What is meant by the Incarnation of Jesus?

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18, 22-25).

Jesus was not the result of sexual relations between a male and female. Neither was Jesus created by God about 2000 years ago. Jesus was and is the eternal second Person of the Trinity; the Alpha and the Omega. He took on a human body through the virgin birth as the Holy Spirit prepared a body for Him in the womb of Mary. The body of Jesus was the result of the creation power of God through the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin called Mary. Jesus had two natures, one divine and one fully human, united in one Person; the Holy Son of God. Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us; the God-man. Jesus had to become a man to die for our sins. But Jesus had to be sinless. Yet, Jesus was tempted like us in every way. He suffered our emotional and physical pain. He experienced everything we do. He obeyed the law of God perfectly on our behalf. He was tempted by Satan like Adam and Eve, and every human being after them, but overcame every temptation. This was due to His divine nature.

There was no thought or stain of any sin in Jesus. The incarnation of Jesus through the Holy Spirit broke the sin-line of Adam which transfers the sinful nature to every human being born from Adam. Jesus had no sin nature. The sinless death of Jesus is the only atonement for our sins. The whole life of Jesus, including His death and resurrection is counted to us as righteousness when we repent and put our trust in Him.

Jesus also rose bodily from the grave and took with Him into heaven the glorified body in which all believers will be raised one day. If Jesus did not rose from the dead, His death for our sin means nothing. The penalty for sin is death. Jesus broke the penalty of sin by rising from the dead. His bodily resurrection means we will one day rose from the dead in a new glorified body as His. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead means the Father accepted his life and death as a sufficient sacrifice for our sin.

Jesus was not just a spirit passing through this earth for a while in a human body and left it in the grave to rose as a spirit. He appeared bodily to His disciples and they could touch Him and see the wounds. He ate and talked with them after His resurrection. Jesus' incarnation as the God-man was the final step in the Trinity's redemptive plan. Jesus will one day return bodily and every eye will see Him coming on the clouds as He left. He will appear a second time, not to save, but to judge everyone who disobeyed God's laws and rejected Him.