The Natures of Christ
others ever apply it to Him? In what sense is the name "Son of God" used in the Old Testament? What are its different connotations, as it is applied to Christ? What are the different meanings of the name
"Lord," as it is applied to Christ in the New Testament?
References for Further Study:
Berkhof, Reformed Dogmatics, I, pp. 303–309; Dalman, The Words of Jesus, pp 234–331; Vos, The Self-Disclosure of Jesus, pp. 104–
256; Warfield, The Lord of Glory.
THE NATURES OF CHRIST
A. The Distinction of Natures in Christ. While the Bible teaches that there is but a single Mediator between God and man, it represents this Mediator as having two distinct natures, the one divine and the other human. It is the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh, 1 Tim. 3:16. This is a mystery, not only in the Biblical sense of the word, as something that was not fully revealed in the Old
Testament, but also in the sense that it is beyond the comprehension of man. The problem which it presents has given rise to many conflicting opinions, but has never yet received an adequate solution.
Some of the suggested solutions failed to do justice to the two natures in Christ, while others failed to maintain the unity of the person. No solution can be regarded as satisfactory which does not safeguard both. Scripture demands that we recognize two distinct natures in Christ.
1. THE DIVINE NATURE OF CHRIST. There is today a widespread denial of the divinity or, more specically, the deity of Christ. And yet this is clearly taught in Scripture. Even the Old Testament affords proof for it in its predictions of the coming Messiah, Isa. 9:6; Jer.
23:6; Dan. 7:13; Micah 5:2; Zech. 13:7; Mal. 3:1. The New Testament proofs for it are even more abundant. It is a well known fact that the Gospel of John presents the most exalted view of Christ in such passages as John 1:1–3, 14, 18, 25–27; 11:41–44; 20:28. But it is not generally recognized that the picture presented by the other Gospels is in full accord with that of John, and yet this is true. Notice particularly the following passages: Matt. 5:17; 9:6; 11:1–6, 27; 14:33;
16:16; 25:31 ff.; 28:18; Mark 8:38, and many others. Again, we have the very same representation of Christ in the Pauline Epistles and in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Rom. 1:7; 9:5; 1 Cor. 1:1–3; 2:8; 2 Cor.
5:10; Gal. 2:20; 4:4; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:1–3, 5, 8; 4:14; 5:8, and other passages.
2. THE HUMAN NATURE OF CHRIST. In the early Christian centuries some called the real humanity of Christ in question, but at the present time no one seriously questions this. For a long time there was a one-sided emphasis on the deity of Christ, and scant justice was done to His humanity, but today the opposite is true: an ever-growing humanitarianism places all the emphasis on the veritable humanity of Christ. The only divinity many still ascribe to Him is simply that of his perfect humanity. There is abundant
Scriptural proof for the real humanity of Christ. He calls Himself "man" and is so called by others, John 8:40; Acts 2:22; Rom. 5:15; 1
Cor. 15:21. We are told repeatedly that He came or was manifested in the flesh, that is, in human nature, John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 4:2.
He had the essential elements of human nature, a material body and a rational soul, Matt. 26:26, 28, 38; Luke 23:46; 24:39; John 11:33;
Heb. 2:14. Moreover, He was subject to the ordinary laws of human development, and to human wants and sufferings, Matt. 4:2; 8:24;
9:36; Mark 3:5; Luke 2:40, 52; 22:44; John 4:6; 11:35; 12:27; 19:28, 30; Heb. 2:10, 18; 5:7, 8. It should be noted however, that while
Christ was a real man, He was without sin. He not only did no sin,
but could not sin, because of the essential bond between the human and the divine natures in Him. In the present day some deny the sinlessness of Christ, but the Bible clearly testifies to it in the following passages: Luke 1:35; John 8:46; 14:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb.
4:15; 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5.
3. THE NECESSITY OF THE TWO NATURES IN CHRIST. In the
present day many consider Jesus as a mere man, and do not recognize the necessity of the two natures in Christ. But if Christ is not both man and God, He cannot be our Mediator. He had to be one of the human race, in order to be able to represent sinners in His redemptive work. It was necessary that He should assume human nature, not only with all its essential properties of body and soul, but also with all the infirmities to which it is liable after the fall. Only such a truly human Mediator, who had experimental knowledge of the woes of mankind and rose superior to all temptations, could enter sympathetically into all the experiences, the trials, and the temptations of man, Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15–5:2, and be a perfect human example for His followers, Matt. 11:29; Mark 10:39; John 13:13–15;
Phil. 2:5–8; Heb. 12:2–4; 1 Pet. 2:21. At the same time He had to be a sinless man, for one who had forfeited His own life surely could not atone for others, Heb. 7:26. Moreover, it was necessary that He should be very God, in order that He might bring a perfect sacrifice of infinite value, might bear the wrath of God redemptively, that is, so as to deliver others from the curse of the law, and might be able to apply the fruits of His redemptive work, Ps. 49:7–10; 130:3.
