What was the purpose of Christ becoming flesh? The first reason was that He could be our Redeemer. He was God in the beginning, and then He became flesh. John 1:29 then tells us that He is the Lamb of God. He became flesh that He might be the redeeming Lamb. In God’s redemption, the most important element is the blood. If there is no blood, there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22). Without the flesh, Christ would not have any blood for cleansing our sins. Praise the Lord that He became flesh with the blood! Then He could shed His blood upon the cross for our sins. “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Christ became flesh for the purpose of accomplishing redemption for us.
The second reason Christ became flesh is deeper. He became flesh to bring God into man, that divinity might be mingled with humanity. This is God’s eternal purpose, to work Himself into humanity. This work began with the incarnation of Jesus. When Jesus became man, that brought God into humanity. There was on the earth a man by the name of Jesus who was the mingling of divinity with humanity. Jesus was a wonderful Person. He was nothing less than the mingling of God with man. This is altogether wonderful!
After becoming flesh, Jesus lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. Then He took the second step. The first step was incarnation. The second was a step of death and resurrection. By this, He became the life-giving Spirit. First Corinthians 15:45 says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. We know that the last Adam was Christ, the One who was God in the beginning and became flesh. In the first step He became flesh to be the last Adam. In the second step, through death and resurrection, as the last Adam He became the life-giving Spirit. Most Christians today only see that God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Matthew 28:19 clearly mentions the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no argument about this. But not many have seen the last part of 1 Corinthians 15:45. This verse tells us plainly that Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit. He became flesh for redemption; He became the life-giving Spirit for giving life. We not only need redemption; we also need life. Redemption is on the negative side; life is on the positive side. We do need redemption; but even more, we need life! Christ is not only the Redeemer, but also the Life-giver. To be the Redeemer He became flesh; to be the Life-giver He became the Spirit. By becoming flesh, He accomplished redemption. By becoming the life-giving Spirit, He is now imparting life. Hallelujah! The Lord is not only our Redeemer, He is our life-giver! In eternity past He was God. Then in time He became flesh and the life-giving Spirit.
But we must realize that this is not all. After these two steps, He is now taking a third. He is becoming the Body-Christ! I realize that this is a new term. Some will say that this term is not in the Bible. But they need to read 1 Corinthians 12:12, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is the Christ” (Greek). I am afraid that when we read this verse, we would read “so also is the church.” We know that Christ is the Head. But this verse says that Christ is the Body! We are clear that the Head is Christ and the Body is the church, but this verse does not say that the Body is the church. It says, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is the Christ.” So we do have the Body-Christ. Our Christ today is the Body-Christ. He was God. Then He became flesh, the life-giving Spirit, and the Body-Christ. The first step was by incarnation. The second step was by death and resurrection. And the third step is by indwelling. After the Lord became the life-giving Spirit, He came to indwell us. By this indwelling, He is day by day working Himself into all of us.
We may use petrified wood as an illustration. A wooden log falls into a flowing river, and water flows through the log bringing in all the minerals, and carrying away all the wooden essence. Eventually the log still appears as a log, but the interior element has been discharged and replaced with something new. It has become a precious stone. This is what the indwelling of the Lord Jesus is accomplishing in us. In a sense, He is petrifying us. This is transformation. Today He is the living water flowing through us to bring in the divine minerals and replace all our old element. We are not under a kind of correction or adjustment: we are under transformation. Something new is coming in to replace the old. This is just Christ Himself. It is by this that we are made the Body-Christ.
God in the beginning was merely God. He was alone. But it is not good for God to be alone. He wants a counterpart. When Jesus came, He was recommended by John the Baptist not only as the Lamb of God, but also as the Bridegroom. “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (John 3:29). Jesus came not simply to be the Redeemer, but to be the Bridegroom, and as such He needs a bride. Paul said that he had espoused the Corinthian believers as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). Ephesians 5 tells us that the church is just like the wife, and Christ is the husband. Then in the book of Revelation we are told that the wife has made herself ready, and the marriage of the Lamb has come (Rev. 19:7). That will be a universal marriage. Who is going to be married there? Christ our God! From that time God will never be alone. Our God will be a married God! He will marry the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the bride. At the beginning of the Bible, God is looking for a counterpart. At the end of the Bible, He is no more alone; He is with a bride. This is a picture showing us God being mingled with corporate humanity. This is God’s eternal purpose. Look at the New Jerusalem. God is there as the center, and man is the corporate vessel containing God. The Spirit is flowing as living water, and the supplying Christ is there as the tree of life. This is the Triune God fully mingled with humanity. This is the Body-Christ. We must realize that today the genuine church life is just a miniature of that Body-Christ.