Isaiah sees Christ’s glory

The message of the eighth century prophet Isaiah spoke again to first century Jews eagerly awaiting the intervention of God and the coming of Messiah. The coming of the Lord Almighty and the suffering servant were one and the same, but when both arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, they were blinded to his identity, just as Isaiah foretold. Isaiah is the Gospel of the Old Testament. Handel’s magnificent 17th century oratorio, Messiah, takes 16 of its 53 movements from Isaiah. The Old Testament is fulfilled (completed) in Jesus Christ; only through the lens of the Gospel can we see what many of the Jews of Jesus’ day could not.

Isaiah’s commission occurred in 740 BC, through an extraordinary vision. Isaiah saw the Lord himself, a privilege reserved for very few (Ex 24:9–11; Ezek 1:1–28).

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isa 6:1–4)

Moses had asked to see God’s glory, and God replied that he would let all his goodness pass before Moses and would proclaim his name “The LORD” (The Being One). Moses hid in a cleft on the mountain as the LORD descended in cloud and proclaimed his Name; “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” and Moses bowed and worshiped (Ex 33:18–34:8). Isaiah too was awestruck; he cried, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then he was ritually cleansed from his sin with a live coal from the altar. (Isa 6:4–7).

The apostle John states that this vision of God’s glory and cleansing work which Isaiah saw was in fact the glory of Jesus Christ. He is the Lord on the throne; “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him” (John 12:41) What things? The context provides the answer. The Pharisees and leaders of the Jews did not believe in Jesus, even though he had done many signs before them, and in spite of Jesus’ plea, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” John says this unbelief was in direct fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy; “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” and also, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. The reason John gives is that they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. These are direct citations of Isaiah 6. John further associates the Lord Jesus with glory, light and rejection in the prologue to his gospel. He also associates the glory of God with his grace and truth.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:9–14)

Uzziah’s wicked son Ahaz scorned the Lord’s ability to fight for Israel. God gave Ahaz a sign, which probably had initial fulfilment in the birth of Ahaz’s son Hezekiah, in whose reign God would defeat the Assyrian foe. But the prophecy had a much greater meaning: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). In Matthew 1:23 we are told “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, God with us,” for his conception was from the Holy Spirit, in direct fulfillment of Isaiah. The child would be God, with us, by miraculous conception and incarnation.

Isaiah 8 continues the theme of God’s intervention for his people, instructing them not to dread what ordinary people dread, but to fear the Lord of hosts.

But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken… Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. (Isa 8:13–18)

This passage is also specifically applied to Jesus. The Lord of hosts, whom they must honour as holy, is both the sanctuary and the stone of offence and rock of stumbling; Jesus (Matt 21:42–44; Luke 20:18–19; Acts 4;11; Rom 9:32–33; 1 Peter 2:6–8).

Isaiah 35 is a magnificent poem about the restoration of the people of God, full of beautiful imagery.

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (Isa 35:1–6).

Isaiah again speaks of the glory of the Lord, the majesty of God, and the passage directly refers to Jesus. Hebrews 12:12–14 takes up the exhortation to “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,” and reminds them that without holiness no one will see the Lord. Isaiah was made holy so that he might stand and behold God’s glory (Isa 6:6–7). Jesus’ response to John’s query of his identity lays claim to this passage in Isaiah as proof of Who he is; “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Luke 7:22–23) “Your God will come! He will come and save you!” The coming of Jesus is nothing less than the coming of God, the Lord of Israel. In Luke 7:27, Jesus proclaims John as the one who would prepare the way for the Lord (Isa 40:3).

Isaiah 40 is another well known and well-loved chapter proclaiming the coming of the Sovereign LORD God as none other than Jesus.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’ A voice says, ‘Cry!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isa 40:1–11)

The Lord God who would come with might, his reward with him (Rev 22:12) is the one who would tend his flock like a shepherd (Ezek 34:11:16; Matt 2:6; John 10:11–16). The way is prepared for the Lord; Jesus claims that John is the preparer and he is the Lord who would come; the Lord whom they seek would suddenly come to his temple (Mal 3:1; Matt 3:1–3, 11–12; Mark 1:2–3; Luke 1:76–79; 3;1–6). This astounding passage in Isaiah, which is speaking of the God of Israel, is unequivocally applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. The aged Simeon, beholding the baby Jesus in the temple, was one of the few to recognise who he truly was (Luke 2:29–35).

