1 THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST Chapter 9 Dr. Danny Forshee LESSON 9 THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST See Systematic Theology, p. 529-567, and Christian Beliefs, p. 67-71. - What unspeakable joy to study and teach on the doctrine of Jesus Christ. As the hymn states, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. - Grudem asks an important question at the beginning of chapter 26, The Doctrine of Christ. The question is, How is Jesus fully God and fully man, yet one Person? (p. 529) He concludes at the end of the chapter, p. 563, that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal Son of God could become man and join Himself to a human nature forever, so that infinite God became one person with finite man, will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe. - There are parts of Christology that we will easily grasp but there will be parts leaving you shaking your head in amazement saying I believe it but do not fully understand it. Grudem says it is such a mystery that we may not even be able to understand it in eternity. I. THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST A. The Virgin Birth - The Bible teaches that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary with no human father; this was a miracle brought about by the Holy Spirit. Read Matthew 1:18. Matthew 1:25 also clearly states that Joseph did not know his wife in an intimate way until she had given birth to Jesus. - The virgin birth of Christ is extremely important to our faith. First, it teaches us that salvation comes from God. We could not earn our salvation or righteous standing before God, so He came to us. Jesus was miraculously born so we see at His beginning of His earthly life, the supernatural work of God. Galatians 4:4-5 is so powerful. At the appropriate time God the Father sent God the Son to earth; He was born of woman for the purpose to redeem mankind. Second, the virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person. Jesus did not come from heaven riding on a cloud, nor did He have a human father and human mother like every other person born. In the way God ordained the coming of His Son into the world, we see the genius of what God did. Jesus was fully human born of woman, and He was fully deity by the fact that He was born of the virgin Mary by the work of the
2 Holy Spirit. Third, the virgin birth reveals how Christ can be fully human without inherited or original sin. The legal guilt and moral corruption that belongs to all other human beings did not belong to Christ. (p. 530) Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1:35, 35 And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. - In a divine never to repeated way God suspended the normal process of conception and also in such a way that Jesus did not inherit sin from a father nor from Mary his earthly mother. Some conclude that is true because Mary herself was miraculously conceived. This is called the Immaculate Conception in the Roman Catholic Church and refers to Mary not Jesus, and believed that she did not receive a sinful nature or inherited sin. And Catholic dogma asserts that Mary was free from sin her whole life, a doctrine not supported in Scripture. She is a special person as seen in the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, vs. 48, all generations will call me blessed. But she was not perfect. B. Human Weaknesses and Limitations - Jesus had a human body like ours. Luke 2:52 says increased in wisdom and stature. The Greek word translated stature is helikia and can refer to physical height. He grew just like all humans grow in height, weight, wisdom, etc. In John 4:6 He became tired; in John 19:28 thirsty; and Matthew 4:2 hungry. He had a human body but after His resurrection He had a different type of body He ate fish (Luke 24:42), and also He ascended back to the Father (Luke 24:51). He had the same kind of body we do before His resurrection and one day in heaven we will have the type of resurrection body He now possesses. - Jesus had a human mind. He increased in wisdom according to Luke 2:52. And in His human nature He had a mind like ours in that neither He nor the angels knew, only the Father knew, about the time of His return (Mark 13:32). - Jesus had a human soul and emotions. Scripture says Jesus was troubled in His soul in John 12:27 and in His Spirit in John 13:21. Jesus had human emotions like when He marveled, wept, and was troubled. He never sinned and yet He learned obedience according to Hebrews 5:8. His responsibilities increased through more difficult responsibilities. Jesus was tempted in every respect like us but without sin, (Hebrews 4:15) amazing. No one has or ever will be able to claim this. - Another factor pointing to the fact of Jesus humanity is those in His hometown of Nazareth viewed Him this way the first 30 years of His life. Even His brothers did not believe in Him until the resurrection (John 7:5, Acts 1:14). C. Jesus Sinlessness
