Who Is The Unique Savior--Part 1

Jesus Christ is not only one Person with two Natures, but He has two Sonships, two Begettings, two Forms, and two Advents. He is not God in man, because that term applies to a regenerated man. “…God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27 NASB). He is not God and man, because that means two persons rather than two natures. He is the God-Man, which means the second Person of the Godhead did not take the person of man. However, He did take the nature of man into subsistence with Himself. We cannot properly state that the virgin bore, John baptized, Pilate condemned, and the Jews crucified Jesus Christ. However, we can accurately say the Trinitarian was born of the virgin, baptized by John the Baptist, condemned by Pilate, and crucified by the uncircumcised Jews, because it was His human nature that made His eternal Person capable to have those experiences.

The two natures of Christ have the same support―one Person and two natures. The nearly two thousand years of debate over the “hypostatic union” of Christ’s two natures has reached a new intensity. The debate is over where one nature stops and the other begins. We know that two natures are united in one Person, but to what extent the Divine nature operated in Jesus Christ so as not to overshadow the human nature is impossible for us to explain. However, we do know that the holy, human nature was never in conflict with the Divine nature. Furthermore, we know that the perfect human nature grew, and Jesus Christ increased (progressed) in wisdom and stature (age). “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52 NASB).

Growth does not imply imperfection. Therefore, “…in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7 NASB). Our present spiritual elevation is for the purpose of displaying His immeasurable grace in the coming ages (aiosin, noun, locative case, masculine plural of aion, meaning age to come, long time, or eternity). Paul uses the compound verb, made up of the preposition epi and the verb erchomai, to refer to the riches of His grace coming upon His people in Christ.

The eternal Son is the revelation of the Godhead, and His incarnation made no change in the Divine Trinity. This unique Person was equal with the Father, even though He possessed a human nature. Furthermore, He is more than man, because He is God manifested in the flesh. Three distinctions must be observed in Jesus Christ: (1) Christ spoke as God—“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30 NASB). (2) Christ spoke as man—“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I am thirsty” (John 19:28 NASB). Only man gets thirsty. God absolutely considered has never been thirsty. (3) Christ spoke as the God-Man—“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 NASB).

The following are the major similarities and dissimilarities of Jesus Christ as He is compared to men:

1. He was born of a woman who was a virgin versus a woman who conceives in sin (Luke 1:35; Ps. 51:5).
2. Christ was given the Spirit without measure versus going forth from the womb speaking lies (John 3:34; Ps. 58:3).
3. In Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily versus man being guilty of fourteen horrible indictments (Col. 2:9; Rom. 3:10-18).
4. Christ was impeccable (could not sin) versus man who is peccable (capable of sinning).
5. Christ could not be tempted, because He is impeccable, versus man who is tempted because he is peccable (John 8:46 and James 1:13; Eph. 5:8).
6. Christ’s holiness is sinless, because it is a positive virtue, versus man’s depraved condition is sinful, because he was conceived in sin (John 8:46; Rom. 3:23).
7. The Divine nature of Christ is the foundation of His Person versus the human nature is the foundation of man’s sinful condition.

The Lord Jesus Christ is one Person with two Sonships. He is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. The Son of God in the bosom of the Father was pleased to condescend to become the Son of Man. He willingly assumed human nature in order to reveal the Father, redeem the elect, and communicate the knowledge of God to the elect. (Read John 1:1-18.)

Beginning with the title “Son of God” is the correct approach to this aspect of our study. Whatever subject one is considering, the approach begins with God absolutely considered. In the study of creation, it is “In the beginning God created…” (Gen. 1:1 NASB). The study of salvation begins with God: “…who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (II Tim. 1:9 NASB). Christian living also begins with God: “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13 NASB).

Glorying in the Son of Man may be compared with the high priest of Israel passing the outer veil of the tabernacle. He enjoyed the first enclosure reserved for the feet of the covenant people. The holy place was for the anointed of God. However, when the priest went through the second veil, he gloried not only in the Son of Man but the Son of God. He penetrated the veil which symbolized the human nature of Jesus Christ. New Testament Scripture says, “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:19-22 NASB). The writer beheld the mercy seat which foreshadowed the Son of God whom the Father sent to be His propitiation (Rom. 3:25). As we stand before the Son of Man, it is as though we stood before the second veil of the tabernacle which shrouds the mysteries of the Son of God. Let us not ascend from the Son of Man to the Son of God, but let us descend from the Son of God to the Son of Man. With this approach we can say with Paul, “And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory” (I Tim. 3:16 NASB).

The gospel of John is unique in that it carries us back to eternity. It presents the Son of God in His eternal Deity and leaves us with a view of Him who has offered Himself on the cross as the Son of Man (John 1:1, 49; 3:14-16). The Son of God came into the world for those who had been purposed to be His by electing love, and He did not leave the world until He had redeemed them (John 10:11, 15; 17:1-24). The Father had given them to Him by covenant relationship (Heb. 13:20, 21). John looks deeper into the Person of Jesus Christ than the other gospel writers.

In the study of Christian evidences, we study not only the prophecies, birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Son of Man, but we seek to go deeper and touch the heart of Christianity―the Person of Jesus Christ who is not only the Son of God, but also the Son of Man. The elect’s hope of eternity is not based upon some small, etymological (as applied to historical languages and dialects), linguistic change of particular words. The revelation of God’s glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ by the Spirit of regeneration gives the recipient of grace the ability to say, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25 NASB). Hence, having been regenerated by the Spirit, the call of the gospel does not come by the understanding of all the parts of English and Greek grammar. If it did, none would be converted. However, it does not remove the responsibility of the diligent study of Scripture. Furthermore, the students of Scripture are the ones who become the defenders of the truth once delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

The two begettings of Jesus Christ takes in another important aspect of the Unique Person―the Lord Jesus Christ. The incarnation of Jesus Christ was a change of state but not a change of nature. He veiled His Deity in human flesh. Personal and official glories of the Son of God are both hidden, except where the faith of the elect discovered them. John said, “…we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NASB). The glory of the tabernacle was God tabernacling in its midst. That glory was evidenced by the Shekinah (Ex. 25-40). (Note the “glory” in chapter 40.) The glory of the assembly that Christ is building is the only begotten Son of God dwelling in her midst. Christ said, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst” (Matt. 18:20 NASB). Only God’s gift of faith sees that glory.

The faith of the disciples penetrated Christ’s human nature and beheld the glory of the eternal Son who is full of grace and truth. The Lord Jesus walked through the land unrecognized as the Divine Son except where the light of the Spirit of regeneration enabled one to behold the Light of the world concealed by human nature. Christ’s moral glory, however, could not be hidden. He could not conceal a perfect life which has been manifested by His words and works. God is absolute purity, uncontaminated even by the shadow of sin. “And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5 NASB). That text puts every person who believes in the peccability of Christ RIGHT WHERE HE BELONGS.

Christ’s twofold begetting is the foundation of the elect being begotten again. Peter, having mentioned the chosen ones in I Peter 1:1, said in verses 3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (NASB).

The twice begotten Son, once in eternity and once in time, obtained eternal redemption for the elect who must be begotten twice in time to spend eternity with God (Heb. 9:12; John 3:1-8). Unlike the begetting of the elect in time, Christ’s twofold begetting is divided between eternity and time. His eternal begetting is without beginning. The Lord Jesus is the only accepted, once-begotten Person in time. God’s elect, however, are twice born in time. They are born physically and then born spiritually from above. Furthermore, the elect have nothing to do with their physical or spiritual births.