Prayer and reading guides · English
The Incarnation: God Became Man
"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). This is the center of the Christian faith. The eternal Son of God, without ceasing to be God, became a real man, born of the Virgin Mary.
True God and true man
Jesus Christ is fully God: He forgave sins, raised the dead and accepted worship. He is also fully man: He was born, grew, was hungry and tired, wept at the tomb of Lazarus and died on the Cross.
One Lord, not two
The Coptic Church, with St. Cyril of Alexandria, confesses that Christ is one: "one nature of God the Word incarnate." His divinity and His humanity are united in Him, not side by side like two people sharing a body. The same Lord who walked on water slept in the boat.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy the priest confesses that the Lord took flesh from the Virgin Mary and made it one with His divinity "without mingling, without confusion, and without alteration," and that His divinity never parted from His humanity, "not for a single moment nor a twinkling of an eye."
Tip: Listen for that confession the next time you are at the Liturgy. It is the faith of the Church in one breath.
Why did He become man?
St. Athanasius answered in a famous line: the Son of God became man so that we might share in the life of God. Christ took our nature to heal it from the inside: to conquer death by His death, and to give us His life in baptism and in Holy Communion.
What it means for us
- God is not far away. He knows hunger, tears and death from the inside.
- Our bodies matter. God made them, took one Himself and will raise them.
- In Holy Communion we receive the same Lord, His true Body and Blood.
Quick questions
Did God suffer on the Cross?
The Church says that the Son of God suffered in the flesh. The One who suffered is God the Word, in the body He made His own, which is why His death gives life to the world.
Why is Mary called Mother of God?
Because the One she bore is God the Word made flesh. To call her Theotokos is to confess who her Son is.