- Satan tempted Jesus for 40 days in the wilderness but Jesus did not sin (Luke 4:13). In John 8:12 Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He is pure and has no blemish or sin. John 8:29 Jesus was always doing what the Father wanted Him to do. In John 18:38 Pilate could find no fault or crime in Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 specifically says Jesus was without sin. Jesus did not sin even in His speech, a besetting sin for all humanity in 1 Peter 2:22 it says, He committed no sin; no guile was found on His lips. - In the temptation narratives in the Synoptic Gospels Satan tempted Him to sin and thereby bypass the plan the Father had for Him a plan of obedience through the crucible of extreme suffering, even to the point of death on the cross for our sins. What Adam and Eve were unable to do in the Garden of Eden, Jesus did perfectly He obeyed in the face of extreme temptation. Grudem, p. 536, points out how Jesus temptations were even more severe. They were tempted with food, but Jesus had not eaten and was very hungry. Jesus as demonstrated later had the power to create food He turned the water into wine and multiplied the loaves and fish, but He did not use His divine powers but endured as a man and succeeded. Jesus did not turn the stone into bread as Satan tempted Him to do so (Luke 4:3). - Jesus is our High Priest and He did what Adam could not do, what the children of Israel could not do in the wildernesses, and what we cannot do in our strength and that is overcome sin. But thanks be to God for Jesus, our great High Priest! We can draw near to Him for help in time of need because He overcame. (Hebrews 4:16) - Could Jesus have sinned? This is a much-debated issue. The technical theological term is impeccability meaning not able to sin. Others argue that if He was unable to sin, then the temptations would not have been real. We can be sure however that according to the Bible, Jesus was indeed tempted and those were very valid temptations because Hebrews 4:15 says He was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. - The Bible also says that God cannot be tempted with evil in James 1:13. Some may argue and distinguish that this would refer to Jesus humanity like discussed earlier in His humanity He was tired, thirsty, and overcame sin. But Grudem argues for impeccability, that Jesus could not have sinned for it is impossible for God to be tempted with sin and Jesus is God. He admits this is a mystery and paradoxical but not erroneous to say Jesus was tempted and yet God cannot be tempted with sin. He argues that Jesus was both fully human and fully God and existed united in one person. Grudem gets around the dilemma by stating that Jesus experiencing hunger and thirst was experienced only in His human nature but the temptation to sin would be a moral act and that is a different category and that would have involved the whole person both the humanity and divinity of Christ. (p. 539) Therefore if Jesus had sinned it would have included both His humanity and divinity. God would have sinned and ceased to be God. But God cannot sin for He is holy. So 3
4 Grudem concludes it was impossible for Jesus to have sinned. The union of His human and divine natures in one person prevented it. (p. 539) His divine nature would have prevented Jesus from sinning even though His divine nature did not make it easier for Him to face temptation. The temptations were very real. He faced each one and overcame them. Grudem, p. 539, writes, The temptations were real, even though He did not give in to them. In fact, they were most real because He did not give in to them. D. The Necessity of Jesus Humanity - Some deny that Jesus had a human body because of the belief that which is material is inherently evil. This false teaching was circulating in John s day and it was Docetism the belief that Jesus only appeared to have a human body. But 1 John 4:2-3 completely refutes this teaching and attributes it to the spirit of antichrist. - Let us look at the several reasons why Jesus had to be fully man - 1. Representative Obedience - Jesus represented us and obeyed the Father and Adam disobeyed. Grudem, p. 540, writes, Jesus had to be a man in order to be our representative and obey in our place. - 2. Substitute Sacrifice - As a man He died in our place as our substitute, and He paid the penalty that we owed. Jesus did not come as an angel because God s concern was saving men not angels. Read Hebrews 2:17. - 3. Our Example and Pattern in Life - Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father and gave us an example and pattern. He had to be human in order to provide us humans the example. Read 1 Peter 2:21. We are to follow His example in life and in death. - 4. Sympathize as High Priest - Hebrews 2:18 teaches because He suffered and was tempted He is able to aid those being tempted. II. THE DEITY OF CHRIST A. TITLES OF DEITY - Jesus Christ was fully human and He was fully God or divine. In the incarnation, God the Son took on human flesh. Read John 1:1, 14. There are other direct scriptural claims that Jesus is divine. - Theos is used most of the time to refer to God the Father and yet there are seven clear passages in the New Testament where Jesus is referred to as God. John 1:1 is one and Romans 9:5 is another. An Old Testament example is Isaiah 9:6 where the coming Messiah will be called Mighty God.
