In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being … And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:1-3,14).
John refers to the Second Person of the Trinity as the Word of God and Son of the Father. And John reveals to us that all of creation — all physical and spiritual creation, the laws and forces that govern creation, all of time and eternity — all things came into being by God’s creative act through His Son.
Yet the Son of God also became flesh, and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth.
Why would the mighty Creator of all life consent to become a mere creature? Why would the eternal God fit Himself into time? Because of the eternal, unfathomable, unquenchable, passionate impulse of grace in the heart of God.
Humanity broke the law of God and in sinning, we separated ourselves from the Lord of life and in doing this, we created the reality of death. How immeasurably grieved and offended God was by this rebellion, by the corruption, decay and death which was released into His universe.
Surely God in His holiness and justice could not ignore our sin nor its consequences. But God in His mercy did not desire that we perish forever under the crushing weight of our guilt and our sinful separation from Him. So in the most amazing act of grace in the history of the universe, God took human form so that He could offer Himself as a holy, atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14).
Because human beings broke the law of God, our Redeemer had to be fully human — how else could He offer a sacrifice for humanity’s sin? And He had to live in the same world in which human beings had sinned, the world which human beings had corrupted. But He also had to be fully God, for who but God can carry the immeasurable weight of human sin and the eternality of God’s judgement? Who but a holy God could offer a perfectly holy Sacrifice for the unholy sinner?
Therefore God became man, the God / Man, who as our Substitute, took upon Himself our sins, God’s judgment against our sin and the death which our sin created.
How did God become the God / Man? How did the Creator fit Himself into creaturehood? How did the eternal God, who exists before and beyond time, fit Himself into time?
We cover these questions in great detail in our book, The Glory of the Beloved. To briefly summarize, the angel Gabriel appeared to a young woman, Mary, and the angel said, And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:30-33).
Mary though unwed, would conceive a child but Mary asked, How can this be, since I am a virgin? (Luke 1:34). The angel replied, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God (1:35). The same Holy Spirit who, at creation, hovered over the unformed, dark expanse of the deep, who with God the Father and God the Son shared in the creation of light and life — this same Spirit would overshadow Mary with the creative power of the Most High.
It would be a unique birth. The word overshadow may also be translated, encompass. The glory of God encompassed Mary with creative, life-generating power, conceiving in her the life of Jesus. For that reason, the angel adds, The holy Child shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us (Isa. 9:6). Notice — the child will be born but the Son will be given, not born, because God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, already existed from eternity.
Jesus, the eternal, pre-existent Second Person of the Trinity, was conceived in His humanity by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. Perfectly human but still fully God, as the Apostle Paul reminds us, For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form (Col. 2:9). Though incarnate in human flesh, Jesus still possessed His divine nature and attributes. Though He veiled the glory of His divinity and voluntarily limited the independent exercise of His attributes in humble submission to the Father, He was still perfectly God while perfectly Man — the God / Man.
In this most amazing expression of grace, the pre-existent, eternal Son of God entered time. God the mighty Creator became a humble creature. He was and is the ultimate revelation of grace and truth. Jesus’ greatest act of revelation was His redeeming death on the cross, offering Himself as the holy, atoning sacrifice for sin, taking our sin upon Himself, taking the fulness of divine judgment on Himself, dying the death which humanity created. In that sacrificial death the Father displayed His judgment of sin and His mercy to sinners. On the third day, the Father displayed His love for His Son and His acceptance of the Sacrifice by raising Jesus from the dead and seating Him at the right hand of the majesty on high.
Grace was born in human form.
Grace was murdered on a Roman cross.
Grace rose from the dead.
Study Questions:
1. Why did the mighty Creator of all life consent to become a mere creature?
2. How is this an expression of grace?