Since, therefore, there are principally two things by which the state of afflicted and lost nature discloses itself: first, ignorance, by which we either know not at all, or only dimly divine, that which is true, that which is just, and that which becomes us; and then infirmity, by which we are both inclined toward that which is unbecoming and without strength for that which is holy; a remedy could not be made for either disease without the human race itself appearing restored and repaired. But Hippolytus testifies in words which utterly remove every doubt that a remedy has been divinely made for either disease.
For nothing is more evident than these things: that God has both given and continues to give his labor so that he may teach ἀγνοοῦντας, the ignorant; may lead πλανωμένους, those wandering, back into the way; and, after the manner of a skilled physician, may strengthen and confirm ἀσθένειαν, sickness and weakness. Hippolytus is therefore witness that the destruction brought in by the original transgression was repaired by the benignity and mercy of the Creator.
But by what kind of reparation? By one altogether universal, whether one considers the rationale of time or regards the number of those to whom the reparation pertains. For a) the divine Word, most alien from acceptance of persons, displayed τὸ ἑαυτοῦ εὔσπλαγχνον, his own mercy, at every time and never omitted the offices of a most skilled physician conscious of human infirmity. But b) he never omitted them in such a way that he was always present to all as Λόγος φωτίζων καὶ ῥυθμίζων πρὸς τὰ ἡμῖν συμφέροντα, the Word illuminating and disposing unto those things which are advantageous to us. He was present to our first parents and therefore neglected neither the woman διὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γενομένην παρακοήν, on account of the original disobedience, nor the man διὰ τὴν παράβασιν, on account of the transgression. He was present to the whole of posterity, πάντας θέλων καὶ πάντας σώζειν ἐπιθυμῶν, willing all and desiring to save all.
Insisting upon these things, Hippolytus adds1:
For the Word of God, when he was without flesh, put on holy flesh from the holy Virgin, like a bridegroom weaving it for himself as a garment upon the gibbet of the cross, ὅπως συγκεράσας τὸ θνητὸν ἡμῶν σῶμα τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμει, καὶ μίξας τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ τὸ φθαρτὸν καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῷ ἰσχυρῷ, σώσῃ τὸν ἀπολλύμενον ἄνθρωπον, so that, namely, by mingling our mortal body with his own power2, and that which is subject to corruption with that which is immune from all corruption, and that which is infirm with that which is strong, he might bestow salvation upon man who had perished.
Hence you have three things set forth most clearly: first, the counsel by which the Word, himself ἄσαρκος, without flesh, assumed holy flesh from the holy Virgin; then the amplitude and extension of the reparation; and finally the mode in which the reparation itself was accomplished.
You have a) the counsel for assuming flesh tending to this end: that provision might be made for the salvation of men and that the glory of God, as Hippolytus adds3, might be disclosed most splendidly.
You have b) the amplitude of the reparation, and it expressed in these words: ὅπως σώσῃ τὸν ἀπολλύμενον ἄνθρωπον, “that he might save man who had been lost.” Nothing is more universal than these words, and nothing more suitable for proving that the whole human race was raised up and repaired.
Finally, you have c) the mode of the accomplished reparation, situated in this: that the Word most closely joined τὸ θνητὸν ἡμῶν σῶμα τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμει, τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ τὸ φθαρτὸν καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῷ ἰσχυρῷ, our mortal body to his own power, the corruptible to the incorruptible, and the infirm to the powerful. For just as through separation from God it came about that all humanity through the first parents was subjected to mortality, fell into corruption, and succumbed to infirmity; so, in turn, through the marvelous artifice of wisdom and goodness, it came about that through the more intimate union of humanity with God through Christ, mortality was overcome, corruption was put to flight, and infirmity was conquered in the fullest triumph.