God Is Spirit, and Jesus Christ Is God Manifested in Flesh
A Biblical Study of God, the Lord, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ
The Bible presents a profound truth about the nature of God:
“God is spirit.”
— John 4:24
This statement provides an important foundation for understanding the relationship between God, the Lord, and Jesus Christ.
The Bible also declares that Jesus Christ is Lord, and the New Testament describes Him in unmistakably divine terms. John says that the eternal Word was God and then declares that:
“The Word became flesh.”
— John 1:14
Therefore, Christian faith makes a remarkable confession:
The eternal divine Word became flesh in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is not merely a human being who received the title “Lord.” The New Testament presents Him as the divine Son who entered human existence.
1. God Is Spirit
Jesus gives one of the clearest statements about God's nature:
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
— John 4:24
The statement is profound.
Jesus does not merely say:
“God has a spirit.”
He says:
“God is spirit.”
Spirit describes the nature of God.
God is not limited to a physical body or confined to a particular geographical location.
The God revealed in Scripture is transcendent, invisible, eternal, and spiritual.
Paul similarly describes God as:
“the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God.”
— 1 Timothy 1:17
And 1 Timothy 6:16 speaks of God as the One:
“whom no one has ever seen or can see.”
The biblical picture is therefore clear:
God is Spirit.
2. The LORD Is God
The Old Testament repeatedly identifies YHWH as God.
Deuteronomy 4:35 says:
“YHWH is God; there is no other besides him.”
The Hebrew expression is:
YHWH hu ha-Elohim
“YHWH, He is God.”
This connects two important biblical concepts:
YHWH — the divine name
Elohim — God
Therefore:
YHWH is Elohim.
The LORD is God.
The Old Testament does not present YHWH and Elohim as two separate gods.
Rather, different terms are used to speak about the one God.
3. The LORD Is Lord
The Hebrew Scriptures also speak of God as Lord.
The word Adonai expresses lordship, authority, and sovereignty.
Thus, when we speak of:
“the LORD our God”
we are bringing together God's identity and His sovereignty.
The biblical pattern can therefore be expressed:
YHWH is Elohim.
YHWH is Lord.
Elohim is Lord.
These statements are not identifying three gods.
They describe the one God from different perspectives.
4. God Is Spirit, Yet God Reveals Himself
If God is Spirit, how can human beings know Him?
The Bible's answer is revelation.
God reveals Himself through:
- creation;
- His covenant;
- His spoken Word;
- the prophets;
- His mighty acts;
- and ultimately through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1:1–2 says that God spoke through the prophets and has spoken decisively through His Son.
The New Testament therefore presents Jesus as the supreme revelation of God.
5. The Eternal Word Was God
John's Gospel begins with a remarkable statement:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
— John 1:1
Three truths are presented.
The Word existed in the beginning.
The Word did not begin at Bethlehem.
The Word was with God.
There is a distinction between the Word and God the Father.
The Word was God.
The Word possesses divine identity.
John therefore presents both distinction and divinity.
6. The Word Became Flesh
Then comes one of the most important statements in Scripture:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
— John 1:14
This is the doctrine of the Incarnation.
The eternal Word did not merely appear to be human.
He became flesh.
The divine Word entered human history.
The Christian confession is therefore:
Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word.
This is why Jesus can be described simultaneously in terms of humanity and divinity.
He experienced:
- birth;
- hunger;
- thirst;
- weariness;
- suffering;
- death.
Yet the New Testament also attributes to Him divine identity and authority.
7. Jesus Christ Is Lord
The early Christian confession was:
“Jesus is Lord.”
Paul writes:
“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”
— 1 Corinthians 12:3
And Philippians 2:11 declares:
“Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
The Greek word is:
Kyrios — κύριος
This word means “Lord,” “master,” or “sovereign.”
But its significance becomes much greater when we remember that Kyrios was also used in the Greek Scriptures in connection with the divine name YHWH.
Therefore, the confession:
Jesus is Lord
must be understood within the biblical story of God's sovereignty.
8. Jesus Christ Is God
The New Testament does not stop at calling Jesus Lord.
John 1:1 describes the Word as God.
Thomas, after seeing the resurrected Jesus, declares:
“My Lord and my God!”
— John 20:28
The Greek text is especially striking:
ho Kyrios mou kai ho Theos mou
“My Lord and my God.”
Thomas applies both titles to the risen Jesus:
Lord — Kyrios
God — Theos
This is one of the clearest confessions of Jesus' divine identity in the New Testament.
9. The Fullness of Deity Dwells Bodily
Colossians provides another extraordinary statement:
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
— Colossians 2:9
Notice the two dimensions:
Fullness of deity
and
bodily
This is precisely the mystery of the Incarnation.
Jesus is not merely a man who represents God.
Paul speaks of the fullness of deity dwelling in Him bodily.
Thus:
Divine fullness + human embodiment.
10. God Manifested in Flesh
The traditional Christian confession often uses the phrase:
“God manifested in the flesh.”
This language is associated particularly with 1 Timothy 3:16, although there is an important textual variation in the Greek manuscripts, so the verse should not be treated in isolation.
The same doctrine is strongly supported by the wider New Testament witness:
John 1:1 — the Word was God.
John 1:14 — the Word became flesh.
