God came to accomplish salvation for man because He loves man. God’s way of salvation has three major steps.
The first step of God’s wonderful way of salvation is His coming to be joined to man. Whether barbaric or civilized, whether in the ancient times or in the present, and whether in the East or the West, man has always had the concept of worshipping God. In the ancient times of ignorance, in the mid-ancient age of superstition, and in the present century with all its technological advancements, man has been unable to break away from his concept of worshipping God. Not only are the uneducated countrymen fearful toward God, but also some famous scientists are filled with thoughts of worshipping God. Actually, the more intelligent and thoughtful a person is and the more feeling he has, the richer his concept of worshipping God will be. Those who are rich in emotions, deep in thought, and firm in will have a concept of God.
Someone once said that he who says in his mind that there is no God does not look like a man. History has proven that almost all atheists have lost their humanity and behave like beasts (Psa. 10:4; 14:1; Rom. 1:18-32). A proper man who is rich in his mind, emotion, and will has no way to deny that there is a God in the universe. This is the reason that the world is full of religions. Every nation and tribe has its ways of worshipping God. Although the objects of their worship may be different or completely wrong, mankind in general has the concept of worshipping God.
Man has a concept of worshipping God, because God desires that man have a relationship with Him. God created such a longing within man (Eccl. 3:11). However, the relationship that God desires to have with man is not merely that man would adore Him as a God who is high and far above man. God’s thought is deeper than this. God desires to enter into man and to have a life union with man. When a person thinks of God, his natural concept is that God is sitting in the heavens and that he, as man, is somewhere below. His thought is that God is high in heaven and that he is a small man on earth; hence, he can only prostrate and worship God from afar. It is far from man’s natural concept to think that God desires to enter into man and to have a union in life with man.
Once, I visited a famous Islamic mosque in Jerusalem. In the mosque many people were lined up to worship Allah, that is, God. Such a scene was touching. When these people reached the peak of their worship, they prostrated themselves with their whole body and even crawled. If I had asked them where the God whom they worshipped was, they would not have dared to lift up their heads and look at the heavens, but would have kept their heads bowed with humility, saying, “God is in the heavens; He is honorable, high, and great; He is too noble, too glorious. We are people who are small and lowly; therefore, we dare not stand but can only prostrate ourselves to worship Him.” They worshipped five times from the morning to the evening, and they took turns to worship one group after another.
When I was visiting that place, I was impressed on the one hand, but on the other hand, I felt sorry for these people because they did not know who God is or how He wants man to worship Him. Although they genuinely had a heart to worship God, they did not know who God is, and they did not know the way to worship Him or the kind of relationship He desires to have with man. Today we need to know that the relationship God wants to have with man is not merely for man on earth to worship God in the heavens but for the God of the heavens to come to the earth and enter into man to have an intimate union with man. The heavenly God wants to be united with the earthly man to become one with this man. This is a wonderful step in God’s way of salvation, and it is the most mysterious item in the truth of the Bible. God desires to enter into man, to be joined to man, and to become one with man. The result of such a union has the appearance of man outwardly and the reality of God inwardly. In such a union God and man are joined and become one, with God being the life and content inwardly and man being the living and expression outwardly. This is God’s way of salvation.
The God in the heavens lowered Himself to become flesh (John 1:1, 14). He was born among men and entered into the human race. The God who is in heaven was born in Bethlehem to be a child, to be a man (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:1). After being born, this little child was laid in a manger (Luke 2:7). According to His flesh, He was a man, a little child, but according to His inner being, He was God. The Bible says in the book of Isaiah, “A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us; / ...And His name will be called / ...Mighty God, / Eternal Father” (9:6). He was a child, but He was also the mighty God. On the one hand, He was a human child, but on the other hand, He was the eternal Father. This child’s name is Jesus (Matt. 1:21).
Jesus was taken by His parents to Galilee and grew up in Nazareth (2:23). When He was thirty, He came out to minister throughout the land of Palestine (Luke 3:23). He lived for thirty-three and a half years and was crucified on a cross. While He was on the earth, the man Jesus spoke many words of wisdom that have never been conceived in the minds of intellects and philosophers throughout the generations (2:52; Matt. 13:54). Those who have studied the four Gospels acknowledge that the words that Jesus Christ spoke in the four Gospels are full of wisdom. A great philosopher in France once said that if the Jesus described in the four Gospels was fabricated by a man, the man who fabricated Him would be qualified to be Jesus Christ. This means that the only person who can have such wisdom is Jesus Christ.
The words of Jesus were not only words of wisdom but also words of authority (7:29). Although He was only in His thirties when He ministered on the earth, Jesus performed many signs and wonders. He spoke to calm the wind and the sea (8:26). He raised a man who had died, been buried, and become stinking (John 11:14, 17, 39, 43-44). He also caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk (Matt. 11:4-5). These facts cannot be erased from human history. Jesus was a man, yet He was able to do all these things. There was a mysterious story in Him, and this story is that God was in Him. He was not merely a man but was God manifested in man.
While Jesus was on the earth, those who followed Him saw the things that He did and were puzzled concerning Him. Thus, they asked Him and asked one another privately who He was (Matt. 8:27; 21:10; John 8:25; 10:24). In appearance He was a man in every way. He was hungry when He did not eat, thirsty when He did not drink, and tired when He did not sleep. His stature was not different from others, and sometimes He wept (Matt. 4:2; Mark 11:12; John 4:6-7; Phil. 2:7-8; John 11:35). However, His words were full of wisdom and intelligence, and His actions were full of power and authority.
Although people at His time did not know who He was, we need to know who He is today. He is the Lord who created all things, the God of the heavens and the earth (1:3; Heb. 1:8, 10). In order to contact man, to be joined to man, and to put Himself before man, Jesus lowered Himself, put on the flesh, and became in the likeness of man so that He could be with and live with man (Phil. 2:5-8).
Generally speaking, it is difficult for a great person and a common person to contact each other. Whenever a great person comes, most common people will only look from afar and will not dare to come too close or to contact such a great person face to face and talk to him. If a great person desires to contact common people, he needs to lower himself, dress in a way that is more common than the common people, and have a pleasant smile so that the common people can contact him, talk with him, and touch him without fear.