Perpetual Incarnation Celebration

Posted on January 29, 2026January 29, 2026 by Edward Dalcour

The Perpetual Incarnation Celebration: The Hallmark of Christian Doctrine

Every annual December 25th, many Christians celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, the import of what Christmas represents has evaporated; and instead it has become a secular event. In far too many churches, the birth of Christ sermon is shared with Santa Clause pictures, statues of reindeers and snowmen scattered around the church—at these venues Christmas has become a distortion of the incarnation. Even so, pastors seem obligated to give a limited Christmas message mainly consisting of the manger, animals, wise men, and the shepherds in the field.

Although these things are indeed included in the Gospel narrative, the most glorious event was not merely the birth, rather it was the conception – the hallmark and necessity of our redemption.

The perpetual Incarnation should be taught throughout the year in tandem with other essential Christian doctrines.

Ps. 49:7-8: “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, ⁸ for the ransom of their life is costly, and can never suffice” (ESV).

No mere man can—but the Son as God-man, whose sacrifice had infinite value. In His human nature Christ lived the perfect life – fulfilling the “covenant of works” (vicariously) which Adam did not fulfill. (cf. Gen. 2:17; Hosea 6:7; Rom. 5:5-13). As the “last Adam” – Christ met all the requirements of the justice of God; not only His substitutionary cross work (passive obedience), but also, in His perfect and substitutionary life (active obedience).

Rom. 5:10: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved [‘from the wrath of God,’ v. 9] by His life” (NASB). Christ as God-Man accomplished an actual redemption, a real propitiation.

The atoning work of the Son in His physical body accomplished all that was necessary to secure our justification (Rom. 5:6-10; Heb. 10:11-14). His work was definite, eternal, and infallible.

Col. 1:21-22: “making peace through the blood of his cross…. ²² but now He has reconciled you His physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before Him.”

The Incarnation

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel” – 2 Tim. 2:8 (ESV)

Biblical Affirmation

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God [the Father], and the Word [as to His nature] was God.”

The verb translated “was” is from the imperfect verb ēn (from eimi, “to be, am”), which is exclusively applied to the Word in verses 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10. The imperfect tense expresses a past ongoing or repeated action; here denoting the eternal existence of the Word—He was always existing—no starting point. This verb is in contrast to the aorist verb egeneto (from ginomai, “became, came to be”) – referring to all things that came into existence, that is, had a starting point (as in creation, vv. 3, 10; and John the Baptist in v. 6: “there came a man”). It is not until verse 14 that egeneto is applied to the Word “becoming flesh” (incarnation).

John 1:14: “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence [or ‘tabernacled’] among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father” (NET).

The verb eskēnōsen (‘took up residence,’ tabernacled, dwelt among us’) derives its meaning from the Hebrew term sākan referring to Yahweh coming down to earth to dwell (cf. Exod. 25:8). As seen, in John 1:1, the Apostle John positively affirmed that the Word was eternal/preexistent; distinct from God the Father; and ontologically God. John shows that the incarnation of the person of God the Word was not merely a temporary theophany or huiophany.[1] Rather, “the Word became flesh”— adding (not subtracting) a new nature (humanity) permanently.

John 1:18, which is the last verse of John’s high christological prologue: “No one has ever seen God [‘at any time’]. The uniquely existing God [monogenēs Theos] who is [ho ōn, lit., ‘the One who is, timelessly existing’] close to the Father’s side, has revealed Him” (exēgēsato, lit., “has exegeted Him”; ISV).

The Carmen Christi (Hymn to Christ, as God)

Paul’s christological hymn was utilized by the early Christian church to teach and magnify the preexistence, incarnation, and the true deity of Jesus Christ. Paul exemplifies the ultimate act of humility: God the Son becoming obedient to death on a cross. Paul provides a well-defined summary of the gospel of the Son.

Phil. 2:6 starts with the affirmation of the true deity of the Son:

“Who, though He was always being[2] in the nature of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but He emptied Himself[3] by taking the nature of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men. ⁸ And having been found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name [viz., authority/power] that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall will bow … ¹¹ and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”[4]

In verses 10-11, Paul loosely quotes the last phrase of the LXX (i.e., Septuagint[5]) of Isa. 45:23: “That to Me every knee will bend and every tongue will confess to God.” These actions are to Yahweh alone and are prophetic – future tenses are used: “will bend, will confess.”

