from Israel My Glory, Vol. 60, No.1
The Incarnation:
Why Would God Do Such a Thing? Part 2
by Peter Colón
The incarnation proves that God does not hide Himself, hoping people will find Him. Rather, He is the God of revelation, who has made Himself known through Jesus Christ.
To Reveal the True
and Personal God
(Jn. 14:9)
The Bible says God created man
in His image and likeness (Gen.
1:26). Yet many people probably
would agree with the statement,
“We created God in our own
image and likeness.” The Greek
philosopher Aristotle felt that
way: “Men create gods in their
own image, not only with regard
to their form, but with regard to
their mode of life.”
People, by nature, are spiritual
beings. Human history reveals their
quest to know God; but they often
have been misled and confused,
worshiping “gods” of their own
invention. The Assyrian and
Babylonian gods were barbaric and
brutal. In contrast, the many Greek
gods, such as Zeus and Jupiter, were
whimsical, often portrayed as constantly quarreling with one another.
Mars, Rome’s harsh war god, incited
the soldiery to savagery. How
sad to think of the countless offerings
of one kind or another that
were made to appease those neurotic,
false deities of the ancient world.
Even today, the personal God of
Scripture is still unknown in many
societies. Perhaps Albert Einstein
spoke for all skeptics when he said,
“The idea of a personal God is an
anthropological concept which I
am unable to take seriously.” If
only he and others knew that God
designed the incarnation for intimacy,
so He could clearly reveal His
loving and caring character. The
incarnation proves that God does
not hide Himself, hoping people
will find Him. Rather, He is the
God of revelation, who has made
Himself known through Jesus
Christ (Heb. 1:1–2).
Failure to appreciate the significance
of the incarnation has
caused many people to customize
their ideas about Jesus. Former
Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev
reduced Jesus to “the first socialist,
the first to seek a better life for
mankind.” People just find it difficult
to accept that a Jewish carpenter
from a small village could
actually be the Creator of the universe.
But when a disciple of Jesus
said, “show us the Father,” Jesus
responded, “He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father” (Jn. 14:8–9).
The incarnation was to bring light
to those who abide in the darkness
of their own notions about
God (Jn. 12:46).
Jesus told Pontius Pilate, “for
this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness unto
the truth” (Jn. 18:37)—the truth
being that God of the Old
Testament came in the flesh to
redeem humanity. Yet many people
will continue to refuse to
worship Him.
The humanity of Jesus the
Christ does not mean that He was
less than fully God. He was not
part man, part God. He was not
God disguised as a man. The
incarnation does not mean that
His Godhood mixed with His
manhood to make Him a strange
type of third being. The fundamental
position of faith is that
Jesus the Messiah was wholly God
and wholly man and that He came
to redeem and regenerate sinners
and to reveal the true God.
An unknown author put the
importance of the incarnation
this way:
If our greatest need had been
information, God would have sent
us an educator. If our greatest
need had been money, God would
have sent us an economist. Had
our greatest need been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was
forgiveness and salvation, so God
sent Himself through the incarnation
and provided us a Savior.
“And without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness: God was
manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16).
As Jesus walked through
the Temple during Hanukkah, some
religious leaders demanded He state
plainly if He was the Messiah—the
Christ. Part of Jesus’ response was,
“I and my Father are one” (Jn. 10:30).
They did not misconstrue what
Jesus was saying about Himself,
namely, that He was God. The Law
was clear. It demanded death for
anyone claiming deity. So they “took
up stones” to stone him (Jn. 10:31).
Reaction to the incarnation has
not changed in 2,000 years. Some
still respond in rock-tossing rage
at the idea that Jesus is God in the
flesh. Not much can be said for
those determined to deny the
evidence of Scripture. On the
other hand, those who truly
understand why God Almighty
would condescend to become flesh
have accepted Him as their
personal Redeemer. They alone
have experienced the life-changing
power of the Holy Spirit in their
lives, can say confidently they
know the true and living God
of the Bible, and can give wholehearted
devotion and praise to the
incarnate God—Jesus Christ.
 Peter Colón is the Southeastern States director for The Friends of Israel.
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