HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2010 / JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH / UNCOVERING THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION

January February March 2010
VOLUME 11, ISSUE 1

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A R T I C L E S

CHRIS BADENHORST

 

The core of the Christian teaching of the incarnation is that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself" (2 Cor. 5:19 KJV)--that in Jesus of Nazareth, the transcendent God stooped low for us and for our salvation. Therefore, the good news as recorded in the New Testament includes the birth of Jesus. An angel of the Lord declared: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord" (Lk. 2:10, 11). The incarnation is therefore the root of all Christian truth. According to the first epistle of John, true Christian faith is faith in the incarnation (the Word made flesh-1 Jn. 4:2) just as true Christian life is the life of brotherly love (1 Jn. 4:19). In this article we will consider two aspects of the incarnation: 1) The uniqueness of Jesus' birth and 2) the significance of Jesus' birth.

 

1. The Uniqueness of Jesus' Birth

There are three aspects to the birth of Jesus that make it unique: a) His preexistence, b) His conception by the Holy Spirit and c) His virgin birth.

 

Preexistence

Jesus was the only child ever born into the human family whose life was preexistent. The Scriptures teach us that He came from His Father in heaven and returned to His Father in heaven. He was the Creator, the Second Person of the Godhead, the Word of God, the Self-existent One, whose going forth was from the days of eternity.

The coming of God to this world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth was no doubt the most astounding event ever witnessed on this planet. Nothing like it had ever happened before and nothing like it could ever happen again. The eternal God who dwells in unapproachable light and majesty incomprehensible "became flesh and lived for a while amongst us" (Jn. 1:14). The Creator of heaven and earth and the galaxies of infinite space was born of a woman, grew up in a humble peasant home, and traveled about as an itinerant preacher for about three years declaring the good news concerning the reality of the kingdom of God.

He was then brought to trial for blasphemy because He claimed to be God in human form and was executed on a Roman cross where He died in ignominy and shame on the first Good Friday. He was buried in a borrowed grave but rose from the dead on Resurrection Sunday. Fifty days later He ascended to heaven to take His place as Lord of all at His Father's right hand (Acts 2:32-36; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 1:3).

 

Conceived by the Holy Spirit

The most ancient church creed, The Apostle's Creed, states, "I believe…in Jesus Christ…(1) conceived by the Holy Ghost, (2) born of the Virgin Mary." Both Matthew and Luke tell the story of the birth of Jesus. As we examine these accounts, we will find that the conception of Jesus was completely different from ours.

Luke states that he "carefully investigated everything from the beginning" (1:3). This investigation likely included an interview with Mary, the mother of Jesus, who would have told him what happened. She related how the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she was going to fall pregnant and give birth to "the Son of the Most High" (1:32). "‘How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God...' ‘I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. ‘May it be with me as you have said.' Then the angel left her" (1:34-38).

Matthew's record includes the genealogy of Jesus. In 1:1-15 he lists forty-two generations. Beginning from the first generation he repeatedly says, ‘So-and-so was the father of so-and-so'. This pattern, however, changes in verse sixteen. Matthew does not say that ‘Joseph was the father of Jesus', but "Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ". Jesus did not therefore inherit any genetic material from Joseph. He was ‘begotten' of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. Matthew emphasizes this point by stating that Mary "was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit" (1:18). He also records how the angel appeared to a troubled Joseph, telling him that "what is conceived in her [Mary] is from the Holy Spirit" (1:20). This explanation was important for Joseph to hear because he knew he was not responsible for Mary's pregnancy (Matt. 1:18-20).

The birth of Jesus, therefore, was unique, not only because of His preexistence, but also because He was conceived supernaturally in the womb of Mary by the miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit. Even here the Bible illustrates that man makes no contribution to his salvation and deliverance.

Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, His humanity or human nature was holy. Gabriel announced to Mary that "the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). In other words, Jesus did not inherit "the law of sin" (Rom. 7:23) or sinful nature like everybody else. His humanity was therefore holy and sinless in the absolute sense, like "a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Pet. 1:19).