Note Paul modifications to the original reading of Isa. 45:23:

Hina. He introduces verse 10 with a purpose and result clause indicated by the conjunction hina (“in order that, so that”): i.e., the purpose of Christ being highly exalted (v. 9) was for the result (“in order that”) of every knee bending and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord (vv. 10-11), to the glory of God the Father.

Paul changes the future indicative verbs of the LXX of Isa. 45:23 (“will bend, will confess”) – to aorist subjunctives (“shall bend, shall confess”).

These modifications clearly identify Jesus as the Yahweh and the fulfillment of the Isaiah future prophecy – before whom every knee shall bend and every tongue shall confess that Kurios Iēsous Christos (lit., “Lord Jesus Christ”).[6]

Lastly, note the grammatical parallel between 2 Cor. 8:9 with Phil. 2:6-11:

Nature as God (preincarnate):

2 Cor. 8:9 (NASB): “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich” (plousios ōn, present participial phrase, lit., He was “rich being”- i.e., rich in glory).

Phil. 2:6: “although He was always existing in the nature of God” (huparchōn, present participle, “always existing” as God): “rich being” – “God being.”

Incarnation:

2 Cor. 8:9: “Yet for your sakes He became poor” (eptōcheusen, aorist indicative).

Phil. 2:7: “He emptied [ekenōsen, aorist indicative] Himself”: “became poor” – “emptied Himself.” Both verbs are aorist indicatives—i.e., punctiliar (once) past action.

Means and purpose of the incarnation of God the Son:

2 Cor. 8:9: “in order that [hina] through His poverty [incarnation], you could become rich” (rich in glory, i.e., salvation).

Phil. 2:7-11: Christ self-emptied and self-humbled Himself, became obedient to death, “in order that … every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The Carmen Christi (Phil. 2:6-11) so distinctly affirms the gospel of the Son: from His eternal preexistence subsisting as truly God to His self-emptying (incarnation), atoning cross work, and glorification – to the glory of God the Father.

The incarnation was perpetual

Jesus is the two natured person (Acts 1:11; 17:31; 1 Tim. 2:5), contra the temporary corporal appearances of the angel of the Lord in the OT.

Col. 2:9: “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells [katoikei, present tense, ‘always dwells’] in bodily form” (NASB). The Son in His incarnate state is presently the intermediary (or “Mediator”), Priest, and the propitiation for our sins.

So essential was the perpetual incarnation that the Apostle John sees it as a defining mark of true Christianity; and anyone denying it is “the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 1:7).

1 John 4:2-3: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come [elēluthota, perfect tense, lit, ‘has come and remains’] in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus [as coming and remaining in the flesh] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist….” (NASB).

Fundamental Truths of the Incarnation

God the Son became flesh—truly God, truly man.

The atoning sacrifice and mediatorial role of Christ was accomplished in the context of His incarnational work.

The incarnation is a gospel essential.

The incarnation is an evangelistic teaching that should be always recognized and celebrated!

NOTES

[1] Theophany (Theos, “God” + phainō, appearance). Huiophany (Huios, “Son”)—namely, preincarnate Son appearances (esp. the angel of the Lord; cf. Gen. chaps. 18-19; Exod. 3:2, 6-14 et al.).

[2] The phrase “always being” is from the Greek present participle, huparchōn denoting an ongoing existence – thus, the Son was always subsisting in the nature of God.

[3] “He emptied Himself,” from the phrase heauton ekenōsen (lit., “He Himself emptied”). The reflexive pronoun, heauton (“He Himself”) indicates that the action of the incarnation, that is, the emptying was accomplished by the Son. “He Himself.

[4] In this translation, I had rendered several verbs tenses literally for emphasis.

[5] The Septuagint is Greek trans. of the OT, which was used frequently by the NT authors for their quotations of the OT. The Septuagint is abbreviated as LXX “seventy,” which was the traditional number of translators (c. mid-third cent. B.C.).

