J UNE 6, 1944, has been immor talized in American history. In the cold, gray dawn of that historic morning, an invas i on fleet of 4,100 ships landed Ameri can and British divisions on the Normandy beaches and estab lished the first beachhead. The magnitude of the .Normandy in vasion was far beyond any am phibious operation ever conceived before in history. And it was a costly operation. Casualties for the landing were about 40,000 out of some 600,000 engaged. But the beachhead at Normandy was the first step in the long road to ward Berlin. In the winter of 5 B.C. the eter nal God established His beach head at Bethlehem. The Bible de scribes this momentous event in simple terms: “ The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Theology calls it the incarnation. The Word Became Flesh But what, precisely, was the incarnation? The wo rd i t s e l f simply means “ in the flesh.” The incarnation of Christ is that event in which the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Member of the Trinity, without any change in His essen tial nature, joined to His Divine 20
God . . . (at the same time) took on the form o f a servant and was made in the likeness o f men.” In becoming a man, therefore, Jesus Christ did not cease to be God. Furthermore, this d e f i n i t i on tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ joined to His Divine Person a complete human nature. He pos sessed a physical body and a ra tional soul, precisely as all other men do. He was made like us in all things, with but one exception; and that exception was sin. Jesus Christ was a real man. To sum up, therefore, the in carnation is that event in which the second Member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, without any change in His essential nature, joined to His Divine Person a complete human nature. The Door . . . and The Room A t this point, however, we face an inevitable question. How was the inca rna t i on accomplished? The answer o f the Bible to this question is crystal clear. The Lord God effected the incarnation by means of the virgin birth. The Bible says, “ Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, see ing I know not a man? And the THE KING'S BUSINESS
Person a complete and perfect hu man nature. There are, we believe, three im portant elements in that defini tion. First, it was the second Mem ber o f the Trinity, the Son of God, Who became man. It was not God the Father, nor God the Holy Spirit, but God the Son Who in the councils of the Trinity volun teered to become man in order to redeem men. This definition also informs us that, when Jesus Christ became a man, there was no change in His essential nature. This means that Jesus Christ, in becoming a man, did not cease to be God. When water evaporates, it ceases to be water; but when Jesus Christ be came a man, He did not then cease to be God. The Bible places these two ideas in focus in Philippians 2:6, 7: “Who, being in the form of God . . . took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” The Greek verb, huparchon, translated “ be ing,” could more precisely be translated, “ continuing to exist.” The passage would then read that Jesus Christ, “Who, while con tinuing to exist in the form of
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