How did God become a man?

In a word: “miraculously.” When God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, he overthrew the basic principle on which he had founded the universe: the distinction between the Creator and the creation.

The opening words of the Bible make that distinction clear: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”(Genesis 1:1). That means God is not the world, nor is he anything in the world.

The chasm between God and everything that isn’t God is vast and unbridgeable. Martin Luther once said it would be far easier to understand that a man became a donkey, than that God became a man. “Man” and “donkey” have much more in common. They’re both creatures, which makes them fundamentally like each other and fundamentally different from their Creator.

The Bible states that at a specific time and place in history, the eternal, almighty, infinite God became a human being like you and me, and yet without ceasing for an instant to be God.

God’s own angel explained it to a virgin by the name of Mary. He said: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” Luke 1:35.

This results in paradoxes we simply can’t understand. The Bible makes no attempt to explain them either. It simply says the baby who lay in the manger at Bethlehem is the Creator of the universe. The infinite, eternal God grew up in a village in Galilee. The almighty God went hungry, got thirsty, and even fell asleep.

Most miraculous and amazing of all, the immortal, eternal God died on Jesus’ cross.

These truths have important implications and blessings for us. Here are a few of them: Jesus’ atoning work is limitless in its scope and application; the sins of the world are completely paid; the redemption of mankind is accomplished; and God’s love for people is boundless.