We have all heard the phrase, “God robed Himself in the flesh,” but I want to take a quick moment and explain succinctly why we should avoid this phrase and why this phrase is theologically inaccurate.
John 1:14 — 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
English Standard Version
The Greek word translated as “became” is ginomai, meaning “to become.” God did not merely “indwell” the body of a man, but He became a man. This is the powerful revelation of the incarnation and also something that remains mind-numbingly difficult to comprehend, though powerfully true.
1 Timothy 3:16 — 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
King James Version
When we make the statement, “God robed Himself in the flesh,” we are not merely engaging in semantical error but theological error. God did not “clothe Himself with flesh,” as one puts on a garment, but he was “made of a woman” (Gal. 4:4), born of the flesh, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). The idea of being “robed in the flesh” denies the union of deity and humanity realized in the incarnation. The flesh of Christ was not a shell that the invisible God wrapped Himself in, but He was wholly man and God.
So where did the idea of Jesus being “God robed in the flesh” originate? It appears to be none other than Athanasius who, discussing Aaron’s putting on the Garments of the High Priesthood, wrote:
In the same way it is possible in the Lord’s instance also to understand aright, that He did not become other than Himself on taking the flesh, but, being the same as before, He was robed in it; and the expressions ‘He became’ and ‘He was made,’ must not be understood as if the Word, considered as the Word, were made, but that the Word, being Framer of all, afterwards was made High Priest, by putting on a body which was originate and made, and such as He can offer for us; wherefore He is said to be made.
Athanasius “Four Discourses Against the Arians” 1.60
The Spirit of God did not dress up with the flesh of man, but He became fully man to bring our sin to a place of execution and bring hope to all who, through the death of the first man, Adam, were born into spiritual death. He did not robe Himself in the flesh, but he BECAME flesh. Jesus didn’t put on the flesh like a priestly garment, nor was the flesh something He could just put on and put off like grabbing something from the closet.
Galatians 4:4 — 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
King James Version
Jesus was “made of a woman” (lit. made out of a woman). He wasn’t just born out of one, but through Mary, He received his humanity, taking on the “seed of Abraham” (Heb. 2:16). Mary wasn’t merely an incubator or “closet” for a robe-like flesh to be developed and then worn by God upon birth, but she miraculously conceived Jesus in her womb, and Jesus was 100% man and 100% God.
Why is this all important? Because serious false doctrines exist that believe these very things and teach a premise of His being “robed” in a sense that violates the truth of the incarnation. So, as we express our thanksgiving for the birth of Jesus Christ, let us understand that to use the phrase “robed in the flesh” is theologically in error and can be fixed by simply using what Scripture states: He became flesh. God was manifested in the flesh. The flesh didn’t hide God; it revealed God.
The flesh didn’t hide God; it revealed God.