The Mystery of the Incarnation: Part 2

 

The mystery of the Incarnation (ምስጢረ ሥጋዌ) stands at the very heart of the Orthodox Christian faith. It is not merely a doctrine to be defined, but a divine act to be contemplated: the eternal Word became flesh for the salvation of humanity. To ask, “Why did God become man?” is to enter the depth of God’s redemptive purpose. Scripture, together with the witness of the holy Fathers, reveals that the Incarnation was neither accidental nor symbolic, but the decisive intervention of God in history for our salvation, restoration, and glorification. This essay examines why God became man—the divine purposes of the Incarnation—showing how, in Christ, God ransomed the captive, raised the fallen, revealed the Father, manifested His love, and overthrew the dominion of Satan, supported by biblical witness and patristic teaching.

Why Did God Become Man?

When we say that the mystery of the Incarnation is the mystery by which God became man and man became God, it is essential to ask: Why did God become man? The Holy Scriptures provide clear and profound answers. Although no one can fully comprehend the complete plan of God, the Scriptures and the reflections of the scholars (ሊቃውንት) reveal several principal reasons for the Incarnation.

1.     To Become Our Ransom (ቤዛ ለመሆን)

Humanity had fallen under the dominion of sin, corruption, and death; therefore, in accordance with His justice and out of His boundless love, God willed to save humanity, and thus the Son of God became man to offer Himself as a ransom.

“እርሱ ግን ስለ መተላለፋችን ቈሰለ፥ ስለ በደላችንም ደቀቀ፤ የደኅንነታችንም ተግሣጽ በእርሱ ላይ ነበረ፥ በእርሱም ቍስል እኛ ተፈወስን።” (Isaiah 53:5)

“…ዓለም ከተፈጠረ ጀምሮ ብዙ ጊዜ መከራ ሊቀበል ባስፈለገው ነበር፤ አሁን ግን በዓለም ፍጻሜ ራሱን በመሠዋት ኃጢአትን ሊሽር አንድ ጊዜ ተገልጦአል።” (Hebrews 9:26). Christ came to put away sin through His self-offering.

“መልካም እረኛ እኔ ነኝ፥ ... ነፍሴንም ስለ በጎች አኖራለሁ።” (John 10:15–16). Christ came as the Good Shepherd, sacrificing Himself to protect and save His sheep.

2. To Raise Up the Fallen and to Lift Us to Glory – የወደቁትን ያነሳ ዘንድ፣ በክብር ከፍ ያደርገን ዘንድ

Through His self-offering, He came to raise the fallen and to lift us in glory, restoring those who had fallen since Adam said, “አዳምም አለ፦ ከእኔ ጋር እንድትሆን የሰጠኸኝ ሴት እርስዋ ከዛፉ ሰጠችኝና በላሁ።” (Genesis 3:12; see also Genesis 4:8). Thus, Christ came to raise the fallen Adam and all humanity.

3. To Be Our Perfect Example

Christ not only saved humanity; He also revealed the pattern of true human life. In Him we see humility, obedience, love, and endurance embodied.

“ቀንበሬን በላያችሁ ተሸከሙ ከእኔም ተማሩ፥ እኔ የዋህ በልቤም ትሑት ነኝና፥ ለነፍሳችሁም ዕረፍት ታገኛላችሁ” (Matthew 11:29).

“የተጠራችሁለት ለዚህ ነውና፤ ክርስቶስ ደግሞ ፍለጋውን እንድትከተሉ ምሳሌ ትቶላችሁ ስለ እናንተ መከራን ተቀብሎአልና” (1 Peter 2:21).

In His humility, patience, obedience, and suffering, Christ shows the pattern of true humanity.

4. To Reveal Divine Love

The Incarnation (የአምላክ በተዋሕዶ ሰው መሆን) is the ultimate manifestation of God’s love—not abstract love, but sacrificial, redeeming love.

