Understanding the Incarnation

"Here are two mysteries for the price of one--the plurality of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus. ...Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation”--J.I. Packer.


I. The Question this study asks is: Who is Jesus?

A. We are going to investigate the Biblical teaching that He is fully God and fully man, united in one person forever.


II. Why is the Incarnation important to understand?

A. Confess Him correctly before the world.

B. Adore Him deeply.

C. Marvel at Him in worship.

D. Know Him more closely.

E. Avoid being led astray and help others from being led astray.

F. Be able to defend the faith against cults and other skeptics.


III. Jesus has two natures

A. Jesus is God

  1. Scripture calls Him God
    1. Titus 2:13
    2. John 1:1, 18; 20:28
    3. Hebrews 1:8
    4. 2 Peter 1:1
  2. Jesus has all of the attributes of God and is said to do things that only God can do:
    1. He knows everything: Matthew 18:20; 28:20; Acts 18:10.
    2. He is everywhere: Mt 16:21; Luke 11:17; John 4:29.
    3. He has all power: Mt 8:26, 27; 28:18; Jn 11:38-44; Lk 7:14-15; Rev. 1:8.
    4. He depends on nothing outside of Himself for life: Jn 1:4; 14:6; 8:58.
    5. He rules over everything: Mt 28:18; Rev 19:16; 1:5.
    6. He never began to exist and never will cease to exist: John 1:1; 8:58.
    7. He is our Creator: Colossians 1:16.
  3. In other words, all that God is, Jesus is. They are the same thing.

B. Specifically, Jesus is God the Son.

  1. John 1:1, 14.
    1. Who became man?
    2. Why doesn't John simply say “God became man?”
  2. 2. Luke 3:22.
    1. Who is speaking?
    2. Does the speaker acknowledge a distinction between Himself and Jesus?

C. Jesus is man.

  1. 1 John 4:2.
    1. How does this teach His humanity?
  2. 2 John 7.
  3. Luke 2:7.
    1. Would this verse make sense if He wasn't man?
  4. John 4:6; 19:28.
    1. How do these verses show his humanity?
  5. Matthew 4:2.

D. Jesus was not man until He was conceived in Mary.

  1. John 1:1.
    1. According to this verse, has Jesus always been God?
  2. John 1:14.
    1. According to this verse, has Jesus always been man?

E. When Jesus became man, He did not stop being God.

F. Jesus is a sinless man.

  1. Hebrews 4:15.
  2. John 14:30.


IV. Each nature is full and complete

A. Jesus is not part of God, He is all of God.

  1. Colossians 1:19; 2:9.
    1. Why don't these verses contradict those we saw earlier on how only God the Son became man?

B. Jesus is just as completely human as the rest of us.

  1. He has a human body: Luke 24:39.
  2. He has a human mind: Luke 2:40, 52.
  3. He has a human soul: Matthew 26:38.

C. A false view of the Incarnation was that Jesus merely has a human body, but does not have a human mind or soul. This view said that the divine nature replaced those faculties in the human nature.

  1. This is heresy because it denies the Scriptural teaching that Jesus is fully man.

D. Jesus will be both God and man, with His body, forever.

  1. He rose physically from the dead in the same body that had died.
    1. Luke 24:39.
    2. John 20:20, 27.
  2. He physically ascended into heaven.
    1. Acts 1:9.
    2. Luke 24:50-51.
  3. He continues as man in heaven now.
    1. Colossians 2:9 (present tense is used).
    2. 1 Timothy 2:5.
  4. He will return physically and transform the bodies of all believers to be like His a. a. a. Philippians 3:21.
  5. He will still be man when He judges the world after His return.
    1. Acts 17:31.
  6. The resurrection body lasts forever.
    1. 2 Corinthians 5:1.
  7. Would it make any sense for Jesus to become man and then give up His humanity upon ascending into heaven?
  8. What are the implications of the fact that a human, right now, is in heaven?

E. Why did God the Son become man?

F. Why is it important to know that He will be man forever?


V. Each nature remains distinct and thus retains its own properties

A. Christ's two natures do not mix together to form a third kind of nature. This heresy therefore taught that Christ actually had only one nature.

  1. If they form a third kind of nature, He is neither fully human nor fully God, but some other sort of being. That is clearly unbiblical from what we saw above.

B. Christ's two natures do not change one another's essential properties.

  1. Thus, Christ's divine nature did not stop being all-knowing and all powerful in the Incarnation. And neither did His human nature become all-knowing or all powerful.


VI. Nonetheless, Christ is only one Person

A. Christ is two natures in one Person forever.

  1. This means that there are not two Jesus Christs. Both natures are the same Jesus.
  2. This means that both natures consider each other “I,” not “You.” For example, His humanity does not consider the divine nature a “You,” but “me.”
  3. This means that God didn't “chose” the human nature of Jesus from among many different options. For example, you could not have been selected to be Jesus' human nature. Rather, there would be no human nature of Jesus to exist on its own had there been no Incarnation.

B. As we learned in regards to the Trinity, essence is what you are and person is who you are. Since God is one essence in three Persons, He is one “what,” but three “whos.” Since Jesus is two natures (=essence) in one Person, He is two “whats” but only one “who.”

C. Scriptural evidence.

  1. Both natures are presented in Scripture as being distinct, yet constituting “one thing”–that is, one Jesus.
    1. John 1:14.
    2. Romans 8:3.
    3. Hebrews 2:11-14.
    4. 2 Timothy 3:16.
    5. 1 John 4:2, 3.
  2. Jesus never refers to Himself as we, but always as I–even though God, who is three Persons, often does refer to Himself in the plural.
    1. Genesis 1:26.
    2. John 14:23. How does Jesus refer to Himself and the Father here?
  3. Christ considers both of His natures to be “Me.”
    1. John 18:37. Think carefully.
  4. Many passages refer to both natures of Christ while it is clear that only one Person is intended.
    1. Romans 8:3.
    2. Galatians 4:4.
    3. Philippians 2:6-7.

D. What would be the implications if Jesus was not one Person?


VII. An implication of the fact that Christ is two natures, yet remains one Person: Things that are true of one nature but not the other are nonetheless true of the Person of Christ

A. This means when there is something that only one of Christ's natures did, it is still Christ Himself who did it. And when there is something that is only true of one nature, it is true of Christ Himself

  1. Christ's pre-existence is only His divine nature, nevertheless Christ says that He is pre- existent: John 8:58.
  2. The death of Christ was only His human nature. Nevertheless, it is Christ who died, and thus His death for our sins is a divine-human achievement.
  3. How do you think Jesus could say that He didn't know the day or hour of His return? a. Matthew 24:36.

MP

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