John 20:28 — Jesus is confessed as Lord and God.
Colossians 2:9 — the fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ.
Philippians 2:6–11 — Christ is described in divine terms and exalted as Lord.
Together these passages provide a substantial biblical foundation for the doctrine of the Incarnation.
11. “God in Flesh” Does Not Mean “The Father Became the Son”
This distinction is essential.
When Christians say:
“Jesus is God manifested in flesh,”
they should not mean:
“Jesus is the Father.”
The New Testament distinguishes the Father and the Son.
Jesus prays to the Father.
The Father sends the Son.
The Son speaks of returning to the Father.
Yet Jesus is also described as divine.
Therefore the biblical position is:
Jesus is not the Father, but Jesus is truly divine.
This distinction eventually becomes central to Trinitarian theology.
12. Spirit and Flesh
The Incarnation creates a profound biblical relationship between Spirit and flesh.
God is Spirit.
The eternal Word is divine.
The Word becomes flesh.
Therefore:
The invisible God is revealed through the incarnate Son.
John 1:18 says:
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”
Jesus therefore becomes the definitive revelation of the Father.
13. “The Lord Our God”
The Old Testament confession:
“The LORD our God”
takes on additional significance in light of the New Testament.
The Old Testament says:
YHWH is Elohim.
The Greek Scriptures use:
Kyrios for YHWH.
The New Testament proclaims:
Jesus is Kyrios.
And John declares:
The Word was Theos.
Therefore the biblical vocabulary develops along this remarkable path:
OLD TESTAMENT
YHWH
│
├── Elohim — God
│
└── Adonai — Lord
│
▼
GREEK SCRIPTURES
Kyrios — Lord
│
▼
NEW TESTAMENT
Jesus Christ
│
├── Kyrios — Lord
│
└── Theos — God
│
▼
INCARNATION
“The Word became flesh”
This does not mean that the words are simply interchangeable.
Rather, it shows how the New Testament's Christology develops within the language and theology of Israel's Scriptures.
14. Jesus as the Visible Revelation of the Invisible God
God is Spirit and invisible.
Yet Jesus says:
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
— John 14:9
Paul says of Christ:
“He is the image of the invisible God.”
— Colossians 1:15
This does not mean that Jesus is the Father.
Rather, Jesus perfectly reveals the Father.
The invisible God is made known through the incarnate Son.
15. Lordship and Divine Spirit
We should therefore be precise with the statement:
“Lord is divine Spirit.”
As a lexical statement, this is not the definition of Adonai or Kyrios.
Adonai/Kyrios means Lord, master, ruler, or sovereign.
But the Lord who is God is Spirit.
So the theological statement can properly be expressed:
The Lord is the divine God who is Spirit.
And when the New Testament identifies Jesus as Lord while also describing Him as divine and incarnate, Christian theology understands His lordship as belonging to His divine identity as well as His messianic kingship.
16. The Great Biblical Movement
The Bible presents a remarkable movement:
Creation
God creates all things.
Revelation
God reveals Himself to humanity.
Covenant
YHWH establishes covenant relationship with Israel.
Prophecy
The prophets speak of God's coming salvation and kingdom.
Incarnation
The eternal Word becomes flesh.
Cross
Jesus gives Himself for humanity.
Resurrection
Jesus rises from the dead.
Exaltation
Jesus is exalted as Lord.
Universal Confession
Every tongue ultimately confesses:
“Jesus Christ is Lord.”
This is the movement from the invisible divine reality to God's revelation in the incarnate Christ.
17. One God, One Lord
The Christian confession therefore contains two truths that must be held together.
First:
There is one God.
This comes from Israel's fundamental confession:
“The LORD is one.”
Second:
Jesus Christ is Lord.
This becomes a central confession of the New Testament.
Third:
Jesus is described in divine terms.
John says:
“The Word was God.”
Thomas says:
“My Lord and my God.”
Paul says:
“The whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” in Christ.
These statements form the foundation upon which Christian Christology developed.
18. The Central Statement
The biblical teaching can therefore be summarized:
God is Spirit.
YHWH is God.
YHWH is Lord.
The eternal Word was God.
The Word became flesh.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus Christ is confessed as God.
The fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ.
This leads to the central Christian confession:
Jesus Christ is the divine Lord who came in the flesh.
Or, in theological language:
Jesus Christ is the eternal divine Son, the Word who was with God and was God, who became flesh and dwelt among humanity.
Conclusion
The statement “God is divine Spirit” is directly grounded in Jesus' words:
“God is spirit.” — John 4:24
The statement “Jesus Christ is God in flesh” is the theological conclusion drawn from the New Testament's combined testimony concerning the eternal Word, the Incarnation, Jesus' divine titles, His works, His worship, and His resurrection.
The biblical vocabulary gives us:
Elohim — God
YHWH — the divine name
Adonai — Lord
Theos — God
Kyrios — Lord
And the New Testament brings these themes together around Jesus Christ.
The deepest mystery is therefore not simply that God exists.
It is that:
The God who is Spirit revealed Himself through the eternal Word, and the Word became flesh in Jesus Christ.
The one whom Christians confess as Lord is the incarnate Christ.
And the risen Christ is addressed in the words of Thomas:
“My Lord and my God!” — John 20:28
That confession stands at the heart of Christian faith:
