Why did God become a man?
God the Son became a man because only One who is both fully God and fully man could save us. He came to reveal the Father, to share our nature and take our place in death, to be a high priest who sympathizes with our weakness, and to bring us into God's family as children. The incarnation is not a detour; it is the only road to our salvation.
This question arose from studying Is Jesus really God? and Who is Jesus?.
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What the Scripture says
He came to reveal God and to give us life
John opens with the deepest reason: 'The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory... full of grace and truth.' No one has seen God at any time, but the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made Him known. And John names the outcome: God sent His one and only Son into the world 'that we might live through him.' God became man so that we could see Him and so that we could live.
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
He came to take our place
Paul puts it in a sentence: 'what the law couldn't do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.' The Son who had known no sin came into the world, as Hebrews says, to do the Father's will and to offer Himself. A true substitute must share our nature, and He did.
For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire, but you prepared a body for me;
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’”
He had to be truly man, and truly God
Only God could save, and only a man could die in a man's place. Hebrews explains the necessity: 'Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death.' And he had to be made like his brothers so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest. Paul names the One who did it: Christ Jesus, who was in the form of God and emptied Himself to take the form of a servant, and who is the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. The incarnation is what makes both true: He is the man who can represent us, and the God who can save us.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
He became man to sympathize with our weakness
Because He became man, Christ was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin, and because He suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. This is why we can draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, to find mercy and grace in time of need. God became man not only to atone for our sins but to feel our grief, so that His mercy would come to us as a brother's, not a stranger's.
For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.
And to bring us into His family
The end of the incarnation is family. God sent His Son, born of a woman, 'that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.' To as many as received Christ, He gave the right to become children of God, and Paul says we have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry 'Abba! Father!' And Hebrews adds the astonishing note: because He sanctified us, 'he is not ashamed to call them brothers.' The eternal Son took our humanity so that, in Him, we might share His sonship.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:
For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
We haven't written this one yet. Take it to your church or small group: the Word answers it wherever it is asked. If we study it here later, all the better.
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Verses to meditate on
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the seed of Abraham. Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
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