Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 063-078), by Witness Lee

B. IN INCARNATION

1. Bringing God into Man

Through His work in incarnation Christ did something marvelous—He brought God into man (John 1:1, 14). If we study the Gospel of Luke thoroughly and deeply, we shall see that the incarnation of Christ was not only for the producing of the Savior. Actually, the incarnation of Christ brought divinity into humanity. This means that Christ’s incarnation was a great work to bring God into man. Only when we are in eternity shall we have a full understanding of how much was involved and implied in Christ’s incarnation. It is commonly thought that the incarnation was simply a matter of the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary for the conception and birth of the Lord Jesus. But much more than this was taking place. When the Lord Jesus was conceived, a great work was taking place to bring God into man.

It was surely a marvelous thing for God to come into man by means of Christ’s work in incarnation and to be born of mankind through a virgin. In creation God was the Creator. But though He created all things, He did not enter into any of the things He created. Even in creating man God only breathed the breath of life into him (Gen. 2:7). He was still outside man. His breath, according to Job 33:4, gave man life; however, He Himself did not come into man. Until the incarnation He was separate from man. But through Christ’s work in incarnation God was brought into man. He was first conceived and then remained in the virgin’s womb for nine months, after which He was born. What a great work this was!

God was brought into man through the conception of the Lord Jesus. That conception involved a process, a procedure, that brought God into man. Therefore, when Jesus was born, the God-man was born. It is crucial for us to realize that not only was a human child born, but God Himself was involved in that birth.

We should not think that when the Lord Jesus was conceived within Mary’s womb God was far away in the heavens and that when the Lord Jesus was about to be delivered God came upon Him and made Him the God-man. Such an understanding is too objective and outward. Christ’s incarnation involved the intrinsic essence of both divinity and humanity. His conception was of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20), and the Holy Spirit is God Himself. When the Holy Spirit came upon Mary (Luke 1:35), He did not come upon her merely in an outward way, but came into her in a way that involved the divine essence intrinsically. The divine essence of (literally, out of), the Holy Spirit was generated in Mary’s womb to conceive the Lord Jesus.

Just as every conception is a mingling, Christ’s conception was also a mingling, the mingling of the divine essence with the human essence in one entity, the wonderful person of Christ. His conception of the Holy Spirit in a human virgin, accomplished with both the divine and human essences, constitutes a mingling of the divine nature with the human nature, producing the God-man. In Christ, the God-man, these two essences are brought together not in union but in mingling.

This mingling was a miracle that took place over a period of nine months. Through this procedure, this process of pregnancy by the mingling of the divine essence and the human essence, Christ was working to bring God into man. Therefore, through Christ’s work in His incarnation the God who had been outside of mankind was brought into humanity.

(Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 063-078), Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)