“ቍጣዬ ከእርሱ ዘንድ ተመልሶአልና ዓመፃቸውን እፈውሳለሁ፥ በገዛ ፈቃዴ እወድዳቸዋለሁ።” (Hosea 14:4);

“በእርሱ የሚያምን ሁሉ የዘላለም ሕይወት እንዲኖረው እንጂ እንዳይጠፋ እግዚአብሔር አንድያ ልጁን እስኪሰጥ ድረስ ዓለሙን እንዲሁ ወዶአልና።” (John 3:16);

“እርሱ አስቀድሞ ወዶናልና እኛ እንወደዋለን።” (1 John 4:19);

“ነገር ግን ገና ኃጢአተኞች ሳለን ክርስቶስ ስለ እኛ ሞቶአልና እግዚአብሔር ለእኛ ያለውን የራሱን ፍቅር ያስረዳል።” (Romans 5:8);

“ከወደደን ከትልቅ ፍቅሩ የተነሣ በበደላችን ሙታን እንኳ በሆንን ጊዜ ከክርስቶስ ጋር ሕይወት ሰጠን፥ በጸጋ ድናችኋልና፥” (Ephesians 2:5).

The Incarnation is therefore the visible manifestation of divine love.

5. To Reveal the Invisible God

He became a man to reveal and declare the existence and nature of God. In Christ, humanity saw the invisible God (የማይታይ አምላክ).

Scripture states:

“ፊልጶስ- ጌታ ሆይ፥ አብን አሳየንና ይበቃናል አለው። ኢየሱስም አለው፦ አንተ ፊልጶስ፥ ይህን ያህል ዘመን ከእናንተ ጋር ስኖር አታውቀኝምን? እኔን ያየ አብን አይቶአል፤ እንዴትስ አንተ፦ አብን አሳየን ትላለህ? (John 14:8–9);

“መቼም ቢሆን እግዚአብሔርን ያየው አንድ ስንኳ የለም፤ በአባቱ እቅፍ ያለ አንድ ልጁ እርሱ ተረከው።” (John 1:18).

“ …ስለ እግዚአብሔር ሊታወቅ የሚቻለው በእነርሱ ዘንድ ግልጥ ነውና። የማይታየው ባሕርይ እርሱም የዘላለም ኃይሉ ደግሞም አምላክነቱ ከዓለም ፍጥረት ጀምሮ ከተሠሩት ታውቆ ግልጥ ሆኖ ይታያልና፤ ስለዚህም እግዚአብሔርን እያወቁ እንደ እግዚአብሔርነቱ መጠን ስላላከበሩትና ስላላመሰገኑት የሚያመካኙት አጡ፤ ነገር ግን በአሳባቸው ከንቱ ሆኑ የማያስተውለውም ልባቸው ጨለመ።” (Romans 1:19–21). This verse shows that, even though they failed to honor Him and their hearts became darkened, God’s divinity is revealed in Christ.

Thus, in seeing Christ, humanity sees the Father. In Christ, the unknowable becomes known; the invisible becomes visible.

6. To Destroy the Wisdom of Satan

From the beginning, the devil deceived humanity and introduced sin. Scripture states:

“ኃጢአትን የሚያደርግ ከዲያብሎስ ነው፥ ዲያብሎስ ከመጀመሪያ ኃጢአትን ያደርጋልና።” (1 John 3:8).

“እንግዲህ ልጆቹ በሥጋና በደም ስለሚካፈሉ፥ እርሱ ደግሞ በሞት ላይ ሥልጣን ያለውን በሞት እንዲሽር፥ ይኸውም ዲያብሎስ ነው፥ በሕይወታቸውም ሁሉ ስለ ሞት ፍርሃት በባርነት ይታሰሩ የነበሩትን ሁሉ ነጻ እንዲያወጣ፥ በሥጋና በደም እንዲሁ ተካፈለ።” (Hebrews 2:14). Christ came to make humanity free from the slavery of Satan.

By assuming flesh and blood, Christ reversed the deception, authority, and fear through which the devil enslaved humanity. Through death, He destroyed death. Through humility, He defeated pride. Through obedience, He overturned rebellion. The Incarnation thus becomes the decisive victory over Satan’s deceptive “wisdom.”

