1. “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14).
Although the Lord Jesus is the eternal God and the Creator in time, He became flesh; that is, He became a man through human birth. The eternal Word, the eternal God, was born as a man in time; He became flesh. In eternity He could not be seen or contacted as God, but in time, when He became flesh, He could be seen and contacted. His incarnation was His manifestation to man so that man could know Him and contact Him practically. This is like a tape-recorded message that is more concrete than just a word released into the air. The Lord Jesus, the Word, is the incarnated God. He is God, the Word, on “tape.” What He is in eternity was manifested in time so that we could touch and contact Him.
2. “Emmanuel...God with us” (Matt. 1:23; see also Isa. 7:14).
The Lord Jesus is God, and He became a man. Therefore, He also is God with man. This is the meaning of His name Emmanuel. In Him, there is God and there is man. God and man are mingled in Him. He is God and He is man because He is God become man.
3. “A child is born to us, / ...And His name will be called / ...Mighty God” (Isa. 9:6).
Even though the Lord Jesus was born as a child, He was the Mighty God. Being a child means that He truly became a man with the likeness and nature of man. Being the Mighty God means that He is the very God with the glory and authority of God. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that even when the Lord Jesus was born as a man, He was still God. He was God, and He was man. On the one hand, He was a small man, and on the other hand, He was the Mighty God.
4. “A Son is given to us; / ...And His name will be called / ...Eternal Father” (Isa. 9:6).
Isaiah 9:6 tells us that when the Lord Jesus was born as a man, He was both the Son given to us and the Eternal Father. The Father is the source, and the Son is the manifestation. On the one hand, the Lord is God the source, and on the other hand, He is God the manifestation. In eternity He is the Father as the source. In time He is the Son as the manifestation. He, the Son, manifested in time is the Eternal Father. Therefore, He is the Son, and at the same time, He is the Father.
5. “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?...You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13, 16).
On the one hand, when the Lord was on earth, He was the Son of Man born of man, and on the other hand, He was the Son of God. As the Son of Man, He represents man before God. As the Son of God, He manifests God before man. He is the Son of Man to bear our sins and to defeat Satan. He is the Son of God so that we may gain God’s life and all that is of God.
6. “Who, existing in the form of God...but...taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7; see also Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3).
Our Lord is God, so He existed in the form of God. When He was born on earth as a man, He became in the likeness of men and took the form of a human slave. Although He became flesh, put on the likeness of men, and had the form of a human slave, He was the image of God, the impress of the substance of God, and the effulgence of God’s glory. In Him there is the image of God and the image of man because He is God who came to be a man.
7. “His goings forth are... / From the days of eternity”; “My time” (Micah 5:2; John 7:6)
The Lord Jesus was in eternity, and He came to be in time. He was God in eternity, and He came to be a man in time.
8. “He who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven” (John 3:13).
When the Lord Jesus was incarnated to be a man, He was in heaven even when He was on earth. Although He was a man on the earth, He was still God in heaven.
9. “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
The incarnated Lord Jesus was one with the Father. He was a man, and at the same time, He was God.
10. “The only begotten Son...has declared Him”; “He gave His only begotten Son” (John 1:18; 3:16).
When the Lord came to the earth, He came as the only begotten Son of God. He was the unique manifestation of God. Apart from Him, man could not see God, because only the Lord manifested God.