God Come in the Flesh—the Bible’s Message
John 1:14
“And we know that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
That God became flesh, that God the Son was manifest in human flesh, is not one of the doctrines of scripture. It is THE DOCTRINE of scripture, the message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It grows out of the Bosom of the Triune God, from the Bosom of the Father Who Loves the Son (John 3:35, 5:19) and His desire to display His Love for the Son (Psalm 2:7-12), and the Son’s Love for the Father and His desire to Declare Him (John 1:18). That Love is the Precious Spirit Who Proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), Who is the Glory of that Love radiating throughout the pages of Scripture. (Romans 5:5,15:30; I Corinthians 2:9-10; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 3:14-20) The Old Testament is the Shadow cast by the Glory of the Triune God in His Eternal Covenant of Grace shining upon the Manifestation of that Covenant in the Person of the Son of Man, God come in human flesh.(Hebrews 9:1-10)
Hebrews 2:5-16 portrays this grand Design. This is an abridgement of the text, so be sure to read the whole passage. “What is man that You (God) are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? ………You crowned him (created man) with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands (the creation)……….but now we do not see all things put under him. BUT WE SEE JESUS, Who was made a littler lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with Glory and Honor, that He, by the grace of God might taste death for everyone.” What follows is a most beautiful description of the Son uniting with human flesh that He might destroy death and the Devil and free His people from the fear of death. This is after chapter 1 where He is most gloriously proven to be the Holy God! This encapsulates the glorious message of God’s magnificent revelation of the God/Man through His Spirit Breathed Bible. (II Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 3:7. 9:8, 10:15; I Peter 1:10-12)
I can hear the question on many lips, “so you think the Old Testament is about Jesus as well? Absolutely! The New Testament plainly points to the Christ that is spoken of or “foreshadowed” on every page of the OT. We just don’t have eyes to see it. We need New Testament revelation to begin to see it! The foundational testimony is Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Not stopping at many other “hints” in between, we come to Abraham and God’s covenant with him. “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your Seed be.” The Apostle makes it plain in Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham, and his seed were the promises made, He did not say, and to seeds, as of many, but of one (seed), and to your Seed, which is Christ.” And then he amplifies this theme in 3:28-29, “there is neither Jew nor Greek…………for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” In Ephesians 1:9-10, we see the Father’s purpose is to “gather together in one all things in Christ” and the Seed promise is the effectual means to that end. If you have any further doubt, our Lord seals the understanding in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My Day, and he saw it and was glad.”
So then, who is the father of the faithful? Galatians 3:9, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” And again in Romans 4:16, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only those who are under the law (OT), but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 which becomes the foundation of Paul’s argument culminating in Romans 4:3) Abraham then becomes the foundation for the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, along with the Old Testament cloud of witnesses who are called upon to encourage us to be faithful. All this is introduced by Hebrews 10:38 which is a quotation from Habakkuk 2:3-4, which is also quoted in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11.
Therefore we conclude, our faith is based on the prototypical faith of Old Testaments saints who believed in the Seed Who would come and crush Satan’s head. The activity of our faith is the very same, whereas the content of the Focus of our faith is now more clearly manifested.
John 1:14
“And we know that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
That God became flesh, that God the Son was manifest in human flesh, is not one of the doctrines of scripture. It is THE DOCTRINE of scripture, the message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It grows out of the Bosom of the Triune God, from the Bosom of the Father Who Loves the Son (John 3:35, 5:19) and His desire to display His Love for the Son (Psalm 2:7-12), and the Son’s Love for the Father and His desire to Declare Him (John 1:18). That Love is the Precious Spirit Who Proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), Who is the Glory of that Love radiating throughout the pages of Scripture. (Romans 5:5,15:30; I Corinthians 2:9-10; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 3:14-20) The Old Testament is the Shadow cast by the Glory of the Triune God in His Eternal Covenant of Grace shining upon the Manifestation of that Covenant in the Person of the Son of Man, God come in human flesh.(Hebrews 9:1-10)
Hebrews 2:5-16 portrays this grand Design. This is an abridgement of the text, so be sure to read the whole passage. “What is man that You (God) are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? ………You crowned him (created man) with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands (the creation)……….but now we do not see all things put under him. BUT WE SEE JESUS, Who was made a littler lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with Glory and Honor, that He, by the grace of God might taste death for everyone.” What follows is a most beautiful description of the Son uniting with human flesh that He might destroy death and the Devil and free His people from the fear of death. This is after chapter 1 where He is most gloriously proven to be the Holy God! This encapsulates the glorious message of God’s magnificent revelation of the God/Man through His Spirit Breathed Bible. (II Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 3:7. 9:8, 10:15; I Peter 1:10-12)
I can hear the question on many lips, “so you think the Old Testament is about Jesus as well? Absolutely! The New Testament plainly points to the Christ that is spoken of or “foreshadowed” on every page of the OT. We just don’t have eyes to see it. We need New Testament revelation to begin to see it! The foundational testimony is Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Not stopping at many other “hints” in between, we come to Abraham and God’s covenant with him. “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your Seed be.” The Apostle makes it plain in Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham, and his seed were the promises made, He did not say, and to seeds, as of many, but of one (seed), and to your Seed, which is Christ.” And then he amplifies this theme in 3:28-29, “there is neither Jew nor Greek…………for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” In Ephesians 1:9-10, we see the Father’s purpose is to “gather together in one all things in Christ” and the Seed promise is the effectual means to that end. If you have any further doubt, our Lord seals the understanding in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My Day, and he saw it and was glad.”
So then, who is the father of the faithful? Galatians 3:9, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” And again in Romans 4:16, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only those who are under the law (OT), but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 which becomes the foundation of Paul’s argument culminating in Romans 4:3) Abraham then becomes the foundation for the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, along with the Old Testament cloud of witnesses who are called upon to encourage us to be faithful. All this is introduced by Hebrews 10:38 which is a quotation from Habakkuk 2:3-4, which is also quoted in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11.
Therefore we conclude, our faith is based on the prototypical faith of Old Testaments saints who believed in the Seed Who would come and crush Satan’s head. The activity of our faith is the very same, whereas the content of the Focus of our faith is now more clearly manifested.
RSS Feed