5 - The word Lord, kyrios, is used of Christ. Kyrios is used 6,814 times to refer to the Lord in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), and used at the time of Christ. They knew that the word Lord when applied to the God of the Old Testament meant the creator and sustainer of all; the omnipotent God. We see this word refereeing to Jesus frequently in the New Testament see Luke 2:11. Matthew 3:3 John the Baptist says, Prepare the way of the Lord. Hebrews 1:8-12 is powerful and clearly the writer calls the Son LORD, the eternal LORD of heaven and earth, the Creator who remains the same forever. Powerful indeed! - Another claim to deity is found in John 8:57-58, where Jesus responds to the Pharisees and tells them He is the I AM. In Exodus 3:14, God referred to Himself in this way I AM who I Am. They understood clearly that Jesus was equating Himself with God and they picked up stones to kill Him. - Jesus favorite self-designation was the title, Son of Man. It is used 84 times in the Gospels and only by Jesus to refer to Himself. This term has its roots in Daniel 7:13-14 a powerful text that points to the deity of this Person. He comes to the Ancient of Days and He is given everlasting rule over the entire world. Read Matthew 26:64. This is a clear connection to Daniel 7. - The term Son of God is used of Jesus to refer to the eternal Son, co-equal with God Himself. We see this particularly in John s Gospel; God sent Jesus; He existed before He came. - Hebrews 1, Philippians 2, and Colossians 1 point clearly to the deity of Jesus. Read Hebrews 1:3. Jesus is the express image of the Person of God. The word in Greek is charakter, can translate the very stamp of the person, being, hypostasis, of God. B. ATTRIBUTES OF DEITY - Jesus showed His omnipotence when He calmed the storm in Matthew 8:26-27, multiplied the bread and fish in Matthew 14:19, and turned the water into wine in John 2:1-11. - Jesus is eternal as seen in His statements in John 8:58 as the I AM and Revelation 22:13 the Alpha and Omega. - His omniscience is seen in knowing people s thoughts (Mark 2:8) and He even knew what was in the hearts of people who would not believe and who would betray Him (John 6:64). In John 16:30 the disciples said, You know all things. - His omnipresence can be seen now for Jesus told the disciples where two or three are gathered in His name He is there and He promises us to be with us in the Great Commission to the end of the age (Matthew 18:20 and 28:20.) - His divine sovereignty is clearly seen in His ability to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7). The future of every one depends on what they do with Him, believe or reject (John 3:36). Jesus laid down His life and then raised
6 Himself from the dead (John 10:17-18). He is also worthy of worship, another attestation to deity. Philippians 2:9-11 says at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down. In Revelation 5:13 He is worshipped forever and ever. - What about Philippians 2:7 where Jesus emptied Himself; the Greek word is kenosis? Jesus never ceased being fully God. He did lay aside some of His privileges as He left the throne and worship of heaven and came to earth in the form of a man. The emptying and giving up of His reputation is equated with the humbling act of coming in the form of man. Grudem, p. 550, writes, The emptying includes change of role and status, not essential attributes or nature. Jesus was fully human but He was also fully God and never ceased to be God or give up any attributes of deity. Colossians 1:19 says in Jesus all the fullness of God dwelled, and Colossians 2:9 states, in Him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily. - Grudem says the argument for the kenotic theory stems from liberal teaching that wanted to make Jesus less than fully God in order to fit with more empirical scientific study rather than the teaching of Scripture. True, and he should use this same criterion, I believe, when dealing with age of the earth. C. THE INCARNATION DEITY AND HUMANITY IN ONE PERSON - Let us speak about the critical doctrine of the Incarnation. Some believe it to be a myth along the lines of the Virgin Birth and the inerrancy of Scripture. Some see in Jesus God at work but not that He was fully God come in the flesh as John 1:14 clearly teaches. The bias against the supernatural often appears in theological writings. The argument for a closed system or uniformity of the universe where the supernatural cannot invade is something that the Apostle Peter addressed in 2 Peter 3:3-4 as some then and now today reject biblical teachings like the flood saying that such a catastrophic event could not have happened as it is too supernatural. It is a paradox indeed but not a contradiction to say that Jesus was both fully God and fully human. - The early church accepted the teaching that Jesus was fully God and fully