Why does God appear to mankind by being incarnated
as the Son of man?
- He Wanted To Further Reveal God To Humanity
- Jesus Came To Fulfill God’s Promises To Certain People
- Jesus Came To Fulfill The Law Of Moses
- Jesus Came To Die For The Sins Of The World
- Jesus Came To Bring In A New Covenant
- Jesus Came To Destroy The Works Of The Devil
- Jesus Came To Judge The World Righteously
- Jesus Came To Sympathize With Believers As The Great High Priest
- Jesus Came To Be An Example For Believers
- Jesus Came To Prepare Humanity For A Heavenly Destiny
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Jesus became a man, not an angel, because He came to save men.
Jesus became fully human for a specific purpose, to become a high priest to offer Himself for our sins.
Jesus became a man, He is able to come to our aid when we are tempted.
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The Nicene Creed does not use the exact word “Savior” in speaking of Jesus, but it does state the reason why the Word of God became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven.”
So the purpose of the Incarnation was to effect the salvation of all mankind. St. Paul says in 1 Timothy (1:15) that “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.” In the Gospel of John we read: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world that the world might be saved through him” (3:16-17). In the biblical use, “salvation” is related to redemption and liberation. In the book of Exodus, we read how God called his people out of Egypt, how he saved them from slavery under the Pharoah. When the Bible and the Creed speak of “salvation” they are talking about the liberation of mankind from the power of sin, death and the devil. We know from revelation, especially from Genesis and the infallible teaching of the Church, that in the beginning God created man in a state of innocence and friendship with himself. As a result of man’s rejection of God’s love, he lost his original innocence, came under the power of sin and the devil, and was subject to death. Having lost God’s grace, which was a pure gift to begin with and thus something to which he had no just claim, man became an outcast, unable to achieve the noble destiny to which God had ordained him.
Since man could not save himself from sin, could not by his own efforts regain the grace of God, God in his own infinite wisdom resolved to become man. Thus Jesus, the God-man, was able to make satisfaction to God’s justice, for all his actions had infinite worth. Very succinctly, therefore, the Creed proclaims that the reason for the Word becoming flesh was to accomplish the salvation of men. And when the Creed says “men” it means “all men” without any distinction as to race, color or creed. God’s salvation is not restricted to the chosen people. In the writings of St. Paul we learn that faith in Christ was first offered to the Jews and then to the gentiles. Some Jews accepted it and some rejected it, just as some gentiles believed and some did not.
When the Church says that “he came down from heaven”, she is referring to the pre-existence of the divine Word that became man in Jesus of Nazareth. Thus the Person who is Jesus existed from all eternity in the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The meaning is that he did not commence his existence with his conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He began to be in his human nature only.
In the faith-affirmation we are considering, there is also the idea of sacrifice and offering. This is said in a particular way by the preposition “for”. Please note that in the consecration at Mass the Church directs the priest to say: “This is my body which will given up for you,” and “It [my blood] will be shed for you and for all men so that sins may be forgiven.” Thus our friendship with God and our possibility of attaining eternal happiness in the presence of God were attained for us by another. His name is Jesus Christ.
Just like a man can not understand a ant and cannot help the ant except he becomes a little ant. It is the same that Jesus came to us as a man, so we can understand Him and He can understand us. Therefore, He can save us.
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This question is very important. but I can not answer clearly.
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Since scripture has already been quoted and doctrine written out in bullet form, I thought I’d just add my two cents.
It comes down to this: God has been trying, from Genesis to the beginning of the New Testament to work with man, give man a way to come to Him, give His forgiveness, state His rules for righteousness, and humans just cannot do it alone. So – God sent His Only Begotten Son so that none that the Father has chosen would be lost. (Who those chosen are, specifically and in totality, only God knows now.) And the big answer is:
BECAUSE GOD LOVES US!
However I have no idea why! I’m with the Psalmist here:
Psalm 8:4-6 King James Version (KJV)
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
I once read a good article about this. It’s about The Hindu And The Anthill:
Jesus is the way the truth and the life. No one can come to God except through him. We can know there is God, but we cannot know exactly how is God like. But the words, teachings, and life of Jesus showed us how is God. He loved us even to death.
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Because God is in heaven and earth and man, there are essential differences between man and God. Using human mind and reason cannot know God’s existence. Only God reveals Himself and let us know the truth of God. Through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, let us understand God and know God.
It is God who humbled Himself and reduced Himself to human level. We can understand God.
Just like a doctor can’t tell a 3-year-old child, what does Dr. mean? Only introduce himself in a way that children can understand.
For He so loves us. and He wants to save us.It Only can be don by a sinless man.
He loves us. not only by speech but also by action.