exist prior to His birth in the form of God. At His birth, He who was in the form of God took upon Himself the form of flesh – the form of a servant:
Philippians 2:6, 7 – “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.”
Christ existed before He was born. His existence was not in the form of an animal, another human being, or any earthly creature. He existed in the form of God!
Although Christ existed before He was born – He had no human body! His Father prepared Him a body. The scripture records this conversation between the Father and the Son, concerning the Son receiving a body. Before I look at this conversation, allow me to briefly discuss a couple of points that will benefit the reader.
God is Holy!
This is the forgotten attribute of God today. When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, the heavenly hosts cried out, “Holy, holy, holy!” The church world today cries out, “Love, love, love!” But Isaiah beheld angelic beings acknowledging the holiness of God. Upon beholding God in his holiness, Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me! For I am undone!” In the first five chapters of Isaiah, we read where Isaiah cries out against the sins of various people. In Isaiah 3:9, he cries out, “Woe unto their [Jerusalem’s] soul!” In Isaiah 3:11, it was, “Woe unto the wicked!” In Isaiah 5:8, he cries, “Woe unto them that join house to house!” In Isaiah 5:11, he states, “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink!” He continues in Isaiah 5:18, “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity.” In the same chapter, verse 20, Isaiah says, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” This verse is followed by verse 21, where Isaiah says, “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes.” Then in verse 22, “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine.” But when we come to Isaiah chapter 6, and Isaiah catches a glimpse of God Almighty upon His throne, the tone changes. It is no longer, “Woe unto this one,” and “woe unto that one!” Now, Isaiah’s heart’s cry is, “Woe is me! For I am undone!” God is so holy that even Isaiah the prophet, a good man, had to hide his face in the presence of a holy God. When I say God is holy, I am saying that God is spotless. God is pure. God is righteous. God is without any blemish of any kind. God is perfect, as far as you wish to spread that word. God is so holy that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight!
Isaiah 64:6 – “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
God is so holy and pure that when John the Revelator saw Him upon His majestic throne, the question rang out throughout the heavens, “Who is worthy to open the book?” The Father had a book in His hand, sealed with seven seals. No one in heaven and earth was found worthy to even OPEN A BOOK in the presence of a holy God! There was one who finally was found worthy, and it was Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God! I have heard people boast of their own sinlessness. How sick! I read on Facebook once where a man claimed to have gone 27 years without committing a single sin! However, when I read Revelation 5, and the question is asked, “Who is worthy to open the book?” none of these sinless people step forward! Let us get this straight – God is absolutely holy, and mankind is disgusting in His sight! Flesh reeks in the nostrils of God Almighty!
The Holy God of the Bible is Just, and He Hates Sin!
When I speak of God’s holiness, I am speaking jointly of God’s holy hatred toward sin. This is another point that so many ministers wish to skip over. But we must not avoid it. Sin is abominable in the sight of God Almighty. God is INTOLERANT toward sin. Offending God Almighty is serious business!
God is not only holy in his character; but He is also just in His dealings with sin. God will deal with sin. Sin will not be winked at; it will be recompensed. Mankind is guilty of sinning against a holy, just God. What should God do with us? I’ll tell you what God should do. If there were no gospel message; if Jesus had never come; if God Almighty had left us to ourselves; if God the Father would open up the earth, and swallow every human being into the pit of a dark, black hell – that would only be fair! That would be just and right.
“If God is just,” you say, “then why doesn’t He just cast us all into hell?” That brings us to this ever-important point.
A Conversation between the Father and the Son
Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was in heaven with the Father, equal with God. At some point before His birth, Jesus Christ the Son had a conversation with His Father about the very point we are discussing. In the following passage, we have the Son speaking to the Father:
Hebrews 10:5-7 – “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but A BODY HAST THOU PREPARED ME: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”
The Son acknowledged to the Father that it was the Father’s will for a body to be prepared for the Son! Jesus would come to earth and be given a human body! The Son tells the Father, “A body hast thou prepared me!” I like that word, “prepared.” God the Father spent centuries preparing this body! He called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldees, to make a great nation of him! This great nation would be the people from which Christ’s body would come! Ruth left Moab to meet Boaz. Why? Because God the Father was preparing the Son a body! Samuel went to Jesse’s house; not just to anoint a king; but because God was preparing His Son a body! The righteous line that led to the birth of Christ was attacked by the enemy, but it was preserved by God the Father! The Father was preparing a body for His Son!
What is the big deal about the Son telling His Father, “A body hast thou prepared me”? Here are some important implications of this truth:
1) Jesus would take upon Himself a human body.
2) In this human body, Jesus would live a sinless life. This is extremely important.
3) Jesus would give His body to the wrath of His Father. God, who hates and must punish sin, would lash out in anger against His own, innocent, sinless, spotless, holy Son! Jesus wanted His Father to give Him a body so that His Father’s wrath could be poured out upon that body, instead of being poured out upon us! If Jesus had committed one sin in that body, He would not be able to die for us; He would have died for His own sin!
Yes, I am humbled to think that the Son of the living God, who is perfectly holy and innocent, would ask His Father for a body, for the sole purpose of bearing His Father’s wrath for me! What a Saviour!