In contrast, David speaks of his own conception as sinful: "Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Ps. 51:5). His words apply equally to all members of the human race. Everyone born into the world is conceived in sin and is therefore sinful by nature. But because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was born sinless--sinless by nature. If Jesus had a sinful nature like everyone else, He could not have been our Substitute in salvation. God demands sinlessness, not only in deed, but also in nature-- "in the inner parts" (Ps. 51:6).

 

The virgin birth

Matthew and Luke both state that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary. This fact makes His birth absolutely unique. There was none other like it, and it will never be reenacted. So, like other children, Jesus was born of a woman, and being born of Mary, He partook of his mother's flesh and blood exactly as we do. His was a real manhood. He possessed all the properties of a human being--except, unlike us, He was free from every taint of sin (Heb. 2:14-17; 4:15).

There are always those, however, who emphatically deny the virgin birth of Jesus on the basis that it is a biological impossibility. This argument, of course, is true--it is a biological impossibility! If, however, we consider it from a historical point of view, such an event did occur. Both Matthew and Luke confirm the virgin birth in their historical records. And Luke assures us that he "carefully investigated everything from the beginning" (Lk. 1:3). If these historical records are rejected as evidence, then, to be consistent, all other documentary evidence of a historical nature must be rejected as well, but such a rejection would be totally unreasonable.

The birth of Jesus, therefore, was unique because of His preexistence, because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and because He was born of the virgin Mary. Moreover, being conceived by the Holy Spirit means that Jesus was absolutely holy and sinless in every respect; and being born of Mary means that He partook of human nature in every respect except its sinfulness. Because Jesus was sinless--"a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Pet. 1:19), He could be our Savior and Redeemer. Only thus could we be "redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to [us] from [our] forefathers" (1 Pet. 1:19).

 

2. The Significance of Jesus' Birth

The significance of the birth of Jesus can scarcely be overestimated. It gave a new lease on life to the human race and made possible the new creation of a new humanity by means of the new birth. It laid the foundation for all the evidence of the grace and goodness of God exhibited in the life and ministry of Jesus. Finally, it was preparatory to the atonement, the sole basis of forgiveness by God (Col. 1:14), reconciliation to God, (2 Cor. 5:18-20) and peace with God (Rom. 5:1). Jesus' birth--not the Ten Commandments--demonstrated for all time the glory of God's character.

The good tidings (or Gospel) of Jesus is expressed by the New Testament authors in a variety of ways. One idea, however, unites the New Testament witness: Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the Old Testament. He is the goal to which Old Testament history moved; it all pointed to Him as its true end (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 10:4). When we finally see the birth of Jesus against the background of the Old Testament, we realize He is the new Creation, the new Moses, the new Joshua, the new David, and the promised Offspring.

 

The New Creation

There is a remarkable correspondence between the new creation that began with Jesus and the old creation. For example, the angel Gabriel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Lk. 1:35). This statement makes us think back to the old creation where it is stated that the Holy Spirit overshadowed the world (Gen. 1:2). As the Holy Spirit hovered over the earth and as the first creation came into being through the action of the Holy Spirit, so the Holy Spirit is pictured again as the Progenitor of the sinless human nature of Jesus. Thus is Jesus presented as the new Creation in the New Testament--the sinless Source of a new humanity. By His death on the cross Jesus buried our old sinful history so that through faith in Him and the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit we could become identified with His sinless history.

 

The New Moses

Not only is there a correspondence between the birth of Jesus as God's new Creation and the first creation, but there is also a clear correspondence between the history of Jesus and the history of ancient Israel. For example, the story of Herod and the slaughter of the innocents take our minds back to Moses and the slaughter of the innocents by Pharaoh. Then there is the parallel between Jesus' escape from the cruel hatred of Herod and Moses' escape from the cruel hatred of Pharaoh.

