1.1.3 God reveals Himself in His Son

God's incarnation in Jesus Christ is the historical self-revelation of God that surpasses everything before it (John 1: 14; 1 Timothy 3: 16). The gospel according to Luke expressly places the birth of the Son of God in a historical framework: "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria" (Luke 2: 1-2).

The historicity of God's incarnation is also underlined in the first epistle of John. There John confronts groups within the Christian community who denied that Jesus Christ had really "come in the flesh" (1 John 4: 2). John goes on to write: "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, concerning the Word of life ...–that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1: 1-3).