[6] Note that in Greek, Paul places Kurios (“Lord”) in the emphatic position (first word in the clause)— to draw attention to his christological emphasis of Isa. 45:23: Jesus is the Lord (YHWH) of Isaiah 45:23.

The Necessity of the Incarnation of God the Son

Posted on November 20, 2020January 1, 2021 by Edward Dalcour

David says in Psalm 49:7-8 that “No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him. For the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever.” Hence, “No man” could provide an actual redemption for man. However, Jesus is God in the flesh and as fully God, His atoning work had infinite value; and as fully man, Jesus was the perfect representation of man; thus, He was the perfect sacrifice. Paul states that Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse huper hēmōn [‘for, on our behalf of’]” (Gal. 3:13; cf. also Rom. 8:32).

Essential Gospel Element

So important was the incarnation of God the Son that the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant [spermatos] of David, according to my gospel” (2 Tim. 2:8). The Christ that Paul taught was the incarnate God, the two natured person, “the Lord of glory” (2 Cor. 2:8). Thus, a gospel presentation that omits the deity and perpetual incarnation of Christ would be an incomplete presentation.

The covenant of redemption among the persons of the triune God established that the Son would step into His own creation through His self-emptying—namely, His “being made in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man” (Phil. 2:7-8). The incarnation of our Lord was perpetual—namely, He is forever God in the flesh (Acts 1:11; 17:31; 1 Tim. 2:5). So essential was the perpetual incarnation that the Apostle John sees it as a defining mark of true Christianity and a denial of it as a distinguishing characteristic of ho planos kai ho antichristos (“the deceiver and the antichrist,” 2 John 1:7; see also 1 John 4:2-3).

Accomplishments of God Incarnate:

1. As God-Man, Christ provided a real propitiation.[1] The atoning work of the divine Son accomplished all that was necessity to secure our justification (Rom. 5:6-10; Gal. 2:16, 20; Heb. 10:11-14). His work was definite, eternal, and infallible, “Not dependent on the one willing, or the man running but on the eleōntos theou (‘the mercying God,’” Rom. 9:16). His reconciliatory work was accomplished vicariously on behalf of God’s predestined elect. God the Son satisfied both the penalty required for sin and the requirements of the law perfectly:

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved [‘from the wrath of God,’ v. 9] by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

The Son was God incarnate, the perfect sacrificial offering, who performed a definite atonement in His physical body:

having made peace through the blood of His cross. . . . ²² yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Col. 1:21, 22).

The Gospel of John unequivocally highlights the Son’s deity and personal distinction from the Father and Holy Spirit. However, it also features in the same robust way, the Son’s definite atonement (esp. John 1:29; 3:14-18; 6:37-39, 44; 8:43, 48; 10:15). John also enunciates the same in his Epistles. For example, 1 John 2:2: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” John begins in verse 1, with the affirmation that Jesus Christ “the Righteous” is our Advocate when we sin. It is in light of this affirmation that John then assures his readers that the Righteous Christ “is the propitiation for our sins.”

The term “propitiation” (“atoning sacrifice,” NET, NIV) is from the Greek noun, hilasmos, from the verb hilaskomai, which has the linguistic idea “an appeasing, propitiating” (Thayer); “appeasement necessitated by sin, expiation” (BDAG); “a means by which sins are forgiven, sin-offering” (Newman); “atoning sacrifice, sin offering” (Mounce). The noun is only used here and 1 John 4:10 (verb used only at Luke 18:13 and Heb. 2:17).[2]

The real death of Christ appeased God. The first clause reads, Kai autos hilasmos estin (lit., “And He Himself propitiation is”). Note that the verb “IS” (estin) is in the present tense (“He is”), not a future tense (denoting possibility—as “He will be.” The present action of the verb along with its indicative mood (i.e., a mood of certainty) specifies the definiteness of the propitiatory (atoning) action. This is in contrast to the Arminian notion of a universal, hypothetical atonement, which did not redeem anyone specific.

The Son’s cross work was accomplished in His incarnate state. The NT affirms very plainly that the atoning sacrificial work was accomplished in His physical body (Rom. 7:4-6; Col. 1:21-22; Heb. 10:10; 1 Pet. 2:24), in His life (Rom. 5:10), through His blood (Acts 20:28; Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:20; Heb. 9:12; 1 Pet. 1:2, 18-19; 1 John 1:7), on the cross (Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20; 2:14-15), and in His death (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21-22; Heb. 2:9-10, 14; 9:15).

