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FAQ # 231
QUESTION 231 : The entire 'human nature' 'divine
nature' thing is still confusing to me. Notice, "What could only
be true of his human nature is said to have been accomplished by the divine
person. There is not a human Christ and a divine Christ - two Christs.
There is but one Christ" (Stuart Olyott). Regardless of, it still
seems like two Christ is being preached, doesn't is?
Who would claim such a thing? If you are the President
of a country and the head of your household, does that make two persons.
No! Although He is God and man, He is not two but one Christ. Similarly,
you have a human or fleshly nature and you have a spiritual nature, when
you die the two shall be separated, yet you are one human person; what
makes us human is our flesh. We and him are typical humans. For God to
become man (Emmanuel) he had to have a spiritual nature and a human nature,
unless he wouldn't be human like you and I. When some teachers alludes
to the human Christ they are stressing his human fleshliness and when
they allude to the divine Christ they are stressing his spiritual nature.
Man is a spirit (soul), in a flesh, called body. Christ is simply a spirit,
in a flesh, called body. That spirit in Christ was God the father (John
4:24), that is the difference with us and him.
Also, it would seem that there is a mixed teaching
or conception that states when you say "God is in Christ," you
mean God was in a human rather than becoming a human. However, when it
is biblically said that God was in Christ, it means God became a human.
The life or spirit in Christ was God, who is spirit, not any other being.
A point to note, each time Christ spoke or related from his humanity,
it is most often a reference to us.
Part
2
"For there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). It is a man who is
our mediator, the man Christ Jesus. He is the mediator of the better covenant
found in the New Testament. The Bible says the mediator is not the mediator
of one but God is one" (Robert A. Sabin).
Generally, the Priest or intercessor to someone have
to be the same kind of whom he is making intercession for. For instance,
an American Ambassador has to be an American. You can't have a German
being the Ambassador to America advocating American Policies in Germany.
Similarly, it was necessary for God to become man to save mankind. That's
why the humanity of Christ has to be taught and emphases even though he
is deity, because the mediator between God and us wasn't any other being
than the MAN Christ Jesus. Not God, who is the Spirit that indwelt flesh.
So even if there was an allege preexistent "God the Son" that
incarnated Jesus, it wouldn't be this spirit that was the sacrifice or
point of mediation but the flesh or MAN Christ Jesus. So when it states
that God sent "his only begotten son...whosoever believe on him should
not perish," it was speaking of the mediator and the mediator is
a man. The man pertain to his flesh; a spirit could not die for our sins.
That's why some Apostolics apply the flesh to son and the spirit to God.
Though having some bearing, it only proves confusing to a novice and thus
the thing to affirm is that the composite of Flesh (human) and Spirit
(divine) is the Son, because flesh alone isn't human, it takes an intelligent
spirit to run it*. That's why the scripture said, "that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke
1:35). Flesh alone cannot do the things necessary to be the mediator,
but it took God, who is spirit, to overcome and bring a sinless perfect
flesh to the sacrifice. Not any other spirit, but God, as the scripture
repeatedly affirms.
Answer
Notes: 1. * denotes, Though the
flesh (having a spirit) can run on its own, the intelligent spirit tries
to keep it from doing do so, it would be disastrous. For instance, though
when you start a car and drive it, it can run on its own, you have to
steer it correctly or you could go over a cliff or run into another car.
It cannot operate without intelligent operation and left alone would decay
and be inoperative indefinitely. “The body without the spirit is dead”
(James 2:26).
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