PROF. BEN ONYEUKWU (REV)
NCE(Eng.) ND/HD (Journalism); BA (Hons)
MA, PhD.
BASIC DOCTRINE 2
(Christology)
Definition: (What
is Christology?)
Simply put, Christology is the study
of Christ. This doctrine is one of the most important doctrines of the Bible.
In fact, the doctrine of Christ has been the most attacked by skeptics and
anti-Christians. It is common knowledge that Christ is the core and foundation
of the Christian faith, and if His doctrine becomes unfounded, then the faith
of those who believe in Him, definitely will become vain.
In this connection, this doctrine
remains a necessity to the average ministers of the Gospel who are faced with series
of challenges from the world of skeptism which tries to discredit or bring the
saviour of the whole world to the level of the ordinary man.
Necessity of Studying Christology
1.
It is necessary to
study Christology to asquint the minister as much as possible with the
knowledge of the person, the work and the power of Jesus Christ. (Phil.
3:8-11).
2.
To establish
incontrovertibly the basis and object of our faith, and the assurance of our
redemption.
3.
To refute false
views and heresies about the nature, work and power of Christ.
False Views About Christ From The Earliest Centuries
Like
theology, the doctrine of Christ has been the most disputed and assaulted by
the anti-Christs. We shall then begin this study by first of all examining the
ancient prevalent heresies about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
1.
Ebionism:
This teaching holds the denial of the divine nature of Christ. It opines that
Christ was a mere man irrespective of the mode of His conception, whether
naturally or supernaturally considered. However, the proponent of this concept
teach that Christ as a man was believe to have held a peculiar relation to God,
and that he was also believed to have received at His baptism an immeasurable
fullness of the divine spirit which rested upon Him. This originated with
Jewish believers in the early church. This denial of Christ’s Godhead was
occasioned by an apparent incompatibility of this doctrine with the Jewish
monotheism.
2.
Cerinthianism:
This heresy originated with Cerinthus a heretic who lived in the days of
Apostle John about A.D. 100. This was to some extent, an offshoot of Ebionism,
holding that there was no real and essential union between the two natures of
Christ before His baptism. This heretic taught that the deity of Christ was not
possible at His birth, but at His baptism when the deity came to abide on the
man Jesus.
3.
Docetism:
This denies the humanity of Christ and was akin to Gnosticism.
4.
Gnosticism:
This denies also the humanity of Christ. It teaches that all matter is evil
inherently. If matter is evil and Christ is pure, then to say that Christ has a
body is phantasmal, since the pureness of Christ is incompatible with the human
nature.
5.
Appolinarianism:
This denies the completeness of Christ human nature, accepting it to be a
dichotomy. They hold that since the soul is the sisal of sin and Christ was
sinless, therefore, Christ could not have possessed a human soul.
6.
Nestorianism:
This heresy denies the unique personality of Christ by separating and erecting
the two natures into distinct persons. Thus, Christ was two persons instead of
one.
THE DEITY OF JESUS
CHRIST
Having considered the false views about the deity of
Jesus Christ, let us now examine the proofs that assure and furnish us with the
biblical evidences. In this study, we shall examine a nine fold proofs of this
all important doctrine.
1. Christ
Called God: In the Bible, there
are various verses that expressly called Jesus Christ God. These passages did
not attempt to give Him a second position, but made Him equal with God. In John
1:1-3, the Logos is with God and the Logos is God. This passage ascribes
deity to Christ. In John 20:28 Thomas addressed Him as “My Lord and my God”. Since Christ did not rebuke Him, it becomes evidence
of His assertion of His deity. In Titus 2:13 and Hebrews 1:8, Christ was
expressly called “our Great God and Saviour”. While in Hebrew 1:8, He was
addressed as the “Lord” who “in the beginning has laid the foundation of the
earth”. Applying to Christ this Old Testament ascription of Jehovah, implies
His absolute Godhead.
2. Names
and Descriptions of God Applied to Christ: There are various names and titles applied to Christ
both in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible which are exclusively used for
God. By so doing, Christ was acclaimed by writers of the Scripture as deity. If
Christ was not God, it would have been highly abominable for strict monotheists
to have used the Names of Jehovah for Him . There are about sixteen different
names implying deity which are used for Christ in the Bible, some of which are
used over and over again in passages totaling far into hundreds. (Find out
sixteen names implying deity used for Christ).
3. Christ
Jesus Possesses Attributes of Deity:
There are about ten or more distinctively divine attributes ascribed to Jesus
Christ, and all the fullness of the Godhead is said to dwell in Him bodily.