2. As God-Man, Christ is both a priest and a sacrificial lamb simultaneously (esp. Heb. chaps. 8-10). There are only two recognized priesthoods in the Bible, the Aaronic (Levitical) and Melchizedek. Regarding the Aaronic priesthood, in Leviticus we find specific requirements and functions of this exclusive priesthood, which include: 1) Being a literal descendent of Aaron and from the tribe of Levi, 2) Providing sacrifices to God for all the people (Heb. 5:1) and for themselves (Heb. 9:7), 3) Cleansed by way of a special ritual (5:3); 4) Chosen by God for their office (Heb. 5:4).

According to Hebrews, Jesus was considered an eternal priest, in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:13-17).

Contrasting human priests with the Son, who is the eternal Priest, the author of Hebrews explains that since the human Aaronic priests died, it was a temporary priesthood (Heb. 7:23). Further, the Aaronic priesthood did not nor could it bring perfection (Heb. 7:11). Like Melchizedek, Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi nor was He a physical descendent of Aaron. According to Jewish Law then, Christ (and Melchizedek) would not be qualified for the priesthood (Heb. 7:14).

However, Jesus was distinct and superior from that of Aaron and his successors: “So much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant” (Heb. 7:22). As God-Man, Jesus’ priesthood, unlike the Aaronic priests and Melchizedek, is eternal:

but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. ²⁵ Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Heb. 7:24-25; cf. Ps. 110:4).

Note, Jesus’ unique priesthood, which only Jesus and Melchizedek possessed, was nontransferable: “He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.” The term translated “permanently” (“not transient,” Young’s; “unchangeable,” KJV) is from aparabatos, which carries the lexical semantic of “without a successor, unchangeable, nontransferable,” etc.

Only as incarnate God is Jesus able to abide forever as an intercessory Priest in the order of Melchizedek. As fully God, His priesthood is permanent, eternal, and “without successors”—through which He can save us completely and eternally—“to the utmost.” As fully man, He is the High Priest who offers Himself as the atoning sacrifice and the only intermediary between the Father and man: “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). And as man, Jesus identified with man in His weakness and sufferings:

He [Christ] had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted (Heb. 2:17-18).

Only as the incarnate God is Christ priesthood eternal, “a mediator of a new covenant” providing the elect with His “promise of the eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15). God the Father “offering the body of Jesus Christ once for all”— who is both High Priest and the propitiation.

3. Christ is our intermediary between God and man. In 1 Tim. 2:5, Jesus is said to be the mesitēs (“mediator, intermediary”), between God and man: “There is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” An intermediary represents two parties. Jesus is the two natured person, fully God and fully man functioning as both eternal Priest and Mediator (and propitiation). Christ the Son is not merely a representation of God and man, rather His state as eternal Priest and Mediator (or Intermediary) between God and man consists of the Son as God-Man ontologically.

Chalcedonian Creed: “That is, that “the eternal Son of God took into union with himself in the one divine Person that which he had not possessed before–even a full complex of human attributes–and became fully and truly man for us men and for our salvation.”

The Apostle Paul informs us in his glorious Carmen Christi (Phil. 2:6-11) that God the Son emptied Himself by taking the nature of a servant having been made in the likeness of men and having been found in the appearance as a man (Phil. 2:6-8).

The eternal Word became flesh in order to propitiate the Father, thus redeeming (through His perfect life and sacrificial death) all those that the Father gave Him (John 6:37). The incarnation of God the Son is an essential doctrine, since it is a vital part of the gospel (2 Tim. 2:8), it should be included in our evangelism. The propitiation, priesthood, and mediatorial role is accomplished by Christ, as the two natured person—the God-Man.

Rejoice, because of God-Incarnate you now have eternal life!

Hallelujah! Amen.

Notes

[1] Or “atoning sacrifice.”

[2] The verb is frequently used in the LXX (i.e., the Septuagint, Lev. 25:9; Ps. 65:4; 78:38 et. al.).