According to the Heidelberg Catechism (q. 15) we need a Mediator “who is a true and righteous man, and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is withal true God.” Already we have considered this unique Mediator, Jesus Christ, and the union of the two natures in one person. Before we move on to the work of Christ we must consider how God became man.
In one word, we are talking about the incarnation. While this term is heard mostly at Christmas, it is a word that expresses an essential and basic truth.
The Miracle
When the Son of God came in the flesh and God. visited His people, something very wonderful happened. We are hard-pressed to understand it.
It was not to a specially created human nature that God came, for then He would not be part of the human race and we would have no Substitute. Nor was it that God merely appeared as human. Instead, the Son of God assumed the human nature. He is, therefore, both God and man.
He is THE theophany. In the Old Testament you recall that God made His presence known in winds (Job 38:1; Psalm 18:10-16), fire and smoke (Genesis 15:17; Exodus 19:9, 16ff) and the Angel of Jehovah (Genesis 16:13; Malachi 3:1). The fulfillment of these theophanies is Jesus Christ in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 1:19, 2:9).
He is THE communication of God. In the shadows of the Old Testament God sometimes spoke audibly (Genesis 2:16; Exodus 19:9ff). Then there was the Urim and Thummin. Dreams and visions were also ways by which God communicated His will (Numbers 12:6; I Samuel 28:6; Isaiah 6; Ezekiel1-3). Generally, however, God spoke through the prophets. Then came the New Testament and Jesus Christ. He is the Word become flesh; He is the only prophet. He communicates life and truth through the Holy Spirit.
He is THE miracle. All through the Old Testament great miracles were performed. These miracles were for the purpose of revealing God and demonstrating His great salvation. Berkhof writes, “The miracles culminated in the incarnation, which is the greatest and most central miracle of all. Christ Himself is the absolute miracle” (Reformed Dogmatics: Introduction, p. 143).
Often Promised
This incarnation was no sudden thing. It was promised way back in the Old Testament. How else can we understand words like these:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:6, 7).
But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2).
Helping us understand these prophecies are
words like those of the Prologue of John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . (1:1, 14).
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary this message was made abundantly clear: . . . Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end . . . The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:31–33, 35).
The Virgin Birth
What took place in the incarnation came about by means of the virgin birth. This truth has always been confessed by the Church. It is just as it was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Of course, unbelief has attempted to discredit this revealed truth of Scripture in many ways. Some have even been so bold as to proclaim that Jesus was the illegitimate child born to Mary by a Roman soldier.
About the word “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14, there has been much discussion. We are told that the word can also be translated “young woman” as in the Revised Standard Version. This has been a way by which men have attempted to deny the virgin birth of Christ.
In answer to this, Herman Hoeksema wrote in his Reformed Dogmatics:
It is true that those who deny the virgin birth of Christ point out that the Hebrew word used in the text for “virgin” may also refer to a young woman recently married. Fact is, however, first of all, that the word signifies the age of puberty, a person of marriageable age, but not yet married; and, secondly, that the text speaks definitely of a sign. Now a sign is a phenomenon that draws the attention of men by its extraordinary character, its being radically different from the facts of experience, a wonder of grace. But there certainly would be nothing extraordinary in the fact that a young woman would conceive and bear a son (p. 351).
Besides, as we read Matthew 1:18–22, we are told that God’s words through Isaiah have been fulfilled: a virgin has conceived and brought forth a son. Also, that Jesus was virgin-born is shown clearly in Mary’s words to Gabriel: “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man (Luke 1:34)?”
Why was this miracle—this incarnation necessary? So that God would glorify Himself in the realizing of His Covenant. So that God would save His people—those whom He covenanted to save. So that the sin which separates us from God would be paid for. To do all this He must be one of us.