Isaiah 41 through 55 carries two major parallel themes. One is the repeated declaration of God, “I am,” in Hebrew YHWH, the name of the LORD. The other is the description of the enigmatic Servant who would come. The memorial name YHWH, “I am,” occurs throughout the Hebrew scriptures, not only as God’s name the LORD (kyrios in the LXX) but to stress who God is, especially in Isaiah. (Isa 41:4; 43:25; 44:6 — compare Rev 1:17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13; Isa 46:4; 48:12, 17; 51:12 — see John 14:16; Isa 52:6). The Greek translation of YHWH, “I am/ I am the being-one” (ego eimi) is spoken by Jesus of himself. This is especially prominent in the writings of John, who seems to draw a lot from Isaiah (John 4:26; 6:20, 35, 41, 48, 51; 8:12, 18, 24; 28, 58; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 13:19; 14:6; 15:1, 5; 18:5, 6, 8). No first century Jew, familiar with the Greek Old Testament, could have failed to notice the referrence to Isaiah. Then there are even more explicit connections, such as between Isa 41:4 “I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he,” comparing Revelation 1:4, 8, 17–18; 2:8; 4:8 and 22:13.

This section of Isaiah also presents the Servant. Although the Servant is sometimes explicitly equated with Israel (Isa 41:8–9, 44:21; 45:4; 49:3) it becomes evident that he represents the ideal Israel, but also transcends what Israel ever did or could ever do. In that sense he is the fulfilment of what Israel was supposed to be, in terms of a light to the Gentiles, a kingdom of priests and holy nation. In fact, the Servant is destined to bring Israel back to God as well as drawing the Gentiles to him.

The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.’ And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him — for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength — he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” (Isa 49:1–6)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice… ‘I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols’” (Isa 42:1–8)

The Servant is one in whom the LORD delights, upon whom God’s Spirit rests (Matt 3:16–17) who would bring forth justice (righteousness) and be a light to the Gentiles, opening the eyes of the blind, setting free the captives (Matt 12:17–21; 15:30–31; Luke 4:17–21; 7:21–23; Rom 3:21–22; Heb 8:6–11; John 1:1–9; 8:12). What is also interesting is God’s adamant declaration that he will not share his glory with another. Jesus, however, does share God’s glory, and has from eternity (John 8:54; 13:31–32; 17:1, 5,24; Heb 1:3, 13:21; Rev 5:13). “We have seen his glory,” said John.

In Isaiah 45 we have several more declarations of the uniqueness of God, including

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’”

Where do we find this fulfilled? Paul specifically applies this to Jesus, the servant who is Lord, having the very name of God, to the glory he shares with his Father. This passage explains how the Servant can be the Lord, the “I AM” and share in the glory of God.

[Jesus] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross .Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:6–11)

This passage also explains the reason for the suffering of the Servant, and the means by which he brings salvation. Isaiah predicted this in detail. In Isaiah 50 we learn that the Servant will not be rebellious (as Israel had been). He would give his back to those who strike and his cheeks to those who pull out the beard, and not hide his face from shame or spitting. Yet The Lord God would help him and he would not be disgraced, but be vindicated and not declared guilty. (Isa 50:5–10). In Isaiah 52 we learn that God’s Servant will act wisely, and be lifted up (John 13:14–16; 8:28–29). His appearance would be astonishing; marred beyond human semblance and yet he would sprinkle (cleanse) many nations (Isa 52: 13–15; Heb 12:24; 1 John 1:7–9). But it is when we come to chapter 53 that Isaiah sets out the substitutionary sacrifice of the incarnate Servant of God in all his glory. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows; he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed (Isa 53:4–5). The innocent was slain for the guilty; it was our sins he bore on the cross. We had all gone astray like sheep, but God laid on him the iniquity of us all (v6). The apostle Peter refers to this;

