I. IN THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST
Incarnation is the top, universal conception. Matthew 1:20 says, "But while he pondered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which has been begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit." Joseph and Mary had not come together as man and wife, yet Mary was pregnant. This caused Joseph to doubt concerning their marriage. At this juncture an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because "that which has been begotten [born] in her is of the Holy Spirit." The One who was born in the womb of Mary was not man but the very God. At the beginning of Mary’s conception, God was born into Mary. At the end of that conception, nine months later, God came out with humanity. This is Jesus, the God-man. Before this conception, Mary did not have God in her. But at the conception God came into her by dispensing Himself into her.
A. The Incarnation of Christ
Being through the Conception
by the Holy Spirit in a Human Virgin,
Dispensing the Holy Nature of God
into Humanity
The first step in the accomplishment of God’s full redemption and salvation in Christ was the incarnation of Christ. The incarnation of Christ was through the conception by the Holy Spirit in a human virgin, dispensing the holy nature of God into humanity (Luke 1:35).
1. What Was Born of This Conception
Being a Holy Thing Bearing
the Holy Nature of Divinity
From the first day of Mary’s conception, God was dispensed into humanity. God was in Mary’s womb for nine months. God’s divinity and Mary’s humanity came together and were mingled together for nine months. During those nine months, the divine dispensing increased. This increase of the dispensing of divinity into humanity caused the growth of that conception. Thus, the entire process of Mary’s conception was a process of the divine dispensing into humanity. When this divine dispensing was "ripe," when nine months were consummated, a child came out. That child was the mingling, the blending, of the divine dispensing into humanity. His name was called Emmanuel—God with us (Matt. 1:23). He was a little child, yet He was God with man. On the one hand, He was the complete God, and on the other hand, He was a perfect man. He was the complete God mingled with a perfect man. In human history, there had never been such a One. He is wonderful! He was a child who possessed skin and bones and blood and flesh. He was a real man. Yet within Him was the complete Triune God (Col. 1:19; 2:9). He was not merely the Son of God, but the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Isa. 9:6; Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:20).
As such a One, He eventually became the Christ. Acts 2:34-36 indicates that in Christ’s ascension, He was made both Lord and Christ. At the time of His birth He was called Christ (Matt. 1:16-18); but thirty-three and a half years later, when He ascended to the heavens, He was made Christ. Through resurrection Christ was consummated to be the perfect, complete Christ, the One who is the mingling of divinity with humanity.
(The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, Chapter 21, by Witness Lee)
