BY JIM KASEMAN
It is crucial to remember tat the existence of the Son of God did not commence with His birth in Bethlehem. He is spoken of as the Son before He became a man (Isaiah 4:6). Micah prophesies of His birth, but yet states that His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). The Apostle John tells us that Jesus existed “in the beginning” before anything was created (John 1:1-3).
Even before He was born of Mary, He appeared to men in the Old Testament as the “Angel of the Lord.” It is clear that this Angel is no ordinary angel because He is identified as God, He pardons sin and He
is worshipped (Ex. 3:1; 23:20-21; Joshua 5:13-15).
While Christ was pre-existent and appeared occasionally to men in the Old Testament, He took on a body permanently when He was conceived in Mary’s womb. This incomparable event of God becoming man in Jesus Christ is called the Incarnation, which was prophesied about 750 years previously and fulfilled historically through the Virgin Mary (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-35)!
The Apostle John says, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, full of Grace and Truth” (John 1:14).
THE NEED FOR INCARNATION
The incarnation is the most striking miracle of creation; yet from Heaven’s point of view and man’s need, it is inevitable.
Could the Son of God have been Incarnate if His body had been conceived by natural generation? Would it have been possible for God to have come into a child born of natural generation and dwell in the child and be Incarnate?
This couldn’t be possible, for the Apostle Paul tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God,” and that “death (spiritual) has entered into all men for that all have sinned” (Romans 3:23).
If Jesus had been born of natural generation and God had come into Him, He would have been a fallen spirit, a being subject to the devil with God dwelling in him- that would not be an Incarnation. This would utterly destroy the idea of a perfect Incarnation of God.
The seed must be of divine origin instead of human. Man is subject to the devil; his seed only produces a fallen man.
The Incarnate One could not be Jesus’ earthly walk, He was not a subject of death, neither was He a subject of Satan.
Death had no dominion over Him until the sins of the world had been laid upon Him on the cross, and not until then did He become a mortal being. Jesus was not immortal, but He was a perfect human as Adam was a perfect human before the Fall.
If God would have changed the nature of a child after birth so that He could be incarnate in the child, He could as well have changed the nature of the whole human race in the same way. But to do this would
have been an injustice to Satan and an injustice to Himself, because the sin problem had not yet been settled and the penalty of man’s transgression had not been paid.
The Redeemer must be one over whom Satan had no legal claims or authority, and this could only come by a Redeemer being conceived and born as was the Babe of Bethlehem.
Incarnation means that Deity has become United With humanity in an individual. Every man who has been “born again” is an Incarnation, and Christianity is a miracle. The believer is as much an Incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth. The Incarnation is the basic miracle of Christianity.
PROMISE OF INCARNATION
God’s first promise of Incarnation is recorded in Genesis 3:15. it is given in His conversation with Satan just after the fall. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; lie shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”
Let us make note of five remarkable promises or statements in this sentence.
First, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman,” that is, there will be enmity between Satan and the woman. This is proven by woman’s history-, she has been the special object of satanic hatred and malice in all ages; she has borne the brunt of the Fall-, she has been the burden bearer among all people; she has been bought and sold as personal property.
She is unwanted at birth, the plaything of man’s passions, the neglected, the outcast, the sufferer, and in Christian countries she is the heir of our diseases and the -victim of the divorce court and abused by men.
Second, “I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed.” Satan’s seed is the unregenerate human race-, woman’s seed is Christ.
Christ was hunted from His babyhood by Satan’s seed until finally they nailed Him to the cross, and from the Resurrection of Jesus until this day, the Church has been the subject of the bitterest persecution and enmity of the world.
Third, the “seed of woman.” We know that woman has no seed-, the seed is of the man; so what does this mean?
It is the prophecy that woman shall give birth to a child independent of natural generation, conceived of the Holy Spirit, that it shall be called the “seed of woman” (Luke 1:31-35).
Fourth, “And, He shall bruise thy head,” that is the head of Satan. In all Oriental languages, “bruising the head” means breaking the lordship of a ruler. Jesus broke the lordship of Satan by defeating him and
stripping him of all authority (Revelation 1:18)!
Fifth, `and thou shalt bruise His heel. This is a remarkable prophecy, and how clearly it found fulfillment-, first in Jesus’ bitter persecution which finds its culmination in His death on the cross, and
then in the persecution of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and which is carrying out the will of Christ on the earth.
The long ages of persecution of the Church by the seed of Satan is today a matter of history. “The heel,” is the Church in its earth walk.
BORN OF A VIRGIN
In Isaiah 7:13-14, he says, “The Virgin,” as though he had marked her out, “shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Immanuel.”
It is a son that a virgin is going to give birth to in a supernatural way, and she is going to call His name Immanuel, God is with us, or Incarnation. Thus Christ, the sinless God-man was qualified to become
our Redeemer (11 Corinthians 5:21).
Having been born of a woman, Jesus Christ was fully man apart from sin. As a man He experienced the normal physical, mental, social, and spiritual growth as others did. He suffered pain, hunger, thirst,
fatigue, temptation, pleasure and rest. Because of His complete humanity, He can be sympathetic and compassionate towards us.
While Christ was fully man, He was also fully God in that He was called God, He forgave sin, did works only God could do, He had the attributes that only God could have, and He claimed equality with God.
Jesus is fully God and fully man united in one person forever. Even now, at the right hand of God. He is the God-man.
CHRISTMAS
The season of Christmas is a wonderful time for us to be reminded of what God has done for us in making Redemption available to us through His Son Jesus Christ.
If by chance you have never invited Jesus into your heart or you are not sure of your salvation, then pray this prayer of salvation right now and become part of God’s family:
“Lord Jesus, I ask you to be Lord over my life. I believe in my heart and say with my mouth, ‘Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead for me.’ This moment I make Him Lord of my life.
Jesus, come into my heart. I believe this moment that I am saved. I accept the free gift of salvation and say now that I am reborn. I am a child of God Almighty.”
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THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY JIM KASEMAN MINISTRIES, DECEMBER, 1996, PAGES 2, 3. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
