CreationStudies Institute
[Originally published as The Word Became Flesh]
Why would God come down to earth to save mankind? Why would He humble Himself, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Creator of the Cosmos, to walk on this earth as God in the flesh? And why did He become the greatest teacher of all time on the planet, only to be subjected to the pride of sinful men who cursed Him, mocked Him with a crown of thorns, scourged Him until He was almost dead, and then nailed Him to the cross to die a shameful death at Calvary?
The answer can only be found in God’s Word.
The Gospel of John begins with the moment of Creation, when Jesus Christ spoke everything into existence through His Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Genesis 1 records the testimony that everything that came into existence did so only through God’s Word, with the phrase “God said” repeated ten times in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. In Genesis 1, God’s holy Word directs all of Creation over the course of a week as we know it today. God creates and forms in the first six days, and on the seventh, He rests. The formula for a week is six plus one: six days of work, and the seventh for rest and worship.
God’s work of Creation, as stated in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, was done purposefully so that mankind could follow Him and set aside a Sabbath day to rest and honor God. The concept of the week is used worldwide and was established to preserve the day of worship, as a commandment given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, as stated in Exodus 20:11:
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
This commandment calls mankind to honor the Sabbath. It keeps the week as a sign to the Israelites forever, as stated in Exodus 31:13: “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”
The creation of the week does not speak in terms of millions of years, but in what was seen in the past and what we observe today as literal days.
God’s Word is consistent and trustworthy from beginning to end. It directly confronts Darwinian evolution, which is taught as truth to many students, not only in America but throughout the world.
Genesis 1:11 states, “And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so.”
The Hebrew word for “seed” is zera, which not only refers to plant reproduction but can also be extended to descendants, offspring, children, etc., and implies genes and genetic material made of DNA. Additionally, the phrase “according to its kind” is used for the first time in this verse and repeats itself in basic form ten times throughout the creation account. This repetition emphasizes the importance of God as the Creator of “Kind.” Such a statement directly confronts the concept of evolution at its core.
In the Gospel of John, as he introduces Jesus Christ, the apostle clarifies that everything we observe, touch, feel, experience, and think about in both the visible and invisible realms — on earth and throughout the expanse of the universe — can only come from God: “All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made.”
This is a firm declaration that “all” things were made by the Word, defined as Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father. It is further affirmed in Colossians 1:16: “For by Him all things were created …,” and in the next verse: “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”
The Word of God directly opposes the modern idol of naturalism, which censors our Creator from the equation used worldwide in science. It comes down to trusting in our Maker. Man is like clay, formed by the potter — our Heavenly Father — as exemplified in Isaiah 64:8:
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
Like the potter, He forms us out of clay in His image. In His infinite mercy, He masterfully shapes us to be like Him so that we can recognize Him as our Creator. From the beginning, He desired a close relationship with us by making man in His image, as stated in Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Because God placed an immeasurable value on us, He gave us a distinguished identity in all Creation, created in the image of Jesus Christ. He would come to earth with a preordained body, conceived before time began, that resembles us.
The Hebrew word for “create” is bara, which is used three times in this verse, and in this context, it is a verb that only God can perform because of His divine nature. Our identity can only be found in Christ, who is our Creator. We live solely because of His love for us.
In Genesis 2:7, we see a more detailed account of the creation of man: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” This account adds another dimension to our understanding of man, showing that God’s almighty hands form us, much like the potter shapes a vessel on the wheel, creating something He admires.
He breathed the breath of life, not only giving us a physical form but also imparting a spirit that enables us to be self-conscious and discerning between right and wrong. The breath of God has made us so different from any other creature, as we surpass all other beings in intellectual capacity, emotional depth, and creativity. Man is uniquely gifted by his Creator to create in many ways—from composing musical works to building bridges, writing novels to developing mathematical equations that solve complex problems, and much more. It is because we are created with God’s breath and are image-bearers of Christ that we defy evolution in every way.
The foundation of the gospel is found in the Genesis account.
From the beginning, we see that God’s infinite plan was designed for us to have a relationship with our Creator. He made us His children, but because of the sin of Adam, we have been separated from Him. The curse of God abounds on the earth: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
It is not just man who is cursed to death, but all of Creation, as Paul states in Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Yet God will offer hope through His gospel.
The first three verses of John’s Gospel affirm that Jesus Christ is God’s Word and our Creator. It is through His Word that we also find He is our Savior, as John introduces the Son of God, who would become a physical human being, as stated in John 1:14:
And the Word became 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.
The mysteries of all mysteries unfold as the incarnate God becomes a human being that all can see and experience. Out of obedience to the Father, the Son of God would become the Old Testament’s sacrificial Lamb, whose blood would be shed to take away the sin of man.
The gospel, at this pivotal moment in the history of Creation, would become a reality, as declared in the famous verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
It’s no wonder that we, who have been created in His image, search for Him to be complete. Only through His divine mercy are we, His children, saved through His sacrificial death and resurrection. Only through our loving trust and commitment to His Word are we united with Him for eternity.
