The First Act of Salvation: Jesus Manifested in Flesh
To the Eternal God, the Almighty and Creator of heaven and earth, to Him be honor and glory for all eternity. May the peace of the Lord be with you and your house. We give thanks to the Lord for this space that, in His grace and mercy, allows us to gather to expose ourselves to His word. This word is life, breath, and strength; above all, it is liberation, for as it is written: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Every time we present ourselves before it, we expose ourselves to God’s truth that illuminates our lives, dispelling any darkness that may still remain within us.
We give thanks to the Lord because His word transforms us. What is the Gospel? As we established in the previous teaching, the Gospel is the doctrine of salvation. We must not lose sight of this essential definition: it is not a religion, although the world or society might label it as such. The Gospel is the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, the message of salvation that consists of the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God the Father through Jesus, the Christ. In the epistles of the apostle Paul, though not always explicitly, it is described with profound terms: the grace of God manifested to all men, “the preaching of the cross” — a term we have adopted for this series — “the foolishness of the cross” and “the power of God”. Paul declares: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God” (Romans 1:16). These terms reflect the glorious hope we have in Christ Jesus through His work on the cross of Calvary.
Today we begin studying the process of salvation. It is not an isolated event or a punctual operation, as we might think, but a work of the Spirit that encompasses divine acts through which men and women receive salvation. This is key to understanding the greatness of God’s love. We read in “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This verse reveals a process in time: God established acts to draw humanity to His presence. Although we sometimes see it as a definitive moment, it is a set of divine actions that we begin to explore today.
The first act of salvation consists of Jesus being manifested in flesh, with the same Adamic nature as us. I repeat: Jesus was incarnated in the same condition as Adam and Eve, with identical genetic constitution and human limitations. This is fundamental because we often fail to assimilate His work by seeing Him as a distant, different God. How many times have we heard — or said —: “He was God, I am not; that’s why I fall into errors and sins, don’t judge me”. This first act dismantles that excuse: Jesus, being God, lived as a man, with our same nature, to show us that we can follow His steps.
This act is based on three doctrinal foundations that we will study tonight, essential to understanding life in faith in Christ Jesus. Faith is not just believing, but assimilating in our existence what it means that Jesus was manifested as we are. If His nature had been different from Adam and Eve’s, sin would not have reached us. Precisely because we share that sinful condition, we were born sinners — not by sinning, but by our Adamic heritage. Let’s examine these foundations:
First Foundation: Jesus is God, but Lived as a Man
We read in Philippians 2:6-8: “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness; and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross“. Jesus, being God, divested Himself of His divine attributes and lived guided by the Holy Spirit, not by His divine power. This is confirmed in 1 Timothy 3:16: “Without contradiction, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among Gentiles, believed in the world, received up in glory“. Anything that denies that Jesus is God is an apostate doctrine that we must reject. He lived as a man to teach us that, guided by the Spirit, we can walk as He did. Jesus Himself said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). This is possible because we embrace His work by faith, living under the Spirit’s guidance, as Romans 8:14 affirms: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God“.
There is no excuse to say: “I am mortal, I cannot”. Expressions like “to err is human” are philosophy, not the word of God, and should not come from a believer’s lips. Jesus, with our limitations, performed miracles not because He was God, but by the Spirit’s guidance, tracing a clear path for us.
Second Foundation: Jesus Lived without Sin under Our Conditions
Acts 2:22 says: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst“. Although He had our nature, He did not sin, demonstrating that we can live without manufacturing sin. 1 John 3:9 affirms: “No one born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him“. If we sin, it is not due to inevitable weakness, but by choice, by not setting limits to our passions or emotions. Romans 8:3 explains: “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh“. Sin is condemned; whoever embraces faith in Christ must not continue sinning, for God’s seed is in him. Hebrews 4:15 adds: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin“. This is God’s will: to live justly, like Jesus, without excuses.
Third Foundation: Jesus Submitted to Creation and to Death
Luke 1:26-31 narrates: “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary… And the angel said to her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus“. Jesus submitted to gestation, nine months without divine consciousness, from the first moment of life in Mary’s womb. This refutes concepts contrary to the word: He was Jesus from conception, not a being without life. John 1:1-14 confirms this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 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 “word” (logos) is everything God expressed, and He was incarnated with our limitations to teach us that nothing separates us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).
Then, He submitted to death. Acts 2:23-24 says: “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it“. Death did not retain Him because He had no sin (1 Peter 2:22: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth“). John 10:17-18 clarifies: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again“. Jesus did not die by the spear or nails, but because He voluntarily gave His life to reconcile us with God, restoring the image lost in Eden.
This first act — Jesus manifested in Adamic flesh — has three foundations: He is God who lived as a man, without sin, submitted to creation and death. He teaches us to live by faith, guided by the Spirit, without excuses, in victory and power. It is not a religious gospel of easy formulas, but a call to say: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). May the peace of the Lord be with you; now, the task is yours.
