This is part of the series What is the Gospel?
One of the most wonderful aspects of Christianity is that God is not far off. God is not so distant that He cannot be known. God is not so mysterious that He cannot be found. It is the one of the greater wonders of the Christian faith that God has come down to earth and made abode with humanity. The doctrine of the Incarnation is relevant to the Gospel because it speaks to the seriousness of the sin. Only God could resolve and reconcile the broken relationship between humanity and God; and the broken relationship between humanity and itself. John captures it so beautifully when he said that, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). God has literally pitched His tent in our midst and has condescended so that we may have access to Him. Peter Lewis in his book The Glory of Christ makes these powerful statements about Jesus being delivered through Mary’s womb.
“If this humanity is less than full and true, then He is inadequate as a mediator; incompetent as a sympathizer; and disqualified as a redeemer. If (save for sin) He is not all that we are in our uttermost humanity, then He cannot perfectly represent us either in His life or in His death. If He does not descend to us from God, then He cannot lift us up to God.…it is in the Humanity of Jesus that we encounter the nearness of God” (pg. 142, 143)
The Gospel message makes no sense if the Savior is not like the sinner. Only one who is like us can stand as an advocate, as a representative and plead for salvation on our behalf. And so we are confronted with the Incarnation and its importance to the Gospel message that Jesus had to become like us so that we could become like He is.
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