B. The Unity of the Person of Christ. While the Church has maintained the doctrine of the two natures of Christ from the days of the Council of Chalcedon, it at the same time asserted the existence of these two natures in one person.
1. STATEMENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TWO NATURES IN
ONE PERSON. There is but one person in the Mediator, and that person is the unchangeable Son of God. In the incarnation He did not change into a human person, nor did He adopt a human person;
He simply assumed a human nature, which did not develop into an independent personality, but became personal in the person of the Son of God. The one divine person, who possessed a divine nature from eternity, assumed a human nature and now has both. After this assumption of a human nature the person of the Mediator is not divine only but divine-human; He is now the God-man. He is a single individual, but possesses all the essential qualities of both the human and the divine nature. While He has but a single self-consciousness,
He has both a divine and a human consciousness, as well as a divine and a human will.
2. SCRIPTURE PROOF FOR THE UNITY OF THE PERSON IN
CHRIST. If there were a dual personality in Christ, we would naturally expect to find some traces of it in the Bible; but there is not a single trace of it. It is always the same person who speaks, whether the consciousness that finds utterance be human or divine, cf. John
10:30; 17:5 as compared with Matt. 27:46, John 19:28. There is no interchange of "I" and "thou" between the human and divine natures, such as there is between the persons in the Trinity (cf. John 17:23).
Human attributes and actions are sometimes ascribed to the person designated by a divine title, Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 2:8; Col. 1:13, 14. On the other hand divine attributes and actions are ascribed to the person designated by a human title, John 3:13; 6:62; Rom. 9:5.
3. THE EFFECTS OF THE UNION OF THE TWO NATURES IN
ONE PERSON. Since the divine nature is immutable, it naturally did not undergo any essential change in the incarnation. There is,
however, a threefold communication, which results from the union of the two natures in Christ: a. A Communication of Attributes or Properties. This means that, after the incarnation, the properties of both the human and the divine natures are the properties of the person and are therefore ascribed to the person. The person can be said to be almighty, omniscient, omnipresent, and so on, but can also be called a man of sorrows, of limited knowledge, and subject to human wants and miseries. b. A Communication of Operations. In virtue of this it may be said that the redemptive work of Christ is the work of the one undivided personal subject in Christ; that it is brought about by the cooperation of both natures; that each one of these natures works with its own special power; and that the result of this, as the work of a single person, forms an undivided unity. c. A Communication of Graces. From the very first moment of its existence the human nature of Christ was adorned with all kinds of rich and glorious gifts. It shares in the grace and glory of being united with the divine person, and even becomes the object of prayer and adoration. Moreover, it partakes of those gifts of the Holy Spirit, particularly of the intellect, of the will, and of power by which the human nature of Christ was exalted high above all other intelligent creatures.
C. Some of the Most Important Errors in the Doctrine of Christ.
1. DENIAL OF THE REALITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE. In the
early Christian centuries the reality of the divine nature of Christ was denied by the Ebionites and the Alogi. In more recent times this denial was shared by the Socinians of the days of the Reformation,
and by the Unitarians and modern liberal theologians of the present day.
2. DENIAL OF THE REALITY OF CHRIST'S HUMAN NATURE.
Second century Gnosticism denied the real humanity of Christ. Some ascribed to Christ merely a refined or heavenly body, while others distinguished between a human Jesus and a divine Christ who was connected with the former temporarily. The Sabellians of the fourth century regarded Christ merely as a mode in which God manifested
Himself.
3. DENIAL OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE TWO NATURES. The
Arians regarded Christ as a created being, neither God nor man, a sort of demi-god, while Appolinaris, who conceived of man as consisting of three parts, body, soul, and spirit, maintained that the human nature of Christ consisted only of two, body and soul, while the divine Logos took the place of the spirit.
4. DENIAL OF THE UNITY OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST. The
Nestorians virtually denied the real union of the two natures in Christ. They distinguished the two so sharply as to make them really two persons morally agreed in purpose and action.
5. DENIAL OF THE TWO NATURES OF CHRIST. The Eutichians represented the opposite extreme in speaking of the two natures of Christ as fused into some third nature neither human nor divine.
Sometimes it was represented as if the human nature were absorbed in the divine. The Lutheran view of Christ is somewhat akin to the Eutichian.
Questions for Review:
What Bible proof is there for the deity and for the humanity of Christ? What Scripture proof is there for the sinlessness of Christ?