TBC Doctrinal Class - God The Son (Part 4)
Notes
Transcript
TBC DOCTRINAL STATEMENT #4
GOD THE SON
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith, just as
you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you 🤲 Christ
Jesus the Lord, so 🚶🚶 in him, 7 🌱 and 🔨 up in
him and 🏡 in the faith, just as you were 👩🎓, ⛲ in
thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith, just as
you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as 🫵 🤲 Christ
Jesus the 👑, so 🚶🚶 in him, 7 🌱 and 🔨 up in
him and 🏡 in the 📜, just as 🫵 were 👩🎓, ⛲ in 😄.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith, just as
you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, __ 🫵 🤲 ______
Jesus ____ 👑, so 🚶🚶 in ____, 7 🌱 and 🔨 ↑ in
____ and 🏡 in ____ 📜, just ___ 🫵 were 👩🎓, ⛲ in
😄.
Colossians 2:6–7
REVISION
GOD THE FATHER . . .
is sovereign (head over all and independent of all)
• knows everything infallibly because He brought it
into existence
• providentially guides and governs all things, events,
circumstances
• reaches out to communicate with us
• acts for our salvation
•
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
fi
“In the Deity and Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His
Virgin Birth, His substitutionary death for our sins, His
bodily resurrection, and that all who repent and believe in
Him are justi ed by His shed blood. We also look for His
literal return to earth to deliver his people (1 Thessalonians
4:13-18), judge unbelievers (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9), and
reign forever (Revelation 19:11-16).”
THIS STATEMENT IS A COMBINATION OF
CHRISTOLOGY, SOTERIOLOGY, AND ESCHATOLOGY.
We believe in . . .
In the Deity and Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Virgin
Birth,
His substitutionary death for our sins, His bodily resurrection,
and that all who repent and believe in Him are justi ed by His
shed blood.
We also look for His literal return to earth to deliver his people
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), judge unbelievers (2 Thessalonians
1:7-9), and reign forever (Revelation 19:11-16).”
We plan to study Soteriology (the doctrine of
salvation) under statement #13 next year.
Therefore, we will not cover much of “His
substitutionary death for our sins, His bodily
resurrection, and that all who repent and believe in
Him are justified by His shed blood” tonight.
We will not have time to study Eschatology (the
doctrine of last things) tonight.
Therefore, we will not cover much of “We also look
for His literal return to earth to deliver his people (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18), judge unbelievers (2
Thessalonians 1:7-9), and reign forever (Revelation
19:11-16)” tonight.
Is Jesus God?
I.e., “We believe in the Deity . . . of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 9:5 (ESV) To them belong the patriarchs, and
from their race, according to the esh, is the Christ,
who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Titus 2:13 (ESV) waiting for our blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ,
How do we know Titus 2:13 is not referring to God the
Father?
Titus 2:13 (ESV) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of
the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Titus 2:14 (ESV) who gave himself for us to redeem us from
all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own
possession who are zealous for good works.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 (ESV)And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his
mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
Is Jesus fully God?
Colossians 2:9 (ESV) For in him the whole fullness
of deity dwells bodily,
What is deity?
“the rank or essential nature of a god" : DIVINITY
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deity. accessed 6 May 2023
Is Jesus human?
I.e., “We believe in the Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
John 4:6-8 (ESV) Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus,
wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside
the well. It was about the sixth hour.7A woman from
Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me
a drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone away into the city to
buy food.)
Is Jesus fully human?
Hebrews 2:17 (ESV) Therefore he had to be made like
his brothers in every respect, so that he might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of
God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Who Is Jesus Christ?
The key to Christology
Fully God
Fully human
Two natures
One Person
T/F Jesus is divine, but not equal in divinity with the Father.
False
I believe . . .
In one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God,
Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not
made, being of one substance with the Father, by
whom all things were made. -Nicene Creed
T/F Jesus is divine, but not equal in divinity with the Father.
Fully God
Fully human
False
I believe . . .
In one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light
of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father, by whom all
things were made. -Nicene Creed
Two natures
One Person
The Son is truly God.
Jesus taught that God was His father in a
way that made Jesus equal with God the
Father.
John 5:18 (ESV) This was why the Jews
were seeking all the more to kill him,
because not only was he breaking the
Sabbath, but he was even calling God his
own Father, making himself equal with God.
The Son is truly God and is called God.
The Son is co-equal with the Father in honor.
John 5:21–23 (ESV) 21For as the Father raises the
dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives
life to whom he will. 22For the Father judges no
one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
23that all may honor the Son, just as they
honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
The Son is truly God and shares the same Divine essence
as the Father.
