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Made Man
We rely on Jesus for our salvation, but who is he? We say he is fully God and fully man... but what does that actually mean? How does it work? Why does he need to be both? Does it matter? We miss a rich vein of gold when we mentally file the incarnation under too hard . In his word, God beautifully expresses why the Word became flesh, and our Christian forebears worked long and hard to explain this mystery clearly. Now, in this warm and accessible book, Craig Hamilton takes us through the incarnation in a way that enables every Christian to understand what it means and why it matters that God became man.
- GenresTheology
261 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2019
10 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Craig Hamilton
4 books8 followersCraig Hamilton is a graduate of Moore Theological College, and is responsible for leadership development and strategy at a suburban church in Sydney. In this position he coaches leaders in addition to recruiting, developing, and deploying leaders and helping to set up leadership structures for many different ministries across the church.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 31, 2019
"Like The Cross of Christ in its importance, but much more readable".
That's how I summarised the book to my friend after reading the first few chapters. The readability took a slump half way through, when he was discussing all the councils that clarified the incarnation, but I could still read it right before bed without too much effort.
What I love most is the helpfulness of the book. For example:
He carefully explains key Bible passages, rather than jumping into the philosophy (The first half of the book on the incarnation in different parts of the bible was the best)
He repeats key points over and over:
- "Redemption began in the life of Jesus before the cross, in the incarnation in fact, and then culminated in the cross and the resurrection".
- "The incarnation and the atonement belong in the same sentence"
- "Salvation did not just occur at the cross but as one single whole from his birth all the way through and culminating in resurrection"
- "A work of salvation put into action in the incarnation and culminating in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ"
He uses colloquial terms when he can:
- "The incarnation is a big deal"
- "The person of the eternal Son of God made meat.
- "God's glory is his goodness"
- "The last example of the humanity of Jesus is his death. God doesn't die, it's kind of one of the rules."
- "The history of Christianity is a history of challenge and clarification"
- "The Son's human nature is the doorway into death, but what steps through the door is the life-giving Word who, by his mere presence, turns death into life"
- Jesus was and always will be "huggable, handshakable and high-fiveable."
Overall a definitely worthwhile read. It encouraged me to not balk at the incarnation but rejoice in God's awesomeness that he would choose to humble himself for a sinner like me.
Hopefully this book will encourage lots of praise of God's glory (His goodness!)
That's how I summarised the book to my friend after reading the first few chapters. The readability took a slump half way through, when he was discussing all the councils that clarified the incarnation, but I could still read it right before bed without too much effort.
What I love most is the helpfulness of the book. For example:
He carefully explains key Bible passages, rather than jumping into the philosophy (The first half of the book on the incarnation in different parts of the bible was the best)
He repeats key points over and over:
- "Redemption began in the life of Jesus before the cross, in the incarnation in fact, and then culminated in the cross and the resurrection".
- "The incarnation and the atonement belong in the same sentence"
- "Salvation did not just occur at the cross but as one single whole from his birth all the way through and culminating in resurrection"
- "A work of salvation put into action in the incarnation and culminating in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ"
He uses colloquial terms when he can:
- "The incarnation is a big deal"
- "The person of the eternal Son of God made meat.
- "God's glory is his goodness"
- "The last example of the humanity of Jesus is his death. God doesn't die, it's kind of one of the rules."
- "The history of Christianity is a history of challenge and clarification"
- "The Son's human nature is the doorway into death, but what steps through the door is the life-giving Word who, by his mere presence, turns death into life"
- Jesus was and always will be "huggable, handshakable and high-fiveable."
Overall a definitely worthwhile read. It encouraged me to not balk at the incarnation but rejoice in God's awesomeness that he would choose to humble himself for a sinner like me.
Hopefully this book will encourage lots of praise of God's glory (His goodness!)
May 30, 2023
Simply one of the best Christian books I have ever read. It grew my view and appreciation of Jesus my Lord. Thoroughly biblical and historical, yet also brief, funny, and clear. I LOVED reading it. I binged it to prepare for teaching at a conference on how Jesus reveals God to us, and it gave me far more than I had hoped. It led me to tears of joy and to worship.
Read it.
Read it.
August 6, 2019
Once again, Craig has written a book for “the rest of us” -- those of us who aren’t your natural Christian book readers.
