For those who may be interested in the formal formulation of the incarnation, here is the text of the Definition of Chalcedon, from the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. This has been the standard of orthodoxy since that time:
Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us. (Source, including the original Greek wording)
One of the difficulties that I felt in preparing the message this week was in not being able to adequately express the glory and mystery and greatness of God that the Incarnation demonstrates. I can only pray that God will take the words of Scripture and press them into our hearts through the Holy Spirit so that we will embrace Jesus as Lord and Christ with all that we are.
The other difficulty that I felt was in not being able to draw out all of the implications of the incarnation for us as believers in Christ. Perhaps we can tag on more here at the blog than the three that I highlighted in the message (i.e. we can worship Jesus, we can know God, and we can live a new life). What do you think? What are some other implications of the incarnation for the way we think or live?
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re•gen•er•a•tion (n)—spiritual renewal or revival
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We are Regeneration, a community of young believers who gather together at Bear Valley Church in the interest of spiritual growth, Christian fellowship, and change of all kinds. As our name suggests, we never want to leave things the way we find them. We seek to allow ourselves to be changed by the Holy Spirit and then in His power to go out into all spheres of influence and see that power at work in the lives of those around us and even to the ends of the Earth.
We're not special, we're not superstars. We are simply saved and justified by grace through faith in Jesus. Welcome, and feel free to come along with us as we experience regeneration.
We're not special, we're not superstars. We are simply saved and justified by grace through faith in Jesus. Welcome, and feel free to come along with us as we experience regeneration.
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3 comments:
There are several implications of the incarnation.
1) If Jesus was not fully human than he could not have redeemed our humanity. It is still fallen. This is the heresy of the gnostic Jesus.
2) If Jesus was not fully God then our atonement has not been fully paid. He was not extraordinary in any way. This is the heresy too in various forms throughout history. Probably the most commonly held among most people.
3) There are various other incantations of these where Jesus was not initially fully God but took on divinity later (adoptionism). This is prevalent in New Age views of Jesus, and the Jesus of Deepak Chopra. It is problematic becomes it means we can become gods too. Mormons to a certain extent hold this view though I am pretty sure it is much more nuanced.
4) Some did not see the human and the divine natures as fully reconcilable and said he was fully human and God but they did not become part of the same nature. I think this is an extreme form of the Nestorians. The problem here is that how can we then have been created good. It assumes the divine cannot commune with the human.
5) Another issue that is common is seeing Jesus' humanity as a means to an end. This is related to doceticism. In this sense, Jesus would not be viewed as human after his crucifixion, or that he appeared to be human but was not really. He was more like a ghost or an illusion.
I think at some point I was probably guilty of #5. When I first heard by a Chinese missionary that Jesus still existed even today in his resurrected body I was blown away. The implications are massive because it affects how we understand salvation, sanctification and glorification. If we do not affirm the complete humanity of Jesus (assuming we know what the Bible teaches what humanity is) than we do not believe humanity can be redeemed in the areas our theology lacks. Thus, in my early doceticism. I had a deficient view of God redeeming all of my humanity for all of eternity. I would have a totally restored body at some point, and heaven, ultimately our glorification included this. It was not to be a purified spirit body floating around the universe.
If Jesus was not fully God, how could he have performed the miracles and what hope would there be for us to every fully know God? If Jesus did not experience the full range of human emotion than I probably think some emotions are evil or unredeemable. Likewise for my mind, my body, my soul, my relationships, etc. Only God can forgive sin and in Jesus forgiveness and redemption is available to all.
Another recent aspect of the incarnation that has impacted me is related to Jesus' humanity being a "means to an end." In taking on humanness, Jesus identified with us and our suffering. Even suffering and our daily life experiences have been redeemed and experienced by God. He can sympathize and he can use all things to restore us. It is possible to be a Christian in any circumstance. Furthermore, as the missional church movement has emphasized, in jesus we see the ultimate ministry method, to identify with people. We must step out of our world (in a cultural sense) and into theirs to not only preach the gospel but to make it tangible. We become his representatives in a very tangible way as we seek to understand their world and communicate God's goodness and mercy.
Those are just a few and I am sure there are more... This is the greatest mysteries in the history of the world. God became a man and dwelt among us. Jn 1:14
Chris:
Could you clarify what you mean that Christ redeems our humanity and that he redeems our suffering and our experiences?
Great point in noting that Jesus' bodily resurrection and ongoing humanity is a kind of first fruit of what the future redemption of our bodies will look like (Rom 8:23, 1 Cor 15:23) when all of creation is released from bondage to the effects of sin.
Another implication of the incarnation is that it demonstrates the depth of God's love for us. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son... (John 3:16). The incarnation reminds us that God is not far off, disinterested in what goes on in the world, in our lives. Rather, he loves us so much that he is willing to roll up his sleeves and dwell with us, Immanuel.
I figured if there was something you would ask about it would be that.
I think the suffering thing is difficult to understand for many Americans who by the world's standards live very well. However, despite its deficiencies and former association with Marxism, the idea that Jesus identified with human suffering is in our modern time a emphasis of liberation theology derived from Jurgen Moltmann and his "Crucified God" (I have not read any of this but am learning of its influence). In Christ's sufferings on the cross and victory over death, he demonstrated the purpose for his suffering. Suffering in this sense is not without purpose whether we understand what is happening or not. This does not mean suffering is good, just that God can make good from it (Rom 8:28).
As I understood Athanasius, he said that in the fall the image of God in humanity fell too. The Image of God was affected by the fall. It was not lost as some have thought, but merely corrupted by sin. In Jesus becoming human, he restores the image of God. This is not achieved only by his incarnation but it is an essential element of it. Our restoration includes the whole of Christ's work, his life, death, and resurrection.
Jesus shows us that God can use the best and worst of our human experiences to bring about our redemption, the redemption of others, and the redemption of all things. Jesus was a carpenter so manually labor is a good thing and can be used by God. Jesus was a scholar and shows it too can be redeemed. There are many other examples and it would be fool hardy to think we could exhaust the significance of all that Jesus did.
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