Jun 24
23
Baptist Catechism 25
Q. 25. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul; being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and born of her, yet without sin. (Heb. 2:14; Matt. 26:38; Luke 2:52; John 12:27; Luke 1:31,35; Heb. 4:15; 7:26)
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 2:10-18
“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.’ And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children God has given me.’ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:10–18, ESV)
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Introduction
Before we dive into question and answer 25, it would be good to remember where we have recently been in our catechism. After a series of questions and answers about man’s fall into sin, question 23 asked, Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? Answer: God having out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer. Question 24 then asked, Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect? Answer: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever. There is a lot of important and weighty doctrine crammed into Baptist Catechism 24. There the Redeemer of God’s elect is named: he is the Lord Jesus Christ. And there we are also told something about his person and nature: he being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.
I think you would agree with me that Baptist Catechism 25 asks a very natural and reasonable follow-up question: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? That is a really good question, don’t you think? How did this happen? Hear the answer again: Christ the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul; being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
Please allow me to highlight a few things about this answer.
One, this answer is good and true, but mystery does remain. The doctrine of the incarnation is filled with mystery. We must say what the Scriptures say about the incarnation while being content to allow some mystery to remain. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? Well, we can say this much, but we cannot say much more.
Two, notice the phrase “by taking to himself”. That is a very helpful way to describe how the person of the eternal Son of God became man. The Son did not become man by changing or transforming into man. No, he became man in that he “took to himself,” or assumed a human nature. This is a good way to put it because this is how the Scriptures put it. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5–8, ESV)
Three, notice that it was not the divine nature that became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, and neither was it the person of the Father or the person of the Spirit, but the person of the Son. It was the Son who became incarnate to accomplish our redemption. This is what the Scriptures consistently teach. John 1:14 teaches that it was the Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It was the person of the Son who became incarnate.
Four, when we confess that the Son of God became man we mean that the Son assumed a true human body and a true human soul. This he did for us and for our salvation. This is why the writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore [Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:17–18, ESV).
Five, the Son of God assumed a true human body and soul through the virgin birth. You may read the account of this in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke’s gospels. Where did Jesus get his human nature? He got it through Mary. Now granted, he was miraculously conceived in her. She was a virgin, remember? Jesus was not born from Adam (or Joseph), and this is important, as we will soon see. When the angel appeared to the virgin Mary to announce that she would have a son, he said, “‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:31–35, ESV). How did the person of the eternal Son of God assume a true human body and reasonable human soul? Through the virgin birth being conceived by the power of the Most High God.
Six, notice our catechism concludes with the words, “yet without sin.” Did the eternal Son assume a true human nature, body and soul, for us and our Redemption? Yes, but he was without sin. Jesus Christ was not born with Adam’s guilt imputed to him or with a corrupt nature as we were (remember Baptist Catechism 21). The virgin birth made this possible. Jesus was and is as we are in every respect with this one exception: he was without sin. Because of this, he could live, die, and rise again as our Redeemer.
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Conclusion
I think it would be good to conclude with the question, why the incarnation? Or, why was it necessary that teh Son of God assume a human nature? The answer was stated in the Hebrews 2 passage that was read at the start of this sermon. Christ the Redeemer “had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Stated differently, for Christ to redeem humans, he had to be human. But no mere human could do what Christ has done. This is because of our weakness and sin. Only God has the power to redeem sinners. And Christ is the God-man. He is the person of the eternal Son of God incarnate. He assumed a human nature to redeem those with human natures. He has redeemed us body and soul. One theologian who lived long ago famously said, “what is not assumed is not healed” (Gregory of Nazianzus). What he meant was that for Christ to heal, save, or redeem us, he had to assume our nature. To bring us to God and to glory, Christ had to be like us in every respect. You and I are humans. We have human bodies and human souls. Christ was and is truly human. He had to be in order to redeem us and heal us. But he was no mere man. He was and is the eternal Son of God incarnate. And this is why he has the power to save.