human. The Nicene Creed affirms this teaching and actually uses the word incarnate. But the fuller form of this doctrine came in the Chalcedonian Definition in AD 451 (Grudem, p. 554) - Three historical objections to the teaching of the Incarnation - 1. Apollinarianism: from the teacher Apollinaris bishop of Laodicea in AD 361. He taught that Jesus had a fully human body but not soul or mind. The church rejected his teachings affirming that in order to save us Jesus had to be fully human and not part human. - 2. Nestorianism: from the teacher Nestorius bishop of Constantinople in AD 428. He taught that Jesus was two separate persons, a human and a divine instead of one person. Never in Scripture do we see the two natures talking to each other. He refers to Himself as I not we unless
7 He is referring to the Father or the Holy Spirit, not we as meaning His human nature and divine nature. - 3. Monophysitism: (Eutychianism) from the teacher Eutyches in AD 454 a leader of a monastery in Constantinople. He taught the opposite of Nestorianism and said Jesus had only one nature and the human was absorbed into the divine so that you have a third kind of nature. The church rejected all three of these teachings. - The church defined their position in the Chalcedonian Definition in AD 451 where the statement affirms that Jesus was fully God and He was fully man, the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person. D. COMBINING BIBLICAL TEXTS ON CHRIST S DEITY AND HUMANITY - There are texts hard to understand but the Chalcedonian Definition does help which affirmed the two distinct natures in Christ with their attributes yet together in one Person. - Grudem, p. 558, writes, One nature does some things that the other nature does not do. For example, Jesus in His human nature ascended into heaven and yet He is with us everywhere (Acts 1:9-11; Matthew 28:20). Both are true about the Person of Christ He is ascended and He is with us. Jesus was about 30-years-old in His human nature but eternal in His divine nature (Luke 3:23; John 1:1-2). Jesus became weak and tired in His human nature as seen in Matthew 8:24 while He sleeps in the boat, but He is omnipotent in His divine nature as seen by Him calming the sea in Matthew 8:26-27. While Jesus was a Babe in Bethlehem He still upheld the universe by the word of His power as Scripture affirms both truths. Hard to understand? Absolutely and we will not be able too this side of heaven or maybe not in heaven we will understand because God is past figuring out. In the death on the cross Jesus died and His human soul or spirit Grudem says ascended to the Father, but one cannot assert that the divine nature of Jesus died on the cross for He is God. He did however in His deity experience something of what it was like to taste death. Jesus divine nature did not die yet Jesus did experience death as a whole Person. (Grudem, p. 559-60) - This unity and yet distinction between the two natures helps us understand how Jesus is omniscient and can read peoples minds and know in advance who would believe on Him and who would not, and yet He in His human nature can say he does not know the time of His return according to Mark 13:32. - Grudem then states, Anything either nature does, the Person of Christ does. (p. 561) Jesus did not say before Abraham was I in my divine nature existed though we know that Jesus the human being did not exist until the Incarnation. I admit I do not fully grasp this teaching. It does help when Grudem uses the analogy of a race. As the runner nears the finish
8 line everything within screams to stop the running as the pain is almost unbearable, and yet within he experiences the inner drive to carry on and finish the race one person with distinct desires. (See Grudem, p. 561, footnote 44.) - Interesting to note that a title for Christ can be used of His Person, though the action is done by the other nature. For example, in 1 Corinthians 2:8 Paul says Lord of glory was crucified, a title that reminds us of the divine nature of Jesus. Though Jesus divine nature was not crucified or die in the sense that He ceased to exist as God, Paul can say that Jesus as a Person died. CONCLUSION - In the incarnation, Jesus remained who He was when He became what He was not. He remained fully divine when He became what He had not before been, that is human. Jesus did not give up any of His deity when He became man, but He did take on humanity that was not His before. (Grudem, p. 562) - Grudem concludes his chapter on Christology by stating that the incarnation where God became a man and was fully two natures divine and human and yet one Person is the most amazing miracle of the entire Bible. (p. 563) The eternal Son of God joined Himself to a human nature forever will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe. (Ibid.)
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