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:22–25)

The Lord Jesus is indeed the good and divine Shepherd, but as one of us in his humanity he was also a sheep, the Lamb of God’s provision (Isa 53:7; Gen 22:8; John 1:29). He was stricken for the transgression of God’s people (Isa 53:8, his soul an offering for guilt (Isa 53:10) he would bear their iniquities (v11) and he “bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (v12). By his sacrificial death, he justified many, so their faith in him could be counted as righteousness and there would no longer be condemnation (Isa 53:11; Rom 3:22–24; 4:24–25; 5:8–1; 8:33–34).

As a result of this astounding work of grace, the glory of the Lord has been revealed; his gracious and forgiving, yet totally just character, just as he proclaimed to an awestruck Moses. “Arise, shine, for your light has come,” encouraged Isaiah, “and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa 60:1–3; Matt 4:14–16; Luke 1:78–79; 2:30). The Lord himself would be their everlasting light (Isa 60: 19–20) and in Revelation we learn that this is the glory of both God and the Lamb (Rev 21:22–26; 22:3–5). There will be new heavens and a new earth, created by the one who makes all things new, Jesus (Isa 65:17; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1–6).

The book of Isaiah reaches its stirring conclusion with a promise that “behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.” Just as the coming of the Servant was the coming of God, so will his second coming be, “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire.. when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at among all who believed” In answer to Isaiah’s rhetorical question (Isa 53:1) many are saved, “because our testimony to you was believed.” (2 Thess 1:7–10). “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD” (Isa 66:22–23).

Isaiah is the gospel of the Old Testament. The coming of God to save his people was the coming of Christ. The prophet reveals to us Jesus, who is the Great I AM, the Messiah, the suffering Servant. The one who shares the glory of the only God, who is God and man, God with us, the true light, who shines in darkness and draws Jew and Gentile into the people of God, who opens the eyes of the blind and sets the captives free, the one who makes all things new. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Divine and Human

How can Jesus Christ be both God and man? That he is both fully divine and fully human is the clear testimony of scripture. The Bible shows that the Son shares the attributes and authority of God, the divine names and prerogatives, the glory and honour due to God alone. He is “above the line” that divides Creator from creation. He was sent by the Father and has returned to the Father, with whom he has shared and will share eternity. The Bible’s testimony is equally adamant that Jesus Christ was fully human, exactly like us but for two important differences; he was born of a virgin, and he never sinned. He was capable of being tempted, and was truly tempted, yet he never succumbed to temptation (Heb 4:15). He defeated sin in the very flesh in which it normally reigned (Rom 8:3); this was his salvific triumph in which we are graciously invited to share. Jesus was born and grew, he experienced hunger, thirst and fatigue; he was fully and truly human (2 John 1:7). The Son is distinct from the Father who sent him (Eph 1:3; John 8:42; 1 John 4:10, 14). It was the Son’s task to take on flesh and die for the sins of the world (John 3:16–17). Although he is God, the Son willingly humbled himself, submitting to his Father and taking on the form of a servant (Phil 2:5–11). A correct understanding of Christian doctrine requires an acknowledgement of the full humanity and well as the full deity of Christ.

Comprehending how the Son, eternally one with the Father and Spirit, could become flesh, become fully human, is not easy. This should not in itself bother us, because there is very little about God that we are able to understand, yet which we accept because this is how God has revealed himself, and his most complete revelation is in Christ (Is a 55:8; Heb 1:1–2; Matt 11:27). God’s eternity, having no beginning, his perfection, his unlimited power unsullied by any corruption, his knowledge of our hearts and his ability to hear millions of prayers at once, his providence over the complexities of creation; these are all very hard to understand, yet we accept them on the evidence we have and in faith. Ridiculing doctrines because they don’t make sense to our limited understanding is essentially an attempt to tame God, to insist that he be at our level. Just because humans cannot become God, we have no right to tell God that he couldn’t become human, when he tells us that he did. The problem is compounded when a doctrinal position is willfully misunderstood and misrepresented, as happened in a recent on-line discussion. Here are some of the accusations levelled at the Trinitarian position:

