THE GOD-MAN WHO SAVES US

THE GOD-MAN WHO SAVES US

John 1:14 presents an intriguing mystery, i.e., “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  The concept of Emmanuel, or God with us, the incarnation of God in human flesh, was a challenging truth for the early Christian church to comprehend and communicate.  In a word, how could one being (at the same time) be both human and divine, both God and man?

So in 451 A.D., the Council of Chalcedon grappled with this issue.  Although they failed to fully understand the deep mystery of the simultaneous divine and human nature of Christ, they offered the following four precautions to protect believers from error when contemplating Christ:

1. Attribute true and proper divinity to Christ.

2. Attribute true and proper humanity to Christ.

3. Do not so mingle the human and divine that you end up with a being neither human nor divine.

4. Do not dissect Christ so that there are two persons in one being. 

Certainly, since Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, both God and man, he is positioned and prepared to become our High Priest, one who can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”  That is, as man, he fully related and connected to the human condition because he was “in all points tempted as we are.”  But as God, He navigated every human situation victoriously, “without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)  In the words of the Apostle Paul, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” (II Corinthians 5:19)  Indeed, HE is Very God and Very Man.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!