The Nicene Creed
For Our Salvation
Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven
Here in this line is the amazing claim that Christianity makes: God came down from heaven—the God who made the worlds, the Almighty, the All-knowing, the One who is everywhere but never moves, the One who is eternal, for whom past, present, and future are empty words, the One who cannot die, upon whom all things are dependent for being and for life, all of which would vanish like smoke if He removed from the universe His providential care. We could never say enough about this God—human language is simply inadequate to describe Him. All we can do is worship and cry with the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8).
And it was this God “who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven.” And not such as the pagan myths spoke about, where some god takes on human form (that is, merely looks human) and comes down to rape a girl or start a war. No. God the Son didn’t just “look like” a man, he didn’t just “seem” to be a man, he didn’t just pop in and pop back out in “human form” (whatever that is). The Son took upon himself our nature—flesh and blood, mind and will. He added human nature to his divine nature making one unique and never-done, never-heard-of, non-repeatable, Incarnation. In short, GOD BECAME MAN. Along with the crucifixion, this is the scandal of our faith. We take the scandal for granted because we have heard it all of our lives. We need to hear it again with fresh ears: GOD BECAME MAN.
And why did God do this? For us and for our salvation! Wow! God came down not to judge us or destroy us—all of which we deserve. No. God came down to save us! God became man to save us! God joined our human nature to His divine nature that he may become one of us, live our life, conquer temptation, destroy sin and kill death through his death and resurrection. No other religion teaches this; no other faith knows this. Other religions might have “avatars” and other such irrelevant inventions but only the Christian faith teaches that God became man for the salvation of his people. This is the doctrine of the Incarnation and it is the central piece of the Christian faith.
Under no obligation but His own promise from Genesis 3:15. Our God is holy love poured out for sinful man. He came down from heaven. Amazing!