If you ask a Trinitarian which part of Jesus actually made Jesus Jesus, the God bit or the man bit, they’ll eventually admit it’s the God bit. Then if you ask them which bit died, they’ll admit it’s the man bit.”
“For Trinitarians, ‘God incarnate’ and ‘God’ refer to the same thing” – therefore their God died and is not immortal.
“The God I worship is immortal and can’t die. Sorry to hear yours is not.”

I have elsewhere addressed the distinction between the Father and the Son and also the important question of how God the Son could die. Trinitarians do not believe that the Father died on the cross; this is “patripassianism” and has never been mainstream doctrine. It was a result of the early heresy of Modalism. Christadelphians claim that the deity present in Christ was that of the Father, not the Son, that he was the Father manifested in the flesh,  so it is they who come closest to patripassianism, not Trinitarians. However, Christadelphians vehemently deny that God could die, because they equate “God” solely with the Father. They do not knowledge that one person of the Godhead, the Son, could be distinct from another, the Father, and take on flesh, be “incarnate.” They seem to think it must be the whole Godhead, which for them means only the Father, who died, which is clearly not what Scripture teaches. God the Son became flesh in order to die; he took on mortality (John 1:14; 8:42; Matt 20:28; John 12:27; Acts 17:3; Gal 4;4–5). The Father did not.

But the Christadelphian doctrine of “God manifestation” never truly explains what “God manifestation” actually means in a concrete sense, that is, in what way divine attributes can be attributed to Jesus and in what sense the Father indwelt or influenced him. If the Father was “manifested” in Jesus to the extent that his human tendency to sin was completely controlled (even as a child) and he had the authority and self-understanding to do what he did and made the claims he made, then was God still in Christ when he went to the cross? Or did the Father leave his Son at this point, because “God,” (i.e. the Father) cannot die? This was what many of the Gnostics claimed, that the divine Christ left the body of the man Jesus at the crucifixion, because the divine could not be associated with fleshly death. If the Father was not truly “manifested” in Jesus as to afford him the ability to remain sinless and “do everything the Father does,” then was God truly manifest in Christ? But if “God manifestation” simply means Jesus demonstrated what God was like, or spoke as his representative, then what made Jesus who he was? You can’t have it both ways; enough divine influence on the man Jesus to ensure he achieved all he was destined to, yet that influence/ manifestation/ indwelling in no way connected with his death.

Yet Scripture says,  “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Tim 3:16) Who is the “he” here? If it is “the Father” manifested in the flesh, then it is “the Father” who was vindicated by the Spirit, “the Father” who was believed on in the world and “the Father” who was taken up into glory. Yet we know that all these things refer to the Son (John 1:14; Heb 10:5; Matt 12:28; Mark 1:10–11; Luke 4:8; John 3:34; 15:26; Rom 8:11; Heb 1:5–6; John 1:12; 3:15–18; 6:29, 40; 11:25–27; 14:1; 17:21; Matt 26:64; John 6:62; 17:5; Eph 4:8–10; Phil 2:9–11; Heb 2:9; 1 Pet 3:22; Rev 5:12). The word “manifested” (phaneroo) actually means nothing more than “appeared;”  “He (God) appeared in the flesh;” it actually carries no sense of indwelling or incarnation. God appeared, and he will do so again (Titus 2:13). So the God who appeared in flesh is not the Father, but the Son, which is consistent with the rest of the New Testament.

Christians have long wrestled with what it means for the Son of God to be both fully human and fully divine. For orthodox Christians, the non-negotiables are; that we cannot minimise or downplay the divinity of the Son, nor can we deny or minimise his full humanity. Reconciliation of the divinity and humanity of Christ must be done without making him two persons in one body, or by blurring the distinctions between the two and allowing one to overwhelm the other. The fourth century christological controversies that resulted in the Chalcedonian definition of 451 AD rejected a number of heresies along the way.