Among these attributes are life, self-existence, immutability, eternity,
omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, holiness and so on. All these
attributes are ascribed to Him in terms which show that they are used in no secondary
sense, nor in any sense predicable of a creature. Prov. 8:23; Matt. 9:4; 27:18;
28:20, Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:1; 4; 2:24-25 etc.
4. The
Works of Jesus Christ: The works of a
deity were ascribed to Jesus Christ. While talking of the works of Jesus, we
are not talking of the miracles, which may be wrought by communicated power. By
works of deity, we mean such works as creation of the world, the judgment of
the world, the up-holding of all things and the final raising of the dead, and
so on. Matt. 25:31-32, Jn. 1:3; 5:27-29, I cor. 8:6, Col. 1:16-17, Heb. 1:3;
10, Rev. 3:14. It is obvious that power to perform these works cannot be
delegated, because they are characteristic of omnipotence.
5. He
Received Honour Due to Deity:
Christ in the scriptures is seen receiving honour and worship due only to God.
In addition to the case of Thomas mentioned earlier, in John 20:28, Jesus was
given such honour and worship in both apostolic and post-apostolic church. It
is universally acclaimed that worship is only due to deity.
6. The
equality of His Name With God’s Name:
The Name of Jesus is place on equal footing with that of God in the formula of
baptism and the apostolic benediction. Many passages speak of eternal life as
dependent on Christ, as on God. Also, spiritual gifts are attributed to Christ,
as well as to the Father. Matt. 11:27, Jn. 5:23; 14:1 and so on. I. Cor.
12:4-6.
7. Christ
Claimed Equality With God:
Christ expressly claimed equality with God. He did not do this alone, but His
Apostles also claimed that for him. John 5:18, Luke 22:69-70, Jn. 10:20. These
claims of Christ transcend every dispute, for upon these claims was He
crucified. (See Thompson’s Chain Reference Bible No. 701 to 723).
8. The
New Testament and Corroborated Christian Experiences: The New Testament and our Christian experiences are in
unison in recognizing Christ as a Perfect and Absolute Saviour, revealing the
Godhead and worthy of unlimited worship and adoration. The efficacy of the
death of Christ and His atonement is an eloquent testimony that Christ could
not have done these, if He is not God.
9. Secular
History: The proofs evidences of
the deity of Jesus Christ is abundantly shown in many contemporary secular
history. Such evidences can be found in the accounts of Tacitus a Roman
historian and Flavious Josephus. (Anti. 18:3-3).
THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
One
of the most seriously denied in the doctrine of Christ has been the reality of
His humanity. From the earliest time, Gnosticism had denied the reality of
Christ’s humanity, while Docetism and Apolinarianism had, on the other hand,
denied the natural integrity of His human nature. To this end. it becomes
important to establish the reality and integrity of Christ’s humanity by
admitting His human development and human limitations.
It
will be necessary to warn us of the danger of the tendency of allowing the
splendor of His deity, to suppress and obscure His real Humanity. Jesus called
Himself man and was so called by others, and this is the subject of this
discussion. From this study, we shall show that Jesus possessed the essential
elements of human nature, that is, a
material body, a rational soul and a spirit as every other man has. Jesus was
subject to the ordinary laws of human development and to human wants and
sufferings.
The Reality of Christ’s Humanity: We will first establish the reality of the humanity of
Jesus Christ. To do this, we will first give the demonstration of the reality
of this subject.
1.
Jesus expressly
called Himself a man (Luke 9:56; I Tim. 2:5)
2.
Jesus possessed the
essential elements of human nature (i.e. Body, Soul and Spirit Heb. 2:14, Jn.
1:14).
3.
Human Limitations: (Physical) Jesus was moved by the instinctive principles and
exercised the active powers which belong to a normal and developed humanity –
hunger, weariness, sleep, love, compassion, anger, fear, groaning, weeping,
prayer and so on. (Matt. 4:2; 8:24; 9:36; 14:23, mk. 3:5; 10:21; Jn. 4:6;
11:33; 35; 12:27; 19:28, Heb. 5:7).
Human Limitation
– intellectual and Moral:
Jesus was subject to human limitations and ordinary laws of human development,
both in body and in soul. He was said to have grown (advanced) in wisdom and in
stature. He was subject to physical, mental and moral growth. Lk. 2:52. He
learned obedience Heb. 13:23. He suffered being tempted Heb. 2:18; 4:15, Jas.
1:13. He had limited knowledge Mk. 11:13; 13:32.
Limitation of Power: In His humanity, Jesus Christ was subject to human
conditions of obtaining power and human limitations in its exercise. Jesus was
mentioned in the Scripture for about 25 times, praying. He obtained power for
work and for moral victory as other man do by prayer. He was subject to human
conditions for obtaining what He desired. (Mk. 11:24).
