The Doctrine of Incarnation

I would like to take just a moment to explain the doctrine of the incarnation. Jesus is God wrapped in flesh, and it had to be this way. The particular benefits have been made possible to us through the incarnation. These particular benefits are shared in the passage, but in regards to the incarnation, Matthew chapter 1, verses 20 through 23 help us to see the conception of the incarnation. Matthew 1:20 records that Mary conceived a child of the Holy Spirit. And so a child in the flesh that was of the Holy Spirit, God incarnate. And His name will be Jesus, and He will save the people from their sins. In verse 22 in Matthew chapter 1, it states that this foretells the prophecy that was already prophesied from Isaiah. And then as well in verse 23, it says that Jesus is called Emmanuel, which is translated God with us.

God in the flesh with us. In John chapter 1 and verse 14, John the beloved apostle informs us that the very Word of God became flesh. This is the incarnation. So John Owen, the Puritan, one of the most scholarly of the Puritans, said of the incarnation that this is human nature, a rational soul, a mortal body.

These things make up the incarnation. And so what we need to know is that Jesus, yes, being incarnate, being in the flesh, tempted in all ways and suffering in all ways, He was yet without sin. Look with me in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15, yet without sin. Hebrews 4, in verse 15, "For we do not have a high priest, that being Jesus, who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, as we are, yet without sin." Circle, yet without sin. God incarnate Jesus, yet without sin. Tempted in all ways, but without sin.

So yes, Jesus was born, Matthew 2:1, and He became flesh, John 1:14. And so the doctrine of the incarnation specifically affirms Jesus' humanity, and we need to know why. So the incarnate part of this doctrine means the act of taking on flesh. So just picture God, the invisible God, the Spirit of God taking on flesh. And so it is not a reduction of deity, it is adding to who God is by adding flesh. So He is taking on the flesh. And what we mean, or what the Bible means by taking on flesh is taking on human limitations, taking on everything that is testified in the Scriptures that He dealt with. For example, He had to sleep, as testified in Luke 8:23. He had to eat, as testified in Matthew 4:2. He bled, John 19:34. He experienced joy, John 15:11. He experienced sorrow, Matthew 26:37. And so God, wrapped in flesh, Jesus, experienced all of what the human limitations bring.

So why? Well the purpose of the incarnation is manifold, but here in the text we need to see the necessity of the atonement. God had to become God-man so that He could provide sacrifice. Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. And so God had to become human flesh as well so that He could bleed, so that He could offer Himself as a sacrifice. How could a blood sacrifice be made without the incarnate body? How could the sufficient sacrifice be made without Him being a pure and spotless Lamb of God?

So Christ was to be the high priest and to be in that position, the qualifications to meet that was to be incarnate and to be merciful, to be faithful. Now this has purpose to this. In Hebrews 2:17 it says, "The words so that." That always draws my attention. "Therefore He had to be made like His brethren," okay, incarnate, "in all things so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest." So this term, "so that," connects the two concepts of the incarnation to the propitiation. So that, Christ incarnate, so that He could make propitiation, so that He could be the atonement. So this preceding concept of Christ incarnate was so that He could accomplish faithfully and mercifully the atonement. So yes indeed, Christ had to become incarnate to die for us. Romans chapter 5 and verse 8 said that Christ died for us.