It is not putting the matter too strongly when we say that the
incarnation was for the purpose of the atonement. At least this
seems to be the testimony of the Scriptures. Jesus Christ partook
of flesh and blood in order that He might die (Heb. 2:14). "He was
manifested to take away our sins" (1 John 3:5). Christ came into
this world to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). The
very purpose of the entire coming of Christ into the word, in all
its varying aspects, was that, by assuming a nature like unto our
own, He might offer up His life as a sacrifice for the sins of men.
The faith of the atonement presupposes the faith of the incarnation.
So close have been the relation of these two fundamental doctrines
that their relation is one of the great questions which have
divided men in their opinions in the matter: which is primary and
which secondary; which is to be regarded as the most necessary to
man's salvation, as the primary and the highest fact in the history
of God's dealings with man. The atonement naturally arises out of
the incarnation so that the Son of God could not appear in our nature
without undertaking such a work as the word atonement denotes. The
incarnation is a pledge and anticipation of the work of atonement.
The incarnation is most certainly the declaration of a purpose
on the part of God to save the world. But how was the world to be
saved if not through the atonement?