Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”  We see in these verses the primary reason why the Son of God became a man.  He became a partaker of flesh and blood so that He might die for our sakes to deliver us from our sins and gain victory for us over the devil. 

1 Timothy 3:16 says, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”  God was made known to us in the flesh, or as a human person.  We get a sense here of the person of Christ…that He is both God and man.  He is not ½ God and ½ man, but He is 100% God and is 100% man.  We read in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”  GOD WITH US in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!

It was as this perfect God/man that Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Titus 2:14, speaking of Christ, says, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”  The giving of Himself is the sacrifice of Himself on the cross to pay our sins’ debt by receiving the wrath of God upon Himself for our sins. 

Christ was made a man so that he might take our sins upon Himself and die for those sins, thus setting us free from the power and penalty of sin.  Christ “his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…” (1 Peter 2:24).  God is a spirit (John 4:24) so He needed a body in order to bare our sins and die.  So, we read that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). 

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of animal sacrifices that men made as directed by God.  However, none of these animal sacrifices could ever remove even one sin from the sinner.  We read of Christ in Hebrews 10:5 which says, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.”  The sacrifice and offerings of all those animals could not satisfy God’s righteous demands for the payment of sin.  So…He ‘prepared’ a body for His Son.  And upon the body of His dear Son, God poured out His wrath as He hung upon the cross.  God punished His Son for us, so that through faith in Him and His finished work at Calvary, we might be saved.  What love!  What a sacrifice!  To think that the very Son of God would take on flesh and blood for us…that He would inhabit a body so that He might die for us! 

We read in Philippians 2:8, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”  The blessed Son of God became a man, He humbled Himself, and He obeyed His Father’s will by dying on the cross for sinners like you and me.  I trust that all my readers will consider this great act and realize the harsh penalty for sin.  It took the life of God’s Son to be able to redeem us from our sins.  Have you put your faith in Him?  Have you trusted Him as your savior and received forgiveness of sin?  Romans 10:9-10 assures us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  (405.4)