Unity of Person of Christ

FOR THE
CHILDREN:

Christology #5
The Unity of the Person of Christ
Oct. 9, 2005 (AM) - Pastor Ronnie Wolfe

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Words to know:

Nestorianism B Christ was two Persons www.carm.org/heresy/nestorianism.htm

Eutychianism B Christ was a single mixed nature, humanity absorbed in divinity.

Adoptionosm B Jesus passed God= s test and was adopted as God= s son at baptism.

Anhypostatic Christology B Not personal

Kenoticism B An emptying, Christ emptied himself of his divine prerogatives when he became a man.

Dynamic Incarnation B Active presence of God in the person of Jesus.

Introduction

In our text we can see both the humanity of Jesus Christ and his deity as well. The first part, A And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,@ speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ. We spent last time speaking specifically about this.

In the second part, which says, A (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.@ is the part which speaks of Jesus= deity.

John was the last Gospel written, so by this time the apostles had seen, not only his humanity, but by now they had seen as much of his deity as the human eye and experience can see.

They knew from experience that he was both man and God. Today we will discuss the importance of the unity of those two natures.

PERSON AND NATURE OF CHRIST
1. The Person of Christ
  1. There is a difference between the person of Christ and the nature of Christ.
  2. Jesus Christ has two natures, but he is one person. We will speak of the natures in a moment, but now let= s consider the person of Christ.
  3. The first reference for our consideration today is Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
  4. The Greek word for PERSON here is HOOPASTASIS, and it means to be confidence, substance, real being.
  5. Theologian have Anglicized this word and made to A hypostatic@ and refers to the union between Jesus= human nature and his divine nature as a hypostatic union.
  6. In other words, the real entity of Christ, the real person of Christ is divine. His real existence is not human but divine. He is God of very God.
  7. He was God from the beginning B Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  8. He will be God for everlasting. Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
  9. Here are some things to consider:
    1. Did God become man when Jesus was incarnated?
    2. Did man become God when Jesus was incarnated?
    3. We must answer NO to both of these questions.
    4. Because of the seeming difficulty of this concept, Cyril, Bishop of Alelxandria, Egypt, in the 5^th century said, A If you deny that Mary was the mother of God, then you would deny that Christ was divine.@
    5. This is troublesome theology. Mary cannot be the mother of God unless she is God herself, and today many believe that she is equal with God. Some have even considered making her a part of what is now the Trinity.
  10. Jesus did not become God, and God did not become man, but there is a hypostatic union between God and the man, Christ Jesus. They are one in essence and in person.
2. The Nature of Christ
  1. The person of Christ is one. He is the person of God. There are three in the Godhead B God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost (or Spirit).
  2. Each one of these is a person. They are not the same person, but they are the same God.
  3. The Father is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Son. The Son is not the Father, and the Father is not the Son. They are three distinct persons, but they are the same God.
  4. God the Father has one nature, and the Holy Spirit has one nature, but Jesus Christ has two natures.
    1. He has the nature of God B John 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
      1. This passage down through verse 45 speaks of the difference between Jesus= Father and the father of the Pharisees.
      2. They do not have the same father. Jesus= nature is from Heaven -- John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
    2. He has the nature of man B Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham.
      1. So, Jesus had a divine nature and a human nature. He did not even have the nature of angels, and neither do we have the nature of angels.
      2. Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
      3. Now let= s brake this down a little more.
        
        Jesus was one person
        
        Jesus has two natures
        
        But does Jesus have one will or two wills.
        
        One group of people called the Monothelites, believed that Jesus had two natures and one will.
        
        Another group of people called the Monothecites believed that that Jesus had one nature but two wills.
        
        Jesus as a man had one will, and Jesus as God has a will; but these two wills are in complete harmony.
        
        He has the will of God and the will of the crucified Lord.
        
        Lu 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
        
        Jesus was never out of his Father= s will. His will and God= s will were always in alignment.
        
        When Jesus said, A remove this cup from me,@ he meant through suffering to remove the suffering, to complete and suffering in him and cause it to be over and complete. When he died Jesus said, A It is finished.@ That means that the cup passed from him, the suffering was over, and Jesus was still in the Father= s will.
        
        Jesus had a human will, and he had a divine will. We do not understand how these wills are fused together, because they are so fused and so intertwined that his human will and his divine will are always in complete harmony.

THE KENOSIS OF CHRIST
1. Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (EXPLAIN) 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
2. The word KENOSIS means to empty. It is translated in these verses A no reputation.@ He is made of no reputation, because he laid down all of his divine power in heaven and came to earth to be like as we are.
3. Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.
4. But still, even though he was human, he did not leave his divine nature in heaven. He was both divine a human when he lived on the earth.
5. So, when Jesus was born, he was God. When he walked and talked and taught and performed miracles, he was God. When he was being beaten by the soldiers, he was God. When he was hanging on the cross, he was God. When he was in the tomb, he was God. When he rose from the dead, he was God. Both man and God, the hypostatic union of Jesus and God is his person, the only person who could stand between God and man and be our only mediator, the only one who could bring us to God. The only one who can save us from our sins.
6. 1 Tim 2:5 For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
7. He can be our mediator, because he is God; but he could not be our mediator except he be a man. This is the hyopstatic union of Jesus Christ with the divine nature.
8. Job called for a daysman. Job 9:33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, [that] might lay his hand upon us both.

Conclusion

Today is the day, now is the time, that you must find a daysman, a mediator, a go-between to fill the gap between you and God.

We are all enemies of God without Christ. Jesus had a perfect union with God in order that he may represent God= s side of the argument and our side of the argument.

Jesus is our lawyer, our advocate B 1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

This union means that we can live here for Jesus Christ and have patience with the suffering of persecution and labor, and we at the same time can have our faith and our hope in the coming Lord who will give us our inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God ready to be revealed in the last time.

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