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Jesus Christ - The Incarnation

Robert Reymond defines the incarnation as “the act whereby the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, without ceasing to be what he is, God the Son, took into union with himself what he before the act did not posses, a human nature, ‘and so [He] was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever’ (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 21).”[1]

 The word means “in flesh” and it denotes the fact that the pre-existing, eternal Son of God, by becoming a man took to Himself a complete sinless human nature, (body, soul, spirit). God and man became one without diminishing any essential qualities of either nature.
Paul Enns notes that the "result is that Christ remains forever unblemished deity, which He has had from eternity past; but He also possesses true, sinless humanity in one Person forever (cf. John 1:14; Phil. 2:7-8; 1 Tim. 3:16).”[2]

The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin (Matt. 1:18, 22-23, 25; Luke 1:34-35), why is this important? The virgin birth was the method of incarnation that guaranteed the sinlessness of Christ. Scripture is clear that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), for if He had been born of Joseph He would have possessed a sinful human nature.

Why did God the Son come “in flesh”? Seven reasons will be noted here:[3]
(1) He came to unveil, disclose, reveal God to us (John 1:18; 14:7-11).
(2) He came to set and leave an example for us to follow and emulate (1 Pet. 2:21; 1 John 2:6).
(3) He came to die, to make payment for our sin, to satisfy the justice of God and set aside His wrath, to make salvation possible through the shedding of His blood (the doctrine of salvation will be discussed separately) (Heb. 10:1-10).
(4) To fulfill the Davidic Covenant (Luke 1:31-33).
(5) To destroy Satan’s work (1 John 3:8).
(6) To be a high Priest who could sympathize and relate with our humanity (Heb. 4:14-16).
(7) To be a qualified Judge (John 5:22, 27).



[1] Robert L. Reymond, in Walter A. Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984), p. 555.
[2] Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody, 1989), p. 222.
[3] Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology Chicago: Moody, 1999), pp. 281-282.

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