We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. – 1 John 5:20
When one speaks about salvation in Christ alone, a critical doctrine comes into view called “the dual natures of Jesus Christ.” As with most doctrines, an excellent place to begin is The Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 8, “Of Christ the Mediator.” Section two states, “The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man’s nature (John 1:1,14; 1 John 5:20; Phil. 2:6; Gal. 4:4), with all the essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin (Phil. 2:7; Heb. 2:14,16–17; 4:15); being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance (Luke 1:27-35; Gal. 4:4). So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion (Matt. 16:16; Col. 2:9; Rom. 9:5; 1 Tim. 3:16). Which person is very God, and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man (Rom. 1:3–4; 1 Tim. 2:5).” (WCF 8.2, 36-37) The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks and answers, “Q. 21. Who is the redeemer of God’s elect? A. The only redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever (Phil. 2:5-11)” (WSC Q.21).
One’s understanding of who Jesus is must begin with His deity. He is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God. John chapter one explains that Jesus was one with the Father from all eternity. He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit created the universe. Jesus even said of Himself, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30-38). The religious leaders of Jesus’s day saw this as a blasphemous statement and wanted to kill Him. However, the heart and soul of Christianity lies at this point. Wilhelmus Á Brakel puts it this way, “It is therefore blasphemous if one would dare to deny that the Lord Jesus is very God, and to suggest that He is merely called God because of His miraculous conception, His mission in this world, God’s love towards Him, His miracles His ministry, His resurrection from the dead, and His glorification. None of these things render one divine. They are proofs of, rather than the basis for, His divinity” (Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service:1, 494). Jesus is God from all eternity.
The Son of God left eternity, stepped into time, and became a human being, a man. The Creator entered into creation. He became a man through the incarnation. He in whose image man was created became a man Himself. It is not that he appeared on earth as a man. He actually became a man, fully human in every way. This concept is a great mystery of our faith. Louis Berkhof explains how the early Church councils viewed this mystery: “And the Church a accepted the doctrine of the two natures in one person, not because it had a complete understanding of the mystery, but because it clearly saw in it a mystery revealed by the Word of God. It was and remained ever since for the Church an article of faith, far beyond human comprehension” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 261).
However, when the Son of God came to earth to become human, he did not cease to be God. This intellection is a doctrine of our faith called the hypostatic union. Morton Smith describes the hypostatic union this way: “The union of the two natures was personal. It was not just the indwelling of the Person by the Spirit of God, as in the case of the Spirit dwelling within believers. It was not just a moral or sympathetic union. Rather, it was the union of the two natures in the one person” (Smith, Systematic Theology:1, 360). He continues, “When we speak of the communion of the attributes of Christ, this is not to say that there is any transference of the attributes of one nature to the other. Rather, it is a recognition that in the One Person there are two distinct natures. Thus, the One Person has all the attributes of both natures. What is true of either nature is true of the Person” (Smith, 361). Therefore, Jesus Christ became a human man and did not cease to be God for one moment.
This doctrine is the heart and soul of biblical Christianity and our only hope of salvation. Jesus’s two natures joined together in One Person makes Him completely unique. Like others before Him, He was a great prophet, leader, teacher, etc., but there are none before or after Him like Him, for He was both God and man in one person. He did God things on this earth, but in the appointed time and manner, He suffered death as every human must do. He did man things on this earth, but He never sinned, not one sin. However, when He died on the cross after living a perfectly sinless life, He endured the wrath and judgment of God in our place because of our sins and for our salvation. Brakel explains, “The Son of God first had to be personally united to human nature before sinful man could be restored into friendship and union with God. Behold! How great a work it is to save a sinner! What manifold wisdom was required to conceive such a remedy!” (Brakel, 511). Finally, one must recognize that Jesus is still both God and man in heaven. When He ascended, He did not return only as God. Right now, Jesus Christ is in heaven at the Father’s right hand in the flesh of the resurrected body. And because He is still human, He knows our feelings, hurts, temptations, struggles, etc. He is our merciful and faithful High Priest, who was tempted in every way yet without sin. How should the Christian respond to such a magnificent remedy? Worship Him. Jesus is our Lord. As Charles Hodge states, “Christ is everywhere [in Scripture] recognized as the proper object of all the religious affections. As He is our Lord, in the sense of being our absolute proprietor, our maker, preserver, and redeemer, and our sovereign having every right to do with us as seems good in his sight, we are called to make Him the supreme object of our love, his will the highest rule of duty, and his glory the great end of our being” (Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology:1, 497).
Andrews PCA 