In this multi-part article, we will camp at this topic which is technically known as “Hypostatic Union” – the doctrine regarding the two natures of Jesus Christ. This is one of the core doctrines of the Christian faith, therefore it is imperative for us to understand and grasp the idea of the two natures that unite in the person of Jesus Christ. Understandably, since we are talking about an Infinite, Eternal, and Almighty God, we will not be able to fully understand how this is even possible – and that’s fine – however we should not shy away from this important topic and rather do all that we can to grasp what has been revealed through the scriptures regarding our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
As the title of this article entails, we will primarily focus on the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and hence we will begin by stating the obvious in regard to the divine nature of Christ. The virgin birth is not the beginning of the existence of Jesus Christ, it was the point in history where He took on human nature but always existed as a divine person in the Godhead; meaning, Jesus eternally existed as the only begotten Son of God, He is eternally begotten by the Father. In John 1:1,14,18 we find that Jesus it the word of God that took on flesh and that He is at the bosom of the Father; in John 8:58 we find Jesus proclaiming to exist even before Abraham as the I AM; in John 17:5 Jesus says that He had the glory with the Father before the world was, in Colosians 1:16 and Hebrews 1:8-10 Jesus is proclaimed as the one by which all things is brought into existence, Revelations 1:8 says that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, and Philippians 2:5-8 where Jesus though existed in the form of God yet humbled Himself to take on the nature of man; these are some of many passages in scripture that speaks of the pre-existence of Christ as not only one who existed from the beginning but that He is God who created all things.
The second point that I would like to make in regard to the divine nature of Jesus Christ – as if the previous paragraph is not convincing enough – is that Jesus is YHWH who proclaimed that He will come. The first text we will look at is Malachi 3:1 cf. Luke 1:76
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. – Malachi 3:1 (KJV 1900)
Notice the speaker here is God and He says that He will send a messenger (alluding to John the Baptist, see Luke 1:76); and that the messenger will prepare the way for Him, therefore it is God who is about to come and the messenger (John the Baptist) is the forerunner to prepare the way for the LORD, YHWH. Another passage that we can look at is Isaiah 7:14; 9:6 where the child born through a virgin birth is prophesied.
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 (KJV 1900)
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6 (KJV 1900)
In the scripture above we find that this child born of the virgin birth possesses names that only can be given to a divine being, only God; such as Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father (No, this doesn’t mean the Son and the Father is the same person! More on that for another post) and The Prince of Peace. These are all divine titles that could only be given to God. To see it more explicitly see Isaiah 7:14 cf. Matthew 1:23 where Matthew gives the definition of the name Immanuel – God with Us – exactly what Matthew was trying to convey that the virgin born child is God with Us. One more passage that we can look to seal my point is Jeremiah 23:5-6:-
5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. – Jeremiah 23:5–6 (KJV 1900)
Notice that the Lord here proclaims that He will raise a Righteous Branch, who is a King over Judah and Israel and He is from the line of David which in itself shows that this person called the Righteous Branch has to come in the line of David, taking on a human form; nevertheless the Lord never stops there but goes on to reveal His name and that He shall be called “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”, where in the Hebrew means Yahweh sidqenu (click on the word which will lead you to the interlinear). This text goes to show the truth of the Trinity which later in the scriptures we come to know that it is the Father who sends His Only Begotten Son who possesses the same name, YHWH – and rightly so since the three persons of the Trinity share in the one substance and essence as One God, YHWH.