• Adoptionism: Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary, but became the son of God when the Holy Spirit entered him, and he earned the title of Christ
• Arianism: the Son was pre-existent but was only a creature, on whom divinity was bestowed
• Docetism: Jesus was fully divine but only seemed human; his humanity and suffering were merely in appearance
• Apollinarianism: the divine Logos took the place of a human soul in Jesus so he was a divine mind in a fleshly shell
• Eutychianism: Christ had only one nature, the divine
• Nestorianism: Christ’s divine and human natures were not fully united

When Christadelphians ridicule the concept of the divine and human in Jesus, they usually attack one of these heresies rather than the genuine Trinitarian position. This is the straw man fallacy, to tear down a caricature or misrepresentation of something, and pretend that the actual true position has been defeated. If we were drafting the Chalcedonian definition today, perhaps we would use somewhat different vocabulary and phrasing. Nevertheless, credit where credit is due, the orthodox statement carefully and correctly delineates the boundaries of truth. It was a statement for its time, addressing the heresies of the day, but I doubt we really could do any better:

One and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin…one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably, the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and occurring in one Person and one subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ…”

The Chalcedonian definition set the boundaries, outside of which there is an unscriptural imbalance between the divine and human aspects of Christ; it is primarily a statement of who/what Jesus is not, rather than who/what he is. Philippians 2:6–8 explains that the emptying the Son underwent when he was sent was not an emptying of his divine attributes. He displayed those attributes in abundance during his ministry. Rather, he relinquished the rights of equality with God and submitted himself to the Father, taking on the form of a servant and being found in appearance as a man. In doing this, he accepted certain limitations on the functioning of his divinity; he held his divinity in check. He was, according to one analogy, like the world’s greatest boxer fighting with one hand tied behind his back. These limitations were not the result of a loss of divine attributes, but the addition of human attributes, so he could experience and learn dependency on the Father, overcome real temptations and effectively bear sin to the cross and destroy it (John 14:28 cf Luke 2:51; Heb 2:14–18; 5:7–8; 10:7; Rom 8:3).

The idea that divine nature could not assimilate with human nature comes from Greek dualistic philosophy, not from the Bible. God made mankind in his image in the first place; why should it be thought incredible that God could enter into humanity? (Gen 1:26–27; Matt 1:23; Col 1:15–20). Perhaps deniers of the incarnation not only limit God, but limit the brilliance of his creation as well. Jesus is more truly “human” than we are, in that he accomplished all that Adam was meant to do, and more, undoing the effects of Adam’s sin on us too, who fail to live up to the intended human standard (Rom 5:12–19; 1 Cor 15:21–22, 45–49; 1 John 3:2). He is what humanity was meant to be.

In the accounts of Jesus’ words and deeds we do not ever get the impression that his divine and human natures functioned independently, still less that there was a “God bit” that made Jesus the Christ and a “man bit” that died, as my correspondent claimed. Jesus functioned as a whole person. He referred to himself in the singular and was regarded by others as an individual. To claim that orthodox Christians teach otherwise is to misrepresent our position. He was the Word, who was with God and was God, made flesh (1 John 1:1–2, 14; 1 Tim 3:16). He, the Son of Man who came from heaven, has now returned there (John 3:13; 6:62; 7:28–29; 13:3). The brief and precious account of Jesus’ childhood describe him as growing, becoming strong and wise (Luke 2:40, 47, 49, 52). The same child who was proclaimed to be the Saviour, Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11) grew and learned, and never sinned.  Only by recognising the perfectly combined full humanity and full deity of Christ can the issue of Christ’s sinlessness be resolved.

