The New Testament reveals to us that Christ took two major steps. The first step was His incarnation, and the second step was His resurrection. Among the Christians in the past centuries, much attention has been paid to Christ's incarnation, but the resurrection of Christ has been much neglected. The Lord Jesus, who was God, the Creator of the universe, took a major step to become a man. The New Testament tells us that God as the Word became flesh (John 1:14). This means that God joined Himself to fallen humanity, yet He was without sin. God took a major step to become a man, and this man was wonderful. He was not a common man but a God-man, who lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years and passed through human living. At the end of His human life He went to the cross and died an all-inclusive death to take away all the negative things in the universe, thus clearing up the way for Him to dispense Himself into God's chosen people. Through His death the divine life within this God-man was released. That released divine life produced many believers, produced the church, which is the Body of Christ. He took the step of incarnation to become a man in the flesh. Through death He took the second step of resurrection to become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). As the resurrected God-man, He became the Spirit that gives life (2 Cor. 3:6, 17).
We need to pay our full attention to two crucial verses in the New Testament: John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh," and 1 Corinthians 15:45b says, "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." Many Bible teachers have told people that the Word became flesh, but not many have taught that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. In these two verses the same predicate is used—became. The Word became flesh. The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. We need to be impressed with the clear and accurate word of the Bible.
The Lord Jesus as God became flesh. He became a man, and this man was the last Adam. This last Adam, who was Jesus in the flesh, became a life-giving Spirit. Before His incarnation, the Lord Jesus was purely, merely, singly, wholly, and completely God. He was the complete God, the entire God, the whole God, but He was not a man. He did not have the human nature, the human element, or the human essence before His incarnation. Essentially, He only had the divine element and the divine nature. One day about two thousand years ago He took a wonderful step—God was born out of a virgin in a manger to become a man. This little child in the manger was the mighty God (Isa. 9:6). He was not merely God, but a God-man. This is the greatest wonder in the universe!
This God-man's name is Jesus. Whenever you say the name Jesus, you have to recall that Jesus was God becoming a man and that He lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years. He lived in Nazareth, a small town despised by people. He lived in a poor family and in a lowly carpenter's home. It is marvelous that the Creator of the universe, of the heavens and of the earth, lived in a poor carpenter's home, not as a guest but as a son. He lived there as a carpenter (Mark 6:3), so God in the form of a man did carpentry. Outwardly He had the appearance of a man, but inwardly He was God. This is our Lord Jesus. The unlimited God, the infinite God, was limited and restricted in a little home to be a carpenter. What patience! What suffering! What limitation! What restriction!