5. Why God Become Man

The incarnation is a stumbling block to some and a mystery to all. Some imagine it impossible for God to become a man. They think God is too great to become a man. In reality, it is their misconception of God which is too small to allow for the possibility. Actually the incarnation was necessary for our salvation. Since man sinned, man had to die to satisfy the demands of justice. But if the one sent to die had been a mere man —even a perfect man, he could have paid only the price for the sins of one other man. Therefore, the one who would die for the sins of the world also had to be God. The sheer weight of the magnitude of trillions of sins demanded a price no mere man could possibly pay. And so "the Word, who was with God" and who "was God" became flesh (John 1:1,14). God revealed what he was like by dying on a cross, and we revealed what we are like apart from his grace by putting him there.