Therefore, God became man to ransom humanity, restore the fallen, provide a perfect example, reveal divine love, manifest the Father, and overthrow Satan’s dominion.

St. Gregory of Armenia, known as Gregory the Illuminator, explains why God became man and writes:

“Light obtained from Light; Life obtained from Life; He who has neither predecessor nor successor sent His only begotten Son into this world, that He might unite our nature through our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and bring us to the knowledge of His Lordship — ‘ከብርሃን የተገኘ ብርሃን፤ ከሕይወት የተገኘ ሕይወት፤ ተቀዳሚ ተከታይ የሌለው ልጁን ወደዚህ ዓለም የላከው ከእመቤታችን ከቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም የእኛን ባሕርይ ይዋሐድ ዘንድ ጌትነቱንም ወደማወቅ ያደርሰን ዘንድ ነው።” (John 6:55; John 11:25; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 2:16; Acts 4:12), (Haimanote Abew of Saint Gregory of Armenia 15:2 - ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ ጎርጎርዮስ ዘአርማንያ 15፡2).

Alexander of Alexandria (ቅዱስ እለእስክንድሮስ) likewise explains the reason why God became man by pointing to the depth of Christ’s humility and the greatness of His saving work. He asks:

“What enabled the Word of God to come into this world and become flesh in the pure Virgin Mary? What enabled Him to be wrapped in clothes, laid in a manger, suckled at the breast of a virgin, and baptized in the Jordan? What enabled Him to be judged by the lawbreaker Pilate, to be crucified, to be buried in a tomb, and to rise on the third day? Was it not for us, who were held captive by sin, to save us? “እግዚአብሔር ቃል ወደዚህ ዓለም ይመጣ ዘንድ ከንጽሕት ድንግል ማርያም ሥጋን ይዋሐድ ዘንድ ምን አተጋው? በጨርቅ ይጠቀለል ዘንድ፣ በበረት ይጣል ዘንድ፣ ከሴት (ከድንግል) ጡት ወተትን ይጠባ ዘንድ፣ በዮርዳኖስ ይጠመቅ ዘንድ ምን አተጋው? ሕግ አፍራሽ ጲላጦስ ይዘብትበት ዘንድ፣ በመስቀል ይሰቀል ዘንድ፣ በመቃብር ይቀበር ዘንድ፣ በሦስተኛው ቀን ይነሣ ዘንድ ምን አተጋው? በፍዳ ተይዘን የነበርን እኛን ያድነን ዘንድ፣ ለእኛ ብሎ አይደለምን?”(Haimanote Abew of Alexander of Armenia 16:2-3  - ሃይማኖተ አበው ዘቅዱስ እለእስክንድሮስ 16፡2-3). Through these questions, the saint emphasizes that every stage of Christ’s humiliation (ራሱን ዝቅ ማድረጉ)—from birth to crucifixion and resurrection—was undertaken for our salvation (Isa. 7:14).

The Apostle also teaches:

“በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ የነበረ ይህ አሳብ በእናንተ ዘንድ ደግሞ ይሁን። እርሱ በእግዚአብሔር መልክ ሲኖር ሳለ ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር መተካከልን መቀማት እንደሚገባ ነገር አልቈጠረውም፥ ነገር ግን የባሪያን መልክ ይዞ በሰውም ምሳሌ ሆኖ ራሱን ባዶ አደረገ፥ በምስሉም እንደ ሰው ተገኝቶ ራሱን አዋረደ፥ ለሞትም ይኸውም የመስቀል ሞት እንኳ የታዘዘ ሆነ።” (Philippians 2:5–8) Read also 1 Cor. 1:21–25.

Conclusion

The Incarnation, therefore, is the fullness of divine wisdom and love revealed in action. In Christ, God ransomed the captive, raised the fallen, revealed the Father, manifested perfect love, and conquered the dominion of Satan. As the holy Fathers affirm, every stage of His humiliation—from the manger to the Cross—was undertaken for us. The mystery of God becoming man is thus the mystery of our salvation: through His self-emptying, humanity is restored; through His death, death is defeated; and through His life, we are brought into communion with God.