Who Is Jesus? Incarnation (Part 4 Of 4) Series

Introduction:

Today we conclude our short series on Christology – the study of Christ. We have learned over the past three weeks about Jesus’ humanity and His deity; how they are two separate natures, yet one in the person of Jesus our Lord. There is still one more very important thing to consider, that if we left out of our study of Christology the study would be incomplete. Today we examine this act of becoming flesh, allowing Him to become a member of humanity while still being God.

Let us pray.

Body:

A. Most Important Historical Event?

1. What is the most important historical event in the history of this world? (pause for a moment). I want you to think about that for a moment.

There have been millions of very significant events, or moments, in the history of this world that have affected its course. What is the most important?

Some people would say the rise and fall of the Roman Empire is the greatest, others say the development of agriculture. Some scholars believe it is the development in technology: tools being made of iron instead of stone, being ran of gasoline engines instead of pulling horses. Some say it was the development of gasoline or diesel engines – all of these things are result in the advancement of technology.

Some people say the most important thing is the rise of religions: the spread of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism – all of which, in theory, ought to lead to a more moral life.

Others say it is the development of warfare.

Others say the most important thing in the history of the world rests in individuals – people who changed the world. Adolph Hitler changed the world, he did so be means of the spread of religion, immigration and migrating, warfare, and technology used for warfare. Some people say Constantine or Alexander the Great were the most important. Others say President Harry S. Truman was the most important person to ever live. He dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, ending a world-wide war, and ushering the planet into a new technological state of warfare.

All of these things, along with millions of others, are extremely important to the history of our world, but none of them are THE most important.

To find this ever-most-important event we must not look in any history book, but rather look at the book authored by the One is witness to all history, we must look at the Bible.

2. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” and now here comes the most important event in the history of the world, skipping down to verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…”

I have just listed for you a few things that people would say are the most important things in the history of the world, but this recording of the Word becoming flesh was not on the list. Some scholars were semi-correct in their thinking that the most important thing in the history of the world was an individual. They got the individual wrong.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” My friends that is the absolute most important historical event to ever happen. The very act of God reaching down into the planet which He created by becoming one of us (and the Word became flesh), is called the incarnation. The incarnation of Jesus Christ leading up to His life, death and resurrection, is the single most significant event to ever happen: it has affected the greatest number of people than any other event in history.

Now let’s get to a little “meatier subject”.

B. Incarnation

1. From our study over the past three weeks it is easily determined that Jesus Christ is The God-Man. That is, He is the Eternal, Uncreated, Son of God, forever co-existent with and co-essential with God the Father and with God the Holy Spirit. But Jesus Christ is likewise the Incarnate God. That is, He is God manifested in human flesh. He is as much Deity as God, and just as human as mankind. But He is not two separate persons, God and man. He is one Person, combining the two natures.

We need to gain an understanding of the concept of the God-Man. The Christian faith does not teach that Jesus Christ is God AND Man, but, rather, that He is the God-Man. In His birth, through the Holy Spirit, the Divine One, and the Virgin Mary, the human one, is the perfect blending of the two Natures. By this we understand the concept of the truth of the Incarnation. In this He is ONE as to His Person, but TWO as to His nature, with those two natures distinct, both complete and perfect in themselves. At the same time they are so perfectly blended in unity as to be the essence of every part and every action of that one Person.