Incarnation of Jesus Christ
The eternal Son of God became a real human being. He didn't stop being God, but He added humanity to His divinity. In Jesus, the invisible God became visible — so that we could see His glory, receive His grace, and know His truth.
Core Concepts
Interpretation Guardrails
- •The Son of God truly became human without ceasing to be God. Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human in one person. In the incarnation, God is truly revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
Misconceptions We Reject
- Jesus began to exist at his human birth
- The incarnation means Christ ceased to be divine
- Christ merely appeared human without possessing true humanity
- The Father, rather than the Son, became incarnate
Key Scriptures
What We Reject
(1)Docetism and Adoptionism (False Incarnation)
The Claim
Christ only appeared to have a physical body (Docetism), or was merely a human being adopted as God's Son at His baptism (Adoptionism). The incarnation was not a true union of divine and human natures.
Scripture affirms both the full deity and full humanity of Christ in one person. He truly became flesh — not in appearance only — and was the eternal Son from conception, not adopted at baptism. The incarnation is a real, permanent union of two natures.
Original Language: The Greek 'sarx' (G4561) in John 1:14 — 'The Word became flesh' — 'egeneto' aorist middle: the Logos Himself became (not merely entered into) flesh. 'En sarki' in 1 John 4:2 — 'every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God' — 'elēlythota' perfect active participle: a real, ongoing incarnation. 'Homoiōmati' (G3667) in Philippians 2:7 — 'in the likeness of men' — not mere appearance but true resemblance in human nature.