Why Did Jesus, as God,
Become a Human Being?
The great truth revealed in the New Testament is
that the eternal God became one of us; He became
a human being.
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John
1:14).
The Apostle Paul echoes John's thoughts:
Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and
coming in the likeness of humanity (Philippians
2:6,7).
The Incarnation Of Jesus Christ
God became a human in Jesus Christ. This is
known as the "incarnation." Incarnation is from the
Latin meaning "in flesh." Although it is not a biblical
word it presents a biblical truth. Jesus is the eternal
God who became flesh and blood. Jesus became
a man at a point in time in history. He did so without
giving up His oneness with God. He became a
human being without a sin nature. "In flesh" means
more than Jesus had a physical body - He was a
complete human personality.
Jesus Took On A New Nature
By the incarnation we do not mean that God was
turned into a human or that Jesus ceased to be
God while he was a man. The incarnation means
that while remaining God, Jesus took upon a new
nature - a human nature. The incarnation was the
uniting the divine and the human into one being,
one person. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully
human.
Jesus Did This By Both Words And Deeds
Jesus claimed that God guided both his words
and deeds.
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth,
the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only
what he sees his Father doing, because whatever
the Father does the Son also does. For the Father
loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to
your amazement he will show him even greater
things than these" (John 5:19,20).
Jesus said.
But if I do it, even though you do not believe me,
believe the miracles, that you may know and
understand that the Father is in me, and I in the
Father (John 10:38).
Jesus' work of reaching out to the vilest of sinners
revealed the heart of God the Father. Those who
criticized his work among the worst sinners
revealed their lack of understanding with God's
desires.
The Old Testament Revelation Is Incomplete
While God revealed Himself to humankind in the
Old Testament the revelation was incomplete.
There were a number of things that waited till
God Himself came to earth in the Person of Jesus
Christ. Thus Jesus revealed God to humanity in a
personal way.
Jesus Laid Aside His Heavenly Glory
In becoming a human being Jesus laid aside His
heavenly glory to live among us. The question is,
why did He do it? The Scriptures give us several
reasons why Jesus came to earth.
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