The Incarnation of Jesus Christ

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• The Incarnation of Jesus Christ

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DEFINITION OF INCARNATION

• A Deity embodied in the flesh.
• Christian definition The embodiment of God, the
  Son, in the human person of Jesus, the Christ.
• From Latin, INCARNARE Make Flesh

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THREE ASPECTS TO BE ADDRESSED

• The Historic-Prophetic Reality
• The Theological Necessity
• The Philosophical Possibility

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• 1. The Historic-Prophetic Reality

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THE HISTORIC-PROPHETIC REALITY
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Because the Christian
faith comes to us in the form of a historic
narrative not as a set of moral principles.
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THE HISTORIC-PROPHETIC REALITY

• THE SEED OF THE WOMAN Gen 315
  fulfilled in Gal 44
• THE SEED OF ABRAHAM Gen
  121-3 fulfilled in Matt 11
• THE SON CALLED OUT OF EGYPT Hosea 111 quoted
  in Matt 215 The Church is the spiritual Israel
  transferred from darkness to light Col 113

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THE HISTORIC-PROPHETIC REALITY
4. THE KINGDOM OF DAVID
2 Sam 716 fulfilled in Lk 169 5. DAVIDS SON,
DAVIDS LORD Ps 1101
referred to in Matt 2241-44 6. THE SERVANT OF
YAHWEH Isa 4253 referred to in Rom 425
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THE HISTORIC-PROPHETIC REALITY
7. THE SON OF MAN Dan 713 referred to in
Matt 2663,64 8. GOD WITH US Isa 714
fulfilled in Matt 123 9. A CHILD/SON IS
BORN/GIVEN Isa 96 fulfilled in Lk 211
HE IS LORD
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THE HISTORIC-PROPHETIC REALITY
10. THE RESURRECTION OF THE SON OF GOG Hos
61-3 referred to in 1 Cor 154 11. THE GLORY
OF THE SERVANT Isa 5310-12 referred to in Lk
2426 12. A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH Isa
6517-25 to be fulfilled in Rev 21,22
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• 2. The Theological Necessity

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THE THEOLOGICAL NECESSITY
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Because we need to
recognize that reconciliation between the Triune
God and sinful humans can be effected only by the
sacrifice of a GOD-MAN.
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JESUS HAD TO BE HUMAN

• To identify with the sinfulness of the human race
  by being tempted.
• To identify Himself with the solidarity of the
  human race.
• To completely obey the commandments of an
  awesomely holy God as a Man.
• To elevate the human race to fellowship with the
  Divine and exercise authority over all.

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JESUS HAD TO BE DIVINE

• In order to be sinless at birth.
• To be previous enough to substitute for everyone
  qualitatively.
• To be able to encompass past, present and future
  humanity quantitatively.

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TWO HERESIES

• ARIANISM Jesus was not fully divine, but almost
  divine.
• DOCETISM Jesus appeared to be human but
  actually was only divine.

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• 3. The Philosophical Possibility

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THE PHILOSOPHICAL POSSIBILITY
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Because we should be sure
that we are dealing with a mystery and not a
contradiction when we put our faith in the
incarnation.
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EMPIRICAL PREREQUISITES FOR THE INCARNATION

• God has to be Trinity.
• Humans have to be made in the image of God.
• Both these requirements are stated in Gen 1.

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LOGIC OF THE INCARNATION

• Divine Human communication.
• Relationship of Square to Cube not that of Salt
  to Sugar.
• Son of God, born of woman.

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LOGIC OF THE INCARNATION
4. The incarnation of Jesus is permanent.

• As Mediator.
• As Subordinate to the Father.
• As Bridegroom of the church.

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LOGIC OF THE INCARNATION

• Jesus limited Himself the limitation was not
  imposed by someone else.
• Incarnations in some other mythologies involved
  animals or angels Jesus can only become man
  without ceasing to be God.

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE INCARNATION

• Christian message is to be incarnational the
  messenger is the message.
• It is this embodiment that reveals the nature of
  Christian truth.

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE INCARNATION

• Discipleship-making is by modelling not
  transfer or information.
• Cross-bearing is fundamental to evangelism.

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE INCARNATION
5. The incarnation teaches us that we need to
move out of our comfort zone.