The same man who hungered in the wilderness could have turned stones into bread to feed himself, but rather miraculously provided bread for thousands (Matt 4:2–4; 14:19–21). The same weary man who asked for a drink of water from a woman at a well told her everything she’d ever done (John 4:6–7, 39). The same man who slept, exhausted, through a storm was able to calm the winds and waves (Matt 8:24–27). Well might his awestruck disciples gasp, “Who is this man?” No one ever spoke like this man, or did the deeds of this man, but no one ever questioned that he was a man (Matt 13:54–56; John 7:46). Some of his divine prerogatives were directly connected with his being Son of Man (Matt 9:6; 12:8; 19:28; 24:27; John 5:26–27), and the necessity of his death was also a function of his Christhood as the Son of God (Luke 24:26; Rom 5:8; 8:3; Col 1:13–14; 1 John 1:7; Rev 19:13–16). The son of David is also David’s Lord (Matt 22:42–46; Luke 1:32, 35). The same man who wept for his friend raised him again to life (John 11:33–44). It was the Lord of glory himself who was crucified (1 Cor 2:8). The same man who bore the wounds of his crucifixion was addressed as Lord and God (John 20:28). The same Living One who died and is alive for evermore and has the keys of death and Hades is the First and the Last; the offspring of David is the Alpha and Omega (Rev 1:17–18, 22:13–16). Christ’s divinity and humanity are perfectly united.

Christ’s human nature and divine natures are inseparable, and both were essential to the task of redeeming his estranged creation (Col 1:22; Rom 5:1–2; 2 Cor 5:18–20). By his own blood, shed as a man on the cross, he justified, redeemed, reconciled, adopted and sanctified the children of God (Rom 5:9; Eph 1:7; Col 1:20; Heb 9:12; 10:19; 13:12). The reconciliation that occurred between God and man in the Lord Jesus has been made available to all who put their faith in him. The atonement is a work of God, from beginning to end and has been absolutely assured from all eternity. It did not depend on the tenuous ability of a gifted but merely human man. God’s own arm brought salvation (Isa 59:16), he reconciled us to himself in Christ (2 Cor 5:18–19) and purchased us with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

“Who do you say that I am?” is the essential question Jesus asked and continues to ask (Matt 16:15; John 3:36). Addressing the unbelieving Jewish leaders, who refused to accept Jesus’ divine claims, he stated, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he (ego eimi, YHWH) you will die in your sins” (John 8:23–24).

Who do you say that he is?

Above the Line

There is a definitive “line” that separates God from everything and everyone else, the infinite from the finite, the Creator from the created. The God of the Bible is someone who is altogether Other. God is unique; there is no other being or entity who can be called God. “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God” (Isa 45:5) “For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it… I am the LORD, and there is no other.” (Isa 45:5, 18; Deut 4:35,39; 32:39; Gen 1:1) This unique God is righteous and just. He is the only Creator and the only Saviour of his creation. “Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me” (Isa 45:21).

God is incomparable; “’To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?’ says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing” (Isa 40:25–26). This unique God is not only powerful, but good and just; he is holy (separate). “Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?” (Psa 77:13) “But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness” (Isa 5:16; 6:3). God is so very different from his creation: he is incomprehensible in his wisdom, beauty and greatness. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa 55:8–9). God alone has immortality and is the giver of life (Rom 1:23; 1 Tim 1:17). God is “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion” (1 Tim 6:15–16). He is the first and the last (Isa 44:6).

Because of this exclusivity, this uniqueness of right to be worshiped, God will not tolerate the worship of anyone or anything else (Deut 6:15; Exod 20:5; Ezek 39:25, Joel 2:18, Zech 1:14) Everyone and everything else is created; worship of a created being or thing is idolatry and brings God’s wrath.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!” (Rom 1:18–25)

Human beings, in contrast, are mortal, sinful, of limited knowledge and incapable of intrinsic holiness. We are fools and blind and can never, of ourselves, reach for the divine (Rom 3:10–12; 5:12; Psa 8:3; Job 42:3–6; 1 Pet 1:24).

God is above the line, we are below it. The question is, which side of the line is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father? There are a number of passages that apply the name of God to the Lord Jesus, (John 8:58; 20:28; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13–14) but lest they be dismissed as mere honorifics, there is a much wider and deeper testimony throughout the New Testament. Here is a sampling.

• The Son, the Word of God who was to be made flesh, was with God in the beginning, as God (John 1:1–2; 17:5–8, 24)
• The Son is himself the Creator (Col 1:15–17; 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 1:3, 8, 10)
• Jesus shares the honours and glory due to God alone (John 5:23; 2 Pet 3:18; Rev 5:12–13 cf Isa 42:8)
• Jesus is to be worshipped (Matt 2:11; 14:33; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; Heb 1:6)
• Jesus is the object of saving faith (John 1:12; 3:15, 18; 5:24; 8:24; 14:1, 6; 20:31; Acts 3:16; 16:31; Rom 10:11; 1 John 3:23)
• Jesus deserves our absolute devotion and obedience (Matt 5:21–22; 10:37; 24:35; Luke 14:26; John 14:15, 21; Eph 6:24)
• In Christ is all the fullness of God (Col 1:19; 2:9; Heb 1:3)
• Jesus has a unique relationship with God (Matt 11:7; 25:31–46; John 10:30; 14:7–10)
• Jesus has the authority of God (Matt 8:8–9; 12:28; 13:41; Mark 1:27; 2:5–12; Luke 6:5; John 11:25; 14:12–14)
• The Son shares the attributes of his Father (John 1:14–17; 3:31–32; 6:69)
• The Son shares the names of God (Psa 45:6; John 10:11; 20:28; Phil 2:10–11; Rev 21:7; 19:16; 22:13)
• The Son is able to do all that the Father does — everything! (John 5:17–19)
• The Lord Jesus Christ shares the throne of God in heaven with his Father (Heb 1:8; 8:1; Rev 3:21; 7:17; 22:1–3)

Thus Jesus shares in the exclusive claims and attributes of the Creator God, the One who will not share his glory with any other. Jesus is included in the very identity of God. He is unequivocally above the line.

The separation between God and humanity, between immortal and mortal, perfect and imperfect, Creator and created, cannot be crossed by those below the line. Human beings cannot become God. We cannot, in our own strength or by our own efforts achieve holiness or righteousness, let alone undo the curse of sin and death (Isa 6:5; Rom 3:23). But God was willing and able to reach down to humanity itself and effect the cure of his creation from within it (Rom 5:8; 8:19–21; 2 Cor 5:21). His own arm brought salvation (Isa 59:16 ) as “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). Immanuel, God with us, the in-fleshing of the Word occurred at a blessed moment in time when the Son of God, by the Holy Spirit, took on flesh in the womb of Mary (Matt 1:23; Luke 1:35; 2:11; Gal 4:4). This was the beginning of the man Jesus Christ, fully human and yet all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily. He humbled himself, emptied himself, in taking on the form of a servant (Phil 2:7–8). He became “sin” for us who knew no sin (2 Cor 5:21), and bore our sins to the cross. Jesus Christ is the perfect man, embodying all that humankind was meant to be. The writer to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 8, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?” The true Man was made for a little while lower the angels but is now crowned with honour and glory. He tasted death for every man, the one for whom and by whom all things exist; Jesus, the author and completer of our faith (Heb 2:6–9). God, in Jesus, did for us what we could not do for ourselves. We could not reach up to him, but he in love reached down to us, in reconciliation. In Christ, we are made righteous, sanctified and glorified. And one day, we shall be like Christ, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2).

The 4th century theologian Athanasius, wrote; “It was our sorry case that caused the Word to come down, our transgression that called out his love for us, so that he made haste to help us, and to appear among us. It is we who were the cause of his taking human form, and for our salvation that in his great love he was both born and manifested in a human body.” Some three centuries earlier, Paul had written, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3). Likewise, the writer to the Hebrews; “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14).

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die —but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Rom 5:6–11). Such is our assurance, anchored in the person and work of the Son.

How great is the Lord Jesus, one with the Father, fullness of God, Creator and Redeemer! In all things he has the supremacy; he is “above the line” that divides God from creation. And yet in his love for us he entered creation, took on flesh and bore our sins. The song of the redeemed multitude is his; “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev 4:11; 5:12) and “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”