Article 14

Of the incarnation of the eternal and only begotten Son of God. We confess that the exalted and true God faithfully kept and fulfilled His exceedingly great and precious promises, which He had made in the beginning concerning His Son, who had been foreordained to this end before the foundation of the world, but in these last times was manifest for our sakes.

This glorious and cheering promise was originally given to fallen Adam and Eve, and was afterwards renewed in their seed, as in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and David. All the prophets prophesied of Him, and all the pious fathers hoped in Him with a firm confidence (as though they had seen Him), that Shiloh would come from Judah, and that this beautiful star would rise out of Jacob. This truly and actually took place as follows. When everything was quiet, when the royal scepter had departed from Judah, and the seed of Jacob was under tribute to the heathen, then the gracious God remembered His holy covenant, and sent His true, real Word or Son out of heaven, from His royal throne; having to this end foreordained and chosen the righteous Joseph, of the house and lineage of David, whose betrothed wife was Mary, whom God had blessed and chosen for this purpose above all other women.

To this Joseph and Mary the Holy Ghost points from generation to generation, and also to the town of Bethlehem, out of which this Light, promised long before, was to rise and come forth; so that all the pious who waited and hoped for this salvation might have a sure comfort, and know from which tribe, city and place they were to expect this Savior of the world.

Thus Mary received the message through the angel of God, and believed it, being overshadowed by the power of the Highest, and conceived of the Holy Ghost the true, real Word, which was in the beginning with God, and by which all things were created. The same Word, through the effectual power of the Almighty God, became flesh or man in her, and was born of her, the Son of the Most High God, whom she had before conceived of the Holy Ghost.

Thus the eternal and only begotten Son of the living God became a visible man subject to suffering. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, and brought up at Nazareth under the care of His [imputed] father and His mother. He hungered, thirsted, grew weary with walking, sighed and wept, and increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man; so that the eternal, only begotten Son of the living God, in the time of His incarnation, did not remain like His heavenly Father in an invisible, impassive, immortal, and spiritual form, but for our sakes humbled Himself into a visible, passive, mortal, and servile form, and became like us men in all things, except sin; in order thereby to heal us from the poisonous bite of the serpent, and from everlasting torment.

Therefore all true witnesses of Jesus Christ are bound, by virtue of the holy Scriptures, to believe and confess that this same Word, which was in the beginning with God, and was God, by which all things were made, proceeded from God His Father, came into the world, and, through the power of God, Himself became man or flesh, so that the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth, was touched and seen.

Thus He who before was like His Father in brightness and glory (not a Godlikeness given or usurped, but one that was His own by nature) left His brightness and glory, and humbled Himself, and became in form like us men; He who before was greater than the angels, and in an invisible, immortal form, like God His Father, was now made lower than the angels, and became like His brothers in a visible and mortal form. He who could have had joy with His Father, and was surrounded by eternal riches, became poor for our sakes, and suffered on the cross, despising the shame. He who ascended toward heaven in the presence of the apostles was the same who had before descended from God out of heaven into the lower parts of the earth; and the same ascended above all heavens. This is the mystery of godliness, which is great, but because of their carnal and flickering reason is believed by only a few: that God the Son was thus manifest in the flesh; and that He appeared, as a true Redeemer and Savior, and eternal Light, to those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death.

And just as the food which the Israelites ate in the wilderness is called bread from heaven, or heavenly bread, because the substance of the bread was no fruit of this earth, but had come from heaven, though it was prepared in this world in the form of bread; so also Christ Himself calls His flesh the true bread which came down from heaven, and says that the Son of man should ascend up where He was before, because His flesh or body became flesh, not of Mary or of any created substance, but only of the Word of life which had come down from heaven.

It was He who spoke with Moses on the mount and in the wilderness; and it was He whom the fathers tempted in the wilderness, and whose Spirit they resisted. This is the same who was from the beginning. The apostles touched Him with their hands, and saw Him with their eyes; in this the life was manifested, so that they saw and proclaimed to men that which was with the Father, and was manifested to them, and was the very same Word which spoke with them.