Now that we have laid the foundation on the identity of this virgin born child – Jesus who always existed and was prophesied to come as the Messiah – we will next ponder upon this question, WHY? Why did Jesus who is God, come and take on the nature of man to save us from our sins? Why didn’t Jesus just manifest Himself as a man as we see in Genesis 18? Why the virgin birth was necessary to accomplish His mission to redeem us from our sins? These are all valid questions that we may ask, so let’s spend some time understanding it. Firstly, we as Christians today have a diluted view of sin and it’s effect on mankind hence making it appropriate for us to start here, and for that we have to revisit Genesis where it all began in the garden of Eden.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. – Genesis 2:16–17 (KJV 1900)
In Genesis 2:16-17 we find that the Lord God explained a reality to those who rebel against Him, those who disobey Him, those who have fallen into sin, which is death. Death is the result of sin. We also find this in James 1:15 that sin brings forth death; and to be clearer Romans 6:3 says that the wages of sin is death. All these passages simply means that the only payment for sin is death but what really is death? In Ecclesiastes 12:7 we find that death is the separation of your body and soul – or what we come to know as physical death. Therefore, the only way mankind can be saved from our sins is by the death of a person so precious and priceless that it would be enough to pay for the sins of the world! If we logically looks at these passages, how could God who is a spirit being, not limited to time and space even experience death as a way to redeem us from our sins, to purchase us from our iniquity? This is where we find the significance of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the God who created all things, the infinite almighty God takes on human nature, the infinite taking on a finite form, so that now He can taste death for us as written in Hebrews 2:9
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. – Hebrews 2:9 (KJV 1900)
Furthermore, Galatians 4:1-7 speaks of the works of Christ that He was sent under the law, sent to take on human nature so that to redeem his children. For this reason, we are now sons by adoption to our God and heir through Christ.
1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. – Galatians 4:1–7 (KJV 1900)
Moreover, in Hebrews 2:14-18 we find that Jesus specifically chose to take on the nature of man to redeem mankind to our intended purpose in creation. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, we find the God who created all things came to declare us as His brethren, a reality that is humbling for us who do not deserve it, but by the coming of Christ we have been redeemed to Him who created us. Not to mention that since Jesus himself took on the nature of man, we have one who can aid us, who understands us, who will help us overcome for He overcame all, One who was tempted yet found with no sin.
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; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. – Hebrews 2:14–18 (KJV 1900)
One last question that I would like to answer before wrapping up the first part of this multi-part article; How did Jesus take on flesh yet was found with no sin? and to that my response would be, is anything to difficult for our Lord God who created and brought everything into existence? The scripture quoted below may help to give a deeper understanding to the event of incarnation.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. – Luke 1:30–35 (KJV 1900)
The question that Mary asked to the angel is that how was is it possible for her to be with child when she is still not yet been with a man? to not have a human seed in her to enable her to conceive a child in the natural sense. To that, the angel says that it is the Holy Spirit that will come upon and overshadow her which shows the role of the Holy Spirit in the incarnation, whereby sanctifying Mary and enabling her to have this Holy Child in a supernatural and miraculous sense, for that reason the child is called the Son of God, ultimately the virgin birth is the work of God. The role of the Holy Spirit here is seen as one preserving and sanctifying the Mother of our Lord and enabled her to conceive the Son of God in such a way that Jesus will not be found with sin or in this case, original sin. But do take note that though Jesus was found with no sin, he is still truly human in the sense that he still had to experience the fallen nature of man, by that I mean that Jesus still had to experience hunger, thirst, tiredness, pain and ultimately death.
By this we have established that [1] The pre-existence of Jesus Christ [2] Jesus is YHWH coming as man who is sent by His Father [3] Implication and reasons for Jesus taking on human nature through the virgin birth. We also believe that the taking on of the human nature does not mean that Jesus ceased to be God, which I will further explain in the coming articles on this specific series yet I will conclude this post by giving a brief description of what we believe when we say that Jesus has two natures.
- The divine and human nature is united in the person of Jesus Christ, inseparable yet do not mix. Meaning the two natures of Christ is not somehow divided by a certain ratio which leads me to my next point…
- Jesus is fully God and fully man OR truly God and truly Man which leads to…
- Jesus the God-Man
Hence, Hypostatic Union.
As I’ve stated in the beginning of this post, how can we as finite creatures ever fully comprehend this reality in the person of Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour possessing two natures at the same time? It’s a mystery that we will continue to explore in the next few posts.
Till then God Bless you and
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