Jesus
Christ obtained power for His divine works not by His inherent divinity, but by
the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Acts 10:38; John 14:12. He was also limited in
the exercise of His power during His days of humanity. Jn. 5:30; 14:10-11.
Human Parentage: As
a human, Jesus Christ had a human parentage and human ancestry. He was Mary’s
son, as well as the seed of David. Rom. 1:3, Gal. 4:4, Heb. 7:14, Matt. 1:1,
Lk. 3:23. It is necessary to note that just as Mary was truly the mother of
Jesus, God was His Father also.
Human Physical Nature: The Logos (Word) was made flesh and partook of flesh and blood. Jesus Christ
has a true human body. He had a true human body after His resurrection, and
still has a human body in glory, when Stephen saw Him. He shall come again in
the clouds of heaven as the Son of Man. And then, our bodies shall be
transformed into His glorious body at His second coming. Act 7:55-56, Rev. 5:6,
Matt. 26:64, Luke. 24:39, Jn. 20:27.
Jesus
Christ was in every respect a real man. He became so voluntarily to redeem man.
(Phil. 2:5-8, 2 Cor. 8:9). He part-took of our human nature that we might
become partakers of His divine nature. Heb. 2:14; 3:14, 2 Peter 1:4. Therefore,
the denial of Jesus Christ as a true human is the mark of the spirit of
anti-Christ. I Jn. 4:2-3.
THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST
One of the subjects that is least
considered in most books on Dogmatics is the incarnation of Christ. In this
study, we shall examine the incarnation of Christ in the light of biblical
teachings and try to establish such truths as the fact of the incarnation; the
mode of the incarnation, the proof of the incarnation, the purpose and the
perpetuity of the incarnation.
The word incarnation is derived from
the Latin word, meaning literally, “ENFLESHMENT”, that is, the assumption of
humanity. The Scripture teaches by both prophetic and historical statements,
that the Son of the Old Testament became incarnate in Jesus, who is Christ, the
Messiah of God.
The Fact of The Incarnation: The Old and New Testament are in unison in their
teaching of the incarnation of Christ. The fact of this truth is on the basis
of the Old Testament predictions of it and the New Testament historical records
of the Son of God who became flesh and dwell among us. In Isaiah 7:14, says, “a
virgin shall bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Immanuel (God with us)”
again Isaiah 9:6, “unto us a child… a Son is given… His name…. the mighty God…”
and again in Micah 5:2, “he shall come a ruler… from everlasting”. These
predictions of the Old Testament found their fulfillment in the historical
claims of the New Testament.
In Luke 2:9-11, “unto you is born…
Christ the Lord.” John 1:14 says, “The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us”. I
Tim. 3:16, “God was manifested in the flesh” compare Heb. 2:14, Phil. 2:5-7
says, “although equal with God;….. made in the likeness of men”. Gal. 4:4; Jn.
6:38; Matt. 1:18-21 and so on. It is evident from these Scriptures that the
fact of the incarnation of Christ is clearly taught. The pre-existent Son of
God assuming human nature and takes to Himself human flesh and blood, is a
miracle that passes our limited understanding. It clearly shows that the
infinite can and does enter into finite relations, and that the supernatural
can in some way enter the historical life of the world.
The Mode Of The Incarnation: It is necessary here to point out that it was not the
triune God, but the second person of the Trinity that assumed human nature. For
this reason, it is better to say that the WORD became flesh than that God
became man. At the same time, we should remember that each of the divine
persons was active in the incarnation. Matt. 1:20, Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:14; and so
on. This also means that the incarnation was not something that merely happened
to the Logos, but was an active accomplishment of His own part.
The most important element in
connection with the incarnation of Jesus was the supernatural operation of the
Holy Ghost, for it was only through this that the virgin birth became possible.
The Bible refers to this in Matt. 1:18-21; Lk. 1:34-35; Heb. 10:5. The work of
the Holy Spirit in connection with the incarnation of Christ was twofold:
(a)
He was the efficient
cause of what was conceived in the worm of Mary and thus excluded all the
activity of man as an efficient factor. This is in harmony with the fact that
the person who was born was not a human person, but the Son of God, who was not
included in the covenant of works, and was in Himself free from the guilt of
sin. Lk. 1:35.
(b)
The Holy Ghost
sanctified the human nature of Christ from its very inception, and thus kept it
free from the pollution of sin. We cannot say exactly, how the Holy Ghost
accomplished this sanctifying work, because it is not yet understood how the
pollution of sin ordinarily passes from parent to child. It should be noted,
however, that the sanctifying influence of the Holy ghost was not limited to
the conception of Jesus, but was continued throughout His life time. Jn. 3:34;
Heb. 9:14-15.
