“The Word was made
flesh.”
John 1:14
No human mind can ever comprehend,
nor earthly tongue describe the great mystery of godliness: “God was
manifest in the flesh.” That baby born at Bethlehem is himself the eternal
God. ― Though he was dependent upon the milk of his mother’s breast for
life, he is God who formed the breasts that nourished him. ― Though Mary
held him in her arms, he is God who upholds all things by the word of his
power. ― Though he learned to walk and talk, and grew like any other
child, he is the omniscient, immutable God. ― Though he lived as a man in
willful, voluntary, perfect obedience to the law, he is God who gave the law to
Moses. ― Though he died under the penalty of the law as a man in the
place of sinners, that man who died is God!
Why was Christ born? Why did
the Son of God assume manhood? “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim.
1: 15). Athanasius said, “Christ became what we are that he might make us what
he is.” The Son of God became the Son of man for this purpose: That the sons of
men might become the sons of God. A.W. Tozer put it like this: “The awful
majesty of the Godhead was mercifully sheathed in the soft envelope of human
nature to protect mankind.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, became a man because it was not possible for God to save sinners in
any other way. In order to be our Savior, it was necessary for God himself to
become one of us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Were he only God, he
could never suffer the punishment of sin as our Substitute. Were he only man,
he could never satisfy the infinite wrath and justice of God against sin. But
he who is both God and man in one glorious person both suffered and satisfied
the penalty of the law as the sinner’s Substitute.
Though I can neither
understand nor explain the wonder and mystery of his person, I can and do trust
that man who is God as my only, all-sufficient Savior. Since God became a man
and suffered in the place of men, he is able to save all who trust him.
Note: This
article was taken from Grace For Today, our book of daily devotional
readings.