How Could An Almighty God Choose To Become Human And Submit To Death?
Have you ever stood in awe at the foot of the cross, utterly amazed that the Creator of galaxies would willingly empty Himself to become one of us? This profound mystery—that an all-powerful God would not only take on human flesh but submit to the most humiliating execution—cuts to the very heart of our faith. It’s a stumbling block for many, yet for those who grasp its significance, it reveals a love story unlike any other in human history. The incarnation and crucifixion stand as the ultimate demonstration of divine love, showing us a God who doesn’t remain distant but enters our broken world to heal it from within. This paradox of divine power displayed through apparent weakness continues to transform hearts across centuries.
Biblical Insight
The mystery of God becoming man is beautifully captured in Philippians 2:5-8: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in the Messiah Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” This powerful passage reveals the deliberate choice of Jesus—the eternal Word who was with God and was God (John 1:1-3)—to voluntarily empty Himself. The Greek word “kenosis” describes this self-emptying, not of His divine nature, but of His divine prerogatives and glory, to become truly human while remaining truly God.
This incarnation was foretold centuries before in passages like Isaiah 53:3-5: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.” The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before the crucifixion, foresaw that Yahweh’s salvation would come through a suffering servant. This wasn’t a cosmic accident or divine failure—it was God’s masterplan from before creation itself, as we read in Revelation 13:8 which speaks of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Jesus Himself predicted His death and resurrection multiple times, as recorded in passages like Mark 8:31: “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” These weren’t the words of a man caught in circumstances beyond His control, but of God incarnate executing His divine plan. The resurrection confirmed every claim Jesus made about Himself and validated His sacrifice. As 1 Corinthians 15:17 reminds us, “If the Messiah has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” But He was raised, vindicated by the Father, proving His victory over sin and death.
Practical Wisdom
Understanding the incarnation and crucifixion transforms how we view sacrifice in our own lives. When we face hardship for doing what’s right or making difficult choices that honor God, we’re following in the footsteps of our Savior who demonstrated that true power often looks like surrender. His example shatters our human understanding of strength and success, revealing that God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we embrace this paradox, we find freedom from the world’s metrics of achievement and status.
This divine condescension also revolutionizes our understanding of love. If the Almighty Creator was willing to humble Himself to the point of death for us, how can we withhold forgiveness or compassion from others? The cross becomes our model for sacrificial love in marriages, friendships, and communities. When we find it difficult to forgive someone who has wronged us, we need only look to Jesus who, while being nailed to the cross, prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). His perfect blood was shed precisely because no other sacrifice could reconcile us to God—it was the ultimate demonstration of a love that holds nothing back.
Clearing Up Misunderstandings
One common misconception is that God the Father somehow forced the Son to die against His will, creating a division in the Trinity. Scripture reveals instead a perfect unity of purpose, as Jesus declared: “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). The crucifixion wasn’t divine child abuse—it was the Trinity working in perfect harmony to accomplish redemption. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were united in this plan from eternity past, each playing distinct but unified roles in our salvation.
Another misunderstanding stems from the false dichotomy that God must be either all-powerful OR loving and self-sacrificial. The biblical portrayal reveals that God’s omnipotence is precisely what made His self-limitation possible. It requires infinite power to contain oneself within finite human form while remaining God. As Colossians 2:9 affirms, “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Jesus didn’t cease being God when He became human—rather, He revealed God’s true nature through His willingness to suffer on our behalf. The incarnation doesn’t diminish God’s power; it demonstrates it in the most unexpected way.
Some skeptics also struggle with how God could die, since deity by definition is immortal. This objection misunderstands the hypostatic union—the theological term for how Jesus maintained both complete divinity and complete humanity in one person. When Scripture speaks of Jesus dying, it refers to His human nature experiencing physical death while His divine nature remained untouched by death’s power. This is why He could confidently promise the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43), even as His body would lie in the tomb.
Conclusion
The miracle of God becoming man and submitting to death reveals the breathtaking lengths to which divine love will go to rescue humanity. This truth stands as the central pillar of our faith—not a philosophical concept to be debated, but a relationship to be embraced. The God who could command legions of angels chose instead the path of suffering to draw near to us. As we contemplate this mystery, we’re invited not merely to intellectual assent but to transformative wonder. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us through His Spirit, empowering us to live as citizens of His kingdom while we await His glorious return. In the face of skepticism or personal doubt, we can rest in the historical reality of a tomb that couldn’t hold its occupant and the continuing testimony of lives transformed by encounter with the risen Lord.
Did You Know?
The Greek word “tetelestai” that Jesus proclaimed on the cross (translated “It is finished” in John 19:30) was actually a accounting term used in the ancient world to mark bills as “paid in full.” Archaeological discoveries have found this word stamped across tax receipts and debt records in the first century. When Jesus uttered this powerful word, He was declaring that the debt of human sin had been completely settled, with no balance remaining. This single word represents the fulfillment of over 300 Messianic prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures and announces the completion of God’s redemptive plan that had been unfolding since Genesis.
