How does Jesus becoming man show us the Father's love?
The incarnation is God's love entering our world at the cost of everything. The Father sent His Son not because we deserved it, but because He loved us while we were still sinners. The manger, the cross, and the empty tomb are one continuous act of divine love that we can never exhaust.
This question arose from studying Is Jesus really God? and Who is Jesus?.
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What the Scripture says
The Father initiated the mission of love
The incarnation was not an accident or a plan B. Paul writes that God sent His Son 'in the likeness of sinful flesh,' and that He 'didn't spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.' The Father was not passive at the cross; He gave the Son He loved because He loved the world He made.
For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
The Son's descent shows the cost of that love
Paul says Christ, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. The distance from heaven to the manger, from the throne to the cross, is the measure of the Father's love for you.
who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
It was love for sinners, not the deserving
Paul makes it plain: 'God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' We were not searching; He was. We were not worthy; He loved us anyway. The cross is not a reward for the good but a rescue for the lost.
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
The incarnation makes God knowable and near
John says the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory. God did not send a messenger or a system; He came Himself, in person, so that we could see what He is like. Jesus said, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father.' The manger brings God within reach.
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The love does not end at the cradle; it reaches the cross and the tomb
The same Father who sent the Son to be born also raised Him from the dead. The love that entered the world at Christmas accomplishes its work at Easter. Paul writes that Christ was 'who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.' The full arc of incarnation, death, and resurrection is one act of love.
who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
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Verses to meditate on
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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