In these parallels Matthew wants us to remember that Moses was the great deliverer of the Old Testament. He was God's instrument in leading His people from Egyptian bondage under Pharaoh through the Exodus. Thus, at the very beginning of his story Matthew is telling us that Jesus is the new Moses of a New Covenant and that the time has come for God to lead His people from bondage under the great Pharaoh, Satan, through the new Exodus to be effected by our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The New Joshua

No one person in the Old Testament, however, could adequately represent all that Jesus is. The angel said to Joseph, "You are to give Him the name Jesus [transliteration of Joshua], because he will save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). Not only is Jesus the new Moses who will deliver His people from the bondage of this world of sin and from the great Pharaoh, Satan, but Jesus is also the new Joshua who will lead His people into the heavenly Canaan. Whereas Moses led the people out of Egypt, Joshua led them into the Promised Land. Jesus is both the new Moses and the new Joshua. He leads His people out of spiritual Egypt and He is the One who shall lead them into spiritual Canaan--our eternal heavenly home.

 

The New David

The angel also said to Mary: "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end" (Lk. 1:30-33).

In the Old Testament God made promises to David. David was born in Bethlehem, and David was a shepherd. Therefore, when Luke tells the story of the birth of Jesus, he mentions the town of Bethlehem and the shepherds as reminders of David, the shepherd king. Jesus is the Son of David; indeed, He is the new David. At His ascension Jesus was enthroned as King at the right hand of God in fulfillment of what God had promised David (Acts 2:34-36; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 1:3b). From there He reigns over all principalities and powers (Matt.28:18; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20-22; 1 Pet. 3:22) directing the affairs of this world to its final consummation (1 Cor. 15:24, 25).

 

The Promised Offspring

Another parallel between the birth of Jesus and the history of the Old Testament is the Old Testament declaration that the hope of humanity is in an Offspring. After Adam and Eve had sinned and were about to be expelled from the garden of Eden, God spoke His word of promise to them when He addressed the serpent: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel" (Gen. 3:15). In other words, "Satan, you have overcome the woman by deceiving her; you have brought the human race into bondage as a result; but I pledge this day that the Offspring of the woman will overcome and defeat you."

What a marvelous hope was given to the human race! The same promise was given to Abraham: "Through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). And later in Isaiah: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given" (Isa. 9:6). In fact, the Old Testament regards children as a great blessing because the hope of the people lies in the promised Offspring. Indeed, for the women of the Old Testament it was better to die than not to have children. Rachel cried, "Give me children, or I'll die" (Gen. 30:1).

From the beginning of human history, the hope of humanity was linked to an Offspring to come. God had placed this hope in the human heart ever since He promised that the Son of Eve would be the Savior and Deliverer, and the entire Old Testament yearned for a Son. Parents in every generation, fervently hoped that the son born to them might somehow be the One that God had promised. Not only did Israel yearn for the Son of Promise, though; the hope of the entire world depended on that Son.

Finally, "in the fullness of time" (Gal. 4:4), God gave us the promised Son--His Son, Jesus Christ, "the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:8). In Jesus God wonderfully answered all the hopes of mankind. With the birth of this Son came the birth of a new humanity and the beginning of a new history. His birth, therefore, opens before us a new birth and a new beginning. Without the birth of Jesus and without identifying with His new holy history, there could be no such thing as us being born again. We are only born again as, by faith and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are united with Christ and become part of the new holy history that began with Him. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come" (1 Cor. 5:17).

Jesus is indeed the Son of promise and the fulfillment of the Old Testament history which pointed to Him as its true end. He is more, however, than just the hope of Israel (Acts 26:6, 7); in Jesus the hope of humanity is gloriously realized far above all that we could have thought (1 Cor. 2:9)! He delivers us from a life of futility (1 Pet. 1:9); He leads us back to the Father's house (1 Pet. 3:18). His birth was for us (Isa. 9:6).

The story of Jesus' birth is part of the story of His life, death, and resurrection. To tell this story and its significance is to proclaim the Gospel! †

 

Endnote

I am indebted to the late Evangelical scholar Dr. F. F. Bruce for some of the parallelism in the second part of my article. See his book This is That-The New Testament development of some Old Testament Themes published by Paternoster Press Ltd, 1976."

 

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Chris Badenhorst, a former Seventh-day Adventist, is a retired civil engineering technician who still works part time on one of South Africa's oil refineries in the city of Durban on the east coast. He is married with three step-children and one grandchild. His wife is also a former Adventist who shares his enthusiasm for the gospel of God's grace. Although they are not members of a particular denomination, they attend a local Baptist church for worship and fellowship.