THE PURPOSE OF THE INCARNATION

THE PURPOSES OF THE INCARNATION OF OUR LORD

"For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (Job 9:32-33).

"And the Word was made 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).

"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth  that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:2-3)

1.  The complaint of Job, recorded in the first text, voices the universal feeling of our sinful race in the presence of an infinite God. The chasm between such a God and man the finite creature has seemed at times sc v3st as to be unbridgeable. And men cry with Job, "He is not a man. . .Neitner is there.any umpire betwixt us, that he might lay his hand upon us both."

2.  The second passage reveals God's historic answer to man's ancient complaint, an answer not only in word, but also in deed - The Incarnation of God in Christ, the Eternal Son made flesh, clothed in the likeness of men. It is no longer valid for me to say of God, "He is not a man;" for the God who today sits upon the throne of the Universe is also Man, becomes so forever by the stupendous miracle of Virgin Birth,

3.  The third passage declares the crucial importance of God's act at Bethlehem. The writer is John, great apostle of love, and he writes in words which cannot be misunderstood: "Whosoever confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." On this point there can be no talk about mutual compromises, sharing one another's viewpoints, or some common denominator of faith. As to this great Christian fact, men are either right or wrong, of the Day or of the Night, either in or out, either saved or lost. Christianity and the Incarnation of God in Christ, to John, stand or fall together.

4.  If we should inquire why it was that John and the other New Testament writers regarded the Incarnation as a fact of such high importance, the answer is found in the Divine Purposes of that historic act. Why, then, did our Lord, the eternal Son, empty Himself of His pre-existent glory, and clothe Himself in human flesh and servant form? The Biblical answer is at least five-fold:

1. GOD BECAME INCARNATE IN CHRIST IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT DIE FOR SINNERS, AND THUS SAVE THEM FROM THEIR SINS.

 2. GOD BECAME INCARNATE IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT SHARE WITH MEN HIS OWN ETERNAL LIFE.

3. OUR LORD BECAME INCARNATE IN ORDER THAT HE AS GOD MIGHT KNOW HUMAN LIFE FROM THE INSIDE BY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
4. GOD BECAME INCARNATE IN ORDER THAL HE MIGHT REVEAL IN HIMSELF THE IDEAL HUMANITY.
5. GOD BECAME INCARNATE IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT PROVIDE FOR US AN EVERLASTING REVELATION OF HIMSELF IN VISIBLE HUMAN FORM.

More on each to follow in the next 5 articles.