in danger o f having what Paul elsewhere calls another Jesus and another gospel. The Inevitable Question The logical question now arises, When were these two na tur es joined together in one person? There is only one answer, I be lieve, to that question. Those two natures were united in one Person at the time of conception o f Christ in the womb of the virgin Mary. In the hour o f that concep tion, the second Member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, joined to His Divine Person a perfect hu man nature. That union occurred, not at birth, but at conception. Thus John Gill, the Puritan theo logian of the eighteenth century, wrote: “ In that very instant that the body [o f Jesus] was conceived and formed, and the soul united to it, did the Son o f God assume the whole human nature at once, and take it into union with His divine person, and gave it a sub sistence in it; so that the human nature o f Christ never had a sub sistence o f itself; but from the moment of its conception, forma tion, and creation, it subsisted in the person o f the Son of God.” The hypostatic union thus took place, not at birth, but at con ception. This is an astounding fact. It simply staggers the human mind to think that the virgin Mary car ried within her body for nine months the Person o f the God- Man, Him Who created her, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here then are the three mira cles of the incarnation — the miracle of the virgin birth, the miracle o f preservation from the pollution o f sin, and the miracle of the hypostatic union. The Second Incarnation It perhaps would be well to point out, in conclusion, that the Bible suggests not simply one, but two incarnations. The miraculous conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of the virgin Mary is, in a sense, paralleled in every true conversion. At a certain point in
far, He was tired. In our Lord’s sinless humanity He lived a real human life. Jesus was truly man. On the other hand, Jesus Christ also possessed a perfect Divine nature. He raised the dead. He unstopped the ears of the deaf. He opened blind eyes. And, when placed in a grave, He Himself arose from the dead on the third day. Jesus Christ was truly God. The miracle o f the incarnation, however, is that these two perfect natures were united in one per son; or, more precisely, the sec ond Member o f the Trinity, Jesus Christ, joined to His Divine Per son a complete human nature. This is the hypostatic union. This truth is. set forth in many places in the Bible. For example, the Bible says in Isaiah 9 :6, “ Un to us a child is bom, and unto us a son is given.” Here we have the two natures in one Person. Jesus Christ is the child born; that is, He is truly man. He is also the Son given; that is, He is truly God. A t the same time He is but one Person. The Bible informs us in Romans 1 :3, 4 that the gospel of God concerns “ . . . His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made o f the seed o f David accord ing to the flesh; and declared the Son o f God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection f r om the dead.” There are two verbs used in these verses concerning the coming of Christ to this earth. Jesus Christ “ was made [or bom] o f the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared [demonstrated] to be the Son of God . . . by the res urrection from the dead.” Jesus Christ was made; Jesus Christ was declared. These two verbs speak of His humanity and His Deity. As a man, Jesus Christ was bom. His humanity began in time. As the Son of God, Jesus Christ was declared; that is, His God- hood was demonstrated, proven, by His resurrection. His Divine nature is eternal. I f you under stand those two verbs, “made” and “ declared,” you will have the Christ o f the Bible. I f you do not believe those two verbs, you are
ture. Modem man may not like this doctrine, but both the Bible and experience teach us that this is a fact. A child does not sin and then become a sinner. He sins be cause he has a sinful nature. Jesus Christ, however, did not inherit a sinful nature. The Bible says in Luke 1 :35, “Therefore that holy thing which shall be bom of thee shall be called the Son o f God.” By the term, “ that holy thing,” the angel referred to the human nature of Christ, that nature conceived by the Holy Spirit. The human na tu r e of Christ, at conception, was pre served supematurally by the Holy Spirit from the corruption o f sin. The Saviour of sinners must be a perfect Saviour, a sinless Saviour, both in nature and in deed. To preserve the Saviour from the corruption o f original sin, Jesus Christ was, the r e f o r e , virgin bom. The third miracle of the in carnation was the miracle of the hypostatic union. By the term, “hypostatic union,” we mean the union o f two perfect natures in one person. Although Jesus Christ was but one Person, He possessed two perfect natures. The facts which the Bible teaches about the Person o f Christ, as Charles Hodge in his Systematic Theology pointed out, are essentially three. First, Jesus Christ was truly man, i.e., He had a perfect or complete human nature. Everything that can be predicated of man as man, not man as sinner, can be predi cated of Christ. Second, He was truly God. He had a perfect Di vine nature. Everything that can be predicated o f God can be pre dicated of Christ. Third, Jesus Christ is but one Person. The same Person, self, ego, Who said, “ I thirst,” also said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The Lord Jesus possessed a complete human nature. The Bible declares, “ He was made like unto us in all things,” with the one ex ception o f sin. He grew up in body and developed in mind along nor mal lines. He needed food, drink, and rest. When He had traveled
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