The Proof Of The Incarnation: The proof of the incarnation is purely based on the
teachings and claims of the Bible. There are threefold scriptural proofs of the
incarnation.
(a)
The Works of Christ: The works that Jesus did were testimonies of His
incarnation. In John 5:36, Jesus declared that the work that He did bore
witness of Him. These works should not be thought of as those which could be
done by communicated power such as healing, but those that can only be done by
deity, such as forgiving sins, the judgment of the world. John in concluding
his Gospel account recorded that there are numerous signs that Jesus performed
which will be impossible to be documented. He claimed that the few pointed out
in his account was enough to convince any one that the (Man) Jesus is the
incarnate Son of God. (Jn. 20:31).
(b)
The second proof of the incarnation is the words of
Jesus: The fact that this was
confirmed by His enemies is of great interest. In Jn. 7:40-46. The people in
general and the Pharisees messengers confirmed in unison that Jesus spoke in a
way it was impossible for a man to speak. This proof is essential because it
came from the lips of the greatest of critics of Jesus. Jn. 10:91-21.
(c)
The third proof of the incarnation is the resurrection
of Jesus: This is the landmark that
has distinguished Christianity from every other religion in the world. Jesus
claimed that He had the power to lay down His life and to take it up again John
10:17-18. Concluding on this, Paul, in Romans 1:3-4 declared that the proof of
the incarnation is in the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus was a mere man, He
would have still been in the grave until now and Christians would have been as
hopeless as other followers of religious leaders of the world. He is He who
died and is alive forever more. Because I live, Jesus says, you shall also
live. Praise God.
4. The
Purpose of the Incarnation:
The purpose of the incarnation is one of the loftiest Christian ideas that should
gladden our hearts. It has been difficult to say what exactly occasioned the
incarnation, whether there would have been the necessity of the incarnation, we
have to point first that the incarnation, as well as the whole work of
redemption was not contingent on sin and the fall, but on the good pleasures of
God. The fact that Christ also has cosmical significant need not be denied, but
this too is linked up with His redemptive significance in Ephesians 1:10,
20-23; Col. 1:14-20. There are about five main purposes of the incarnation of
Jesus Christ. They are as follows:
(a)
The incarnation is
to reveal to man what He is. Jn. 14:9; 12:45. In these Scriptures, Jesus
declared that He who has seen Him has seen the Father. He claimed that no one
has seen the Father before as to know what He is like except the Son that was
in His bosom. Paul declared that in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead.
All that was on earth characteristically speaking, was a revelation of the
attributes of the Father (Heb. 1:3, Jn. 1:51).
(b)
Secondly, Christ
came to reveal what true humanity should be. Jesus Christ was the model of a
perfect manhood. He exhibited the highest of moral excellence that should have
existed, but for the fall of Adam. Jn. 13:15, I Jn. 2:6; I Pt. 2:21.
(c)
Thirdly, Christ
incarnation was to effect the salvation of mankind by His life and death. The
entrance of sin into humanity was a direct work of the devil. He came that He
might break the yoke of the devil, sin and death that had been the enemies of
man’s soul. Heb. 2:14-15, I Jn. 3:8, Heb. 10:5-10.
(d)
The incarnation is
to reveal Christ as our High Priest. Hebrews 2:17, says that Jesus was made
like unto His brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest to
them. As our High Priest, He has suffered in every respect of temptation just
like we are. Heb. 1:14-16. How comforting it is to know that He who came to
save us was like us and had perfect experience of our daily struggles. Isaiah
53:3-6.
(e)
Finally, the
incarnation is to establish the reign of the Messiah on earth forever. Like
1:33-35. Ps. 132:11. Christ came that He might fulfill the promise made to
David. Rom. 15:8 Jn. 12:34; 2 Sam. 7:12-16. This everlasting kingship of the
Messiah is not only the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant but to ensure the
triumph of His faithful followers. 2 Tim. 2:10-12.
The Perpetuity Of This Incarnation: Having studied both the Deity and Humanity of Christ,
it will be necessary to state that the incarnation neither changed the perfect
deity nor the perfect humanity of Christ. It is true the Word became flesh;
this does not mean that the Logos (Word) ceased to be what He
was before. As to His essential being, the Logos was exactly the same before
and after the incarnation. The Word becoming flesh does not mean that the
Logos changed into the flesh, and thus altered His essential nature,
but simply that He took on that particular character, that He required an
additional form, without in any way changing His original nature. He remained
the infinite and unchangeable Son of God. Heb. 13:8; I Tim. 2:5.
The forces of the Scriptures in
support of the perpetuity of the incarnation are very strong. This should be
understood in the light of God’s word that the fact neither alters the Deity
nor the Humanity of Christ.
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