When reading about something as scary-sounding as Arianism, what you really need is someone to explain it in YOUR language; triple espresso Arianism, skim milk Arianism and quarter strength extra hot soy-uccino Arianism. It was moments like these where I decided that yes, it was worth reading this book because it's going to mention God and I'm not going to be bored (and this emotion should never be attributed to reading about the creator of our universe...)
Craig has brought together key pieces of truth into one very readable book that helped me to reflect on and appreciate God's salvation anew. I never realised the profound importance of all the early church debates. I loved going down the rabbit hole of what it means to be human, one nature versus two natures, and grappling with those difficult concepts, because they were brought to me in "my" language; language that I could grasp.
I feel like I’ve wrestled with the incarnation of Jesus than ever before. I’m convinced that it really matters what I think about Jesus as being human AND God, and I’m also now fully aware of how easy it is to fall into an understanding of Jesus that undermines the gloriousness of his reality.
Being an easy read, I finished 'Made Man' in 2 days. This surprised me because when I heard what it was about, I wasn't sure I’d make it through the first chapter. However—I did! Also, I understood, say, 95% of it, which is pretty great because I still only understand 20% of the movie ‘Inception’, and it's still one of my faves.
This book was a comfort to me and I pray that it'll comfort many more. I'll finish with the bit that brought tears to my eyes:
"The Word became and will continue to be flesh for the rest of forever. For his whole earthly life he was--and now always will be--huggable, handshakable and high-fiveable."
That's my Jesus; huggable, handshakable and high-fiveable Jesus.
When reading about something as scary-sounding as Arianism, what you really need is someone to explain it in YOUR language; triple espresso Arianism, skim milk Arianism and quarter strength extra hot soy-uccino Arianism. It was moments like these where I decided that yes, it was worth reading this book because it's going to mention God and I'm not going to be bored (and this emotion should never be attributed to reading about the creator of our universe...)
Craig has brought together key pieces of truth into one very readable book that helped me to reflect on and appreciate God's salvation anew. I never realised the profound importance of all the early church debates. I loved going down the rabbit hole of what it means to be human, one nature versus two natures, and grappling with those difficult concepts, because they were brought to me in "my" language; language that I could grasp.
I feel like I’ve wrestled with the incarnation of Jesus than ever before. I’m convinced that it really matters what I think about Jesus as being human AND God, and I’m also now fully aware of how easy it is to fall into an understanding of Jesus that undermines the gloriousness of his reality.
Being an easy read, I finished 'Made Man' in 2 days. This surprised me because when I heard what it was about, I wasn't sure I’d make it through the first chapter. However—I did! Also, I understood, say, 95% of it, which is pretty great because I still only understand 20% of the movie ‘Inception’, and it's still one of my faves.
This book was a comfort to me and I pray that it'll comfort many more. I'll finish with the bit that brought tears to my eyes:
"The Word became and will continue to be flesh for the rest of forever. For his whole earthly life he was--and now always will be--huggable, handshakable and high-fiveable."
That's my Jesus; huggable, handshakable and high-fiveable Jesus.
August 24, 2025
Incredible in every way. Funny, enlightening, intricate, and moving.
I especially enjoyed the nitty-grity historical theology lesson is early church heresy. I also appreciated how he used psalms in a theologically rich way, something I haven't seen often.
'Reconciliation of divinity and humanity is first made possible in [Jesus'] person through hypostatic union, then purchased and secured by his life of obedience all the way in and down from the incarnation to his death and resurrection. This reconciliation is then freely shared with all who put their trust in him' (pp.230–1)
I especially enjoyed the nitty-grity historical theology lesson is early church heresy. I also appreciated how he used psalms in a theologically rich way, something I haven't seen often.
'Reconciliation of divinity and humanity is first made possible in [Jesus'] person through hypostatic union, then purchased and secured by his life of obedience all the way in and down from the incarnation to his death and resurrection. This reconciliation is then freely shared with all who put their trust in him' (pp.230–1)
October 26, 2025
I wasn’t sure about this. The format seemed too simple, too neat; Scripture, heresy, application. But it just kind of worked. It built up logically and helpfully. Hamilton has a great ability to explain complex concepts simply and clearly with memorable insights/illustrations.
June 18, 2020
I wish I had read this book when I was at bible college. I suspect that if I had, I would be smarter now. Its clear, helpful, accurate and funny.
September 8, 2019
A very important book for Christians to grapple with.
October 10, 2019
Puts things in everyday language. I found this book really helpful, engaging and mind blowing
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews