Christology
Q How Can Jesus Christ Be -
• both Fully GOD and Fully MAN at the same time?
• both Father and Son?
These questions are similar in some ways to the question in Physics: Is light waves or particles ? The answer is Yes! Both!
Biblical Truth About Jesus Christ
BIBLICAL TRUTH (as stated in the Nicene Creed of 325AD) highlights the following aspects of Jesus
• DIVINE (ie supernatural) CONCEPTION He was supernaturally conceived as a human being by the Holy Spirit
• HUMAN (ie natural) BIRTH He was naturally born by the Virgin Mary
So Jesus is both FULLY DIVINE (Son of God) and FULLY HUMAN (Son of Man)
Challenges To Biblical Truth About Jesus Christ
• Arius' question: How can the Son be the Father? failed to recognise Jesus' eternal nature as God before the creation of the universe and also his equality of status and substance with God the Father - something Paul describes in COLOSSIANS 1:15-20.
• Docetism (from the Greek dokesis=appearance) denied Jesus' real humanity by claiming that, although he seemed to be fully human, he was simply God with a human appearance.
• Monophysitism also believed Jesus had a single (mono) divine nature. This is the basis of modern Eastern Orthodox doctrine.
• The Ebionites on the other hand, like Muslims today, believed Jesus was just a prophet, and not divine. Muslims also deny Christ's death on the cross for sins, believing that a substitution was made at the last minute.
All these heresies were genuine attempts to solve what appeared to be impossible truths about the nature and person of Jesus Christ, but each failed to recognise some key aspect of Biblical truth.
The Promise Of A Saviour
