God Became a Man!
Upon seeing the subject of this post, the reader may assume that I will write concerning the church of Jesus Christ. In assuming this, the reader is only partly right, as truths concerning the church constitute only a small part of the content herein.
I want to focus on the physical body of Jesus Christ for my subject today, and trust that the reader will be blessed.
I rejoice in the truth that God Almighty took upon Himself a human body. Had there been no body, there would have been no blood. And without the shedding of blood is no remission for sins. The scriptures also make quite an ordeal about God clothing Himself in humanity.
Matthew 1:23 – “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
John 1:1, 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…”
Romans 8:3 – “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”
Philippians 2:5-8 – “Let this mind be in you, which was also in 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.”
II Timothy 3:16 – “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…”
I make an ordeal about God being clothed in flesh because the Bible makes an ordeal about it. Shepherds traveled over the plains to see the King wrapped in swaddling clothes. Wise men came from afar to see God Almighty who was wrapped in the form of a child. Angelic hosts praised God from the heavens when God became a man! The Father Himself beheld as His only begotten Son would exit the glory world, taking a journey to this corrupt and filthy earth to redeem lost mankind. Since the scriptures make such a big deal of this dynamic doctrine, it would be in order for every gospel preacher to make an equivalent ruckus concerning the matter.
I will go as far as to say that the doctrine of God becoming man is as important as any doctrine of the Word of God. If you do not believe that Jesus Christ was God manifested in the flesh, you do not believe the Bible. If you believe that Jesus Christ was God prior to His birth, but at the time of His birth lost His deity, you have departed from the solid teachings of Scripture. The Father Himself promised the Son that His throne of deity would NOT be temporary, but that it would be forever.
Hebrews 1:8 – “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”
Now, it goes without saying that, in order to take on a human body, limitations would be placed upon God’s omniscience. Luke tells us that the child “increased in wisdom.” One who is omniscient (knows everything) does not increase in wisdom. Obviously, Jesus laid aside His omniscience to become a man. BUT LAYING ASIDE OMNISCIENCE DID NOT CHANGE WHO HE WAS! While in the flesh, His name was called Emmanuel, meaning “GOD WITH US!” Obviously, since Jesus was in a human body, He was not omnipresent (everywhere at once). A body limited Him. But a body did not change who Jesus was! No matter how much God limited Himself to take on a human body, none of these limitations changed God! God changed forms – He who was in the form of God changed forms, taking upon Himself the form of flesh – but the form of flesh could not change who He was! If you saw Jesus, you saw the Father! If heard the words of Christ, you heard the words of God!
God, in the person of Jesus Christ, took a human body upon Himself. We celebrate this truth each time we take communion. “This is my body,” Jesus said, “which is broken for you!” Had it not been for His broken body, how lost we would be!
TO BE CONTINUED…
