Knowing the God Who Became Human
Sunday Seminary—8
Know What You Believe. Believe What You Know.
In our last Sunday Seminary, we were left amazed that our Triune God, out of his love and life, shows mercy to fallen creatures. He promised to do this and fulfilled that promise when the Son of God became human in Jesus.
As Article 18 of the Belgic Confession says,
We confess that God fulfilled the promise which he had made to the early fathers by the mouth of his holy prophets when he sent his only and eternal Son into the world at the time set by him.
Paul echoes this: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman” (Gal. 4:4).
In theology, we call this the incarnation—God the Son taking on human nature. This mystery should stir both awe and love. True faith seeks understanding. Peter exhorts us, “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue…knowledge…steadfastness…godliness…and love” (2 Pet. 1:5–7).
Eternally God
To understand the incarnation, we first affirm that the Son of God is eternally God. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The Son did not begin to exist—he has always been with the Father and the Spirit.
Basil of Caesarea wisely said,
His actual birth from all eternity in the bosom of His Father must be venerated in silence… The Father was, and the Son was born! Do not say, ‘when?’ Do not ask, ‘how?’ for there is no answer!
Adore this mystery. You cannot explain his eternity, but you can worship the Eternal Son.
Truly Human
The Son of God became truly human through a miraculous conception. As the Confession states,
He was conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, without male participation… truly assuming a real human nature, with all its weaknesses, except for sin.
This means he took both a real human body and a real human soul—because both had fallen and both needed redemption. As Gregory of Nazianzus said,
That which is not assumed is not healed… If the whole of human nature fell, it must be united to the whole of Him who was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.
Here is another aspect of Gospel: Since Christ assumed our full humanity, he can fully heal it.
United as God and Man
The Confession continues,
The person of the Son has been inseparably united and joined together with human nature… not two Sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in one person.
He has an unchanging divinity—eternal, infinite, and uncreated.
He has an unchanging humanity—finite, mortal, yet glorified by resurrection.
Even in death, these natures were never separated: his divine nature remained united to his human nature in the grave, just as it was when he was a child.
Again, hear the Gospel in this: as true God, he conquered death by his power; as true man, he died for us in weakness.
Amazed at the Incarnation
Augustine put it beautifully:
He was begotten of the Father without a mother, and born of a mother without a father; without a mother He was God, without a father He was man.
Behold theanthrōpos—the God-Man!
Eternally God, truly man, united in one person, that you—fallen human being—might be lifted back to God.
Let this truth move you not to speculation but to adoration. The mystery of the incarnation is not meant to puzzle your mind but to kindle your worship.