And though it is true that the eternal Son of the living God left His divine glory, and, for a brief time, was made lower than the angels, and appeared in the visible form of a servant, yet He did not thereby lose His eternal Sonship and Godhead with His Father; but when God the Father brought this His first and only begotten Son into the world, He prepared Him a body, not of any created substance, but only of the Word of life, which became flesh, and which by all the angels of God is honored and worshiped as the true God.

In the same way Christ glorified Himself before His apostles, on Mount Tabor, so that His face shone like the bright sun, and He was confessed by His Father from heaven as His beloved Son. Thus also the highly enlightened apostles of Christ, and all true believers, have confessed, declared, honored and worshiped this visible and palpable Christ Jesus as the true God, and Son of God. Therefore all true believers, according to these testimonies of holy Scripture, and the examples of all the saints of God, must necessarily, for salvation, follow, believe, and confess, that the whole crucified Christ Jesus, visible and invisible, mortal and immortal, is the true God, and the Son of God, God and man in one undivided person. To Him be praise forever and ever. Amen.

Concerning these promises about the Savior, read how God the Lord in the beginning promised fallen Adam and Eve to set Him as enmity between Satan and the woman, and between their seed. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3, verse 15; Colossians 1, verse 19; Colossians 3, verse 15; Ephesians 2, verse 15.

"The Lord your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen." Deuteronomy 18, verse 15; Acts 7, verse 37; Read also: Acts 3, verse 25; Galatians 3, verse 8; Genesis 49, verse 10; Numbers 24, verse 17; Matthew 2, verse 2; Jeremiah 23, verse 5; Jeremiah 33, verse 15; Isaiah 9, verse 6; Isaiah 11, verse 1; Acts 10, verse 43.

And that this Savior of the world did not originally spring from the fathers, from Mary, or from any creature, but was sent and came only from God, and was conceived and brought forth by Mary, read: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son." Matthew 1, verse 23; Isaiah 7, verse 14; Luke 2, verse 21; Galatians 4, verse 4. "When his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." And further: "Joseph, you son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." Matthew 1, verses 18 and 20.

The angel of God said to Mary: "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1, verses 30 to 35.

Read in this connection Saint John, who also gives thorough information regarding this matter: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." John 1, verses 1, 2, and 14; Baruch 3, verse 37; Zechariah 2, verse 10.

And further: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us,)" First John 1, verses 1 and 2; John 8, verse 25; Micah 5, verse 2; Second Peter 1, verse 16; John 20, verse 28; Wisdom of Solomon 18, verse 15.

Of the humbling of the eternal and only Son of God (note especially the word made; for nowhere do we find anything about assuming man) read: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man," And so on. Philippians 2, verses 6 to 8.

"You made him a little lower than the angels." "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor." Hebrews 2, verses 7 and 9; Psalm 8, verse 5.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich." Second Corinthians 8, verse 9; Ecclesiastes 9, verse 15.

"Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame," And so on. Hebrews 12, verse 2.

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6, verse 51. Read also verses 58 and 63.

How the saints of God confessed and worshiped this humbled Jesus, also in the days of His flesh, as the true God, and the Son of God, read: "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" And after a few more words: "Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 13, verse 16. Understand, the true Son who was born and came forth from the essence of the Father; and not a Son become so in time, or assumed, as believers are, who because of the faith are also called sons and daughters." Second John 1, verse 3; John 1, verse 49; John 10, verse 36; John 11, verse 27; Acts 8, verse 37; Matthew 27, verse 54. [n539-1]

Jesus said to the blind man: "Do you believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said to him, You have both seen him, and it is he who talks with you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him." John 9, verses 35 to 38.

"Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed," And so on. John 20, verses 28 and 29.

"In his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." First John 5, verses 20 and 21. Romans 9, verse 5.