The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.^[a] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Romans 8:2 NLT 

 The “so” (Other versions have for) in Romans 8:2, is quite important. It places the first two verses of Romans 8 (with their proclamation of “no condemnation” and the Spirit’s role in freeing Christians from the “law of sin and death”) firmly on the foundation of Christ’s great work. It is Jesus and His life and death that have made salvation not only possible but a reality. 

But behind Jesus stands God, the Father who sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh”(NASB, RSV, KJV). That phrase is one pregnant with meaning about Jesus the God-man. First, He was God’s “own” Son. There is a sense in which we could describe every Christian as a son or daughter of God, but Christ is the Son by nature and we are sons by grace. Christ is not exactly one of us. He is the Son of God. That is why the angel called Him “that holy thing” in speaking to Mary (Luke 1:35). The Bible says that of no other child, because Jesus in a very significant sense was different from other humans: Conceived of the Holy Spirit, He was God’s own Son and had the direct heritage of the Holy Spirit as His Father. 

On the other hand, Jesus came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (a body like ours NLT). Please note how careful Paul had to be here. If he had said He came “in sinful flesh” he would have created a theological disaster, because he had already stated in chapter 7 that sinful flesh was incapable of overcoming sin. Thus to have spoken of Christ as having “sinful flesh” just like other humans would have logically led to the conclusion that He was a sinner like the rest of humanity. But, on the other hand, God needed to identify Christ with those He came to save. As a result, Paul very carefully selected the words “in the likeness of sinful flesh”. Thus he indicates that Christ fully participated in humanity without being exactly like other people. He was the “second Adam” but he had Adam’s spiritual nature from before the fall, not his fallen sinful nature. 

Romans 8:3 tells us that because Christ was both God and man He was able to deal successfully with the sin problem. Thus all humanity is in debt to the One whom God sent to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).