What Does It Mean "The Word Became Flesh"?

The term incarnation is a word that Christians use to speak of the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, took on human flesh.  John 1:14 reads, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."  The words "became flesh" literally mean, "the act of being made flesh." 

The purpose of the incarnation was that Jesus Christ would come and serve as the sinless sacrifice for our sins since Christ was the prophesied Savior for mankind.  According to Hebrews 9:22, a blood sacrifice was necessary for the forgiveness of sin, and that permanent cleansing would only come through the perfect Son of God. It was necessary for Him to come, take on physical form, in order that he might die. So in essence it could be said that Christ was born to die.  Through this sacrifice the imputation of His righteousness would be placed upon believers as they placed their faith in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). 

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."Jesus Christ is called the Word, but why?  Scripture also says that Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning--before time began as we know it and before the foundations of the world were ever created.  Jesus Christ was never created by God as He was always God since the beginning.  In this verse we can see the unity of the Father and Son as one.  Christ is called God--He is not another god.  What this verse helps us to understand is that Jesus Christ is the very spoken word of God the Father to us.  Jesus Christ was the full expression of God's love and God's message to mankind.  In fact, Jesus is the total message that God wanted to communicate to the world.

The term "Word" (which means Jesus) is the full embodiment of who God is (Col. 1:19).  Jesus would be that physical message sent by God to the Jews and gentiles.  The message of the promised Messiah that the prophets spoke about went unheeded for years.  Then, at the proper time, the Word became flesh, took on human form, and dwelt among us (Matthew 1:23; Romans 8:3).  Because the Word became flesh, we now have a high priest who is able to empathize with our weaknesses, one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—but yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).


God did an amazing and loving work when He sent His only begotten Son into the world to provide us with a salvation that we did not deserve.  Praise the Lord for that moment in which “the Word became flesh.”  We are now redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Peter 1:19).