Hebrews 1:1–3 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and
in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom
also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of
the glory of God and the exact imprint of his
nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his
power.
The Son is truly God and shares the same Divine
essence as the Father.
Colossians 1:18 (ESV) For in him [Christ] all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
Colossians 2:9 (ESV) For in him [Christ] the
whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Athanasian Creed on Christ
He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father
before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of
His mother in this age: perfect God and perfect man,
composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the
Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father
with respect to His humanity. (29-31) Matt. 26:38, Luke 2:52, 24:39,
John 1:1-3, 1:14, 5:23, 7:29, 10:30, 11:35, 12:27, 16:15, 17:24, 19:33-34,
Acts 2:27, Rom. 1:3, Gal. 4:4, Phil. 2:5-11, Col. 1:16
T/F Jesus is two persons: a divine person and a human
person in one.
Fully God
Fully human
False
Jesus is ONE person with TWO natures.
Two natures
One Person
How should we understand the 2 natures of Christ?
Diagrams: MICHAEL AGAPITO
Athanasian Creed on Christ
Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ:
(32) Rom. 5:15, 5:17, 1 Cor. 8:6, Eph. 4:5, 1 John 2:22
Romans 5:15 (ESV) But the free gift is not like the trespass.
For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more
have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that
one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
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How can Jesus be both God and a human at the same time?
1 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) Great indeed, we confess, is the
mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the
esh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed
among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in
glory.
Athanasian Creed on Christ
Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same
time both God and man. (28) Matt. 1:23, 3:17, 10:32-33, 17:5, Luke
2:11, John 1:14, 3:18, 6:40, 8:58, Acts 13:38, Rom. 10:9, Gal. 4:4, Phil.
2:5-11, Col. 3:17, 1 Tim. 2:5-6, 3:16, Heb. 5:5, 1 Pet. 3:15, 2 Pet. 1:17.
1 Timothy 2:5–6 (ESV) For there is one God [the Father], and
there is one mediator between God and men, the man
[singular] Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for
all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Christ’s Two Natures
Chalcedonian Creed on Christ
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent,
teach men to confess 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 a 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; begotten
before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and
in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the
Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood;
Chalcedonian Creed on Christ
one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be
acknowledged in two natures, unconfusedly, 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 concurring 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; as the prophets from the beginning
have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has
handed down to us.
The key to Christ’s 2 natures
“acknowledged in two natures,
unconfusedly,
unchangeably,
indivisibly,
inseparably
Council of Chalcedon
The key to Christ’s 2 natures
the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by
the union,
but rather the property of each nature being preserved,
and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence,
not parted or divided into two persons,
but one and the same Son
— Council of Chalcedon
1 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery
of godliness: He was manifested in the esh …
fl
“Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord:
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in esh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.”
—Charles Wesley “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” Stanza 2
fl
“Christ, by highest heaven adored, [Christ worshipped as God.]
Christ, the everlasting Lord: [Christ = eternal Sovereign God.]
Late in time, behold Him come, [Christ revealed by entering time.]
Offspring of a virgin’s womb. [Christ’s mother = virgin, and God =
His Father.]
Veiled in esh the Godhead see, [Jesus’s deity cloaked by His
humanity.]
Hail the incarnate Deity! [incarnate = “in- eshed” Deity = “God”]
Pleased as man with men to dwell, [Jesus spent 33 years on earth.]
Jesus our Emmanuel.” [Emmanuel = “God with us.”]
—Charles Wesley “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” Stanza 2
T/F Jesus has a human body, but a divine mind.
Fully God
Fully human
False
Jesus has a human mind and a human body as well as a
divine mind that is part of His divine nature
“truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body”
Two natures
One Person
T/F Jesus has two natures which are mixed together
to form one nature.
Fully God
Fully human
False
Two natures
One Person
Incorrect view of Christ’s two natures
“Without confusion”: Against Eutychianism
Diagrams: MICHAEL AGAPITO
Athanasian Creed on Christ
one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into
flesh, but by the assumption of humanity into God; one
altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of
person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God
and man is one Christ, (33-35) Matt. 1:23, John 1:1, 1:14,
Phil. 2:5-8, Heb. 2:14-17.
T/F Jesus has two wills, not one will.
Fully God
Fully human
True
Both natures have a will.
John 6:38 (ESV) For I have come down from heaven, not
to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Two natures
One Person
T/F At the incarnation, God the Son became a man.
Fully God
Fully human
True if became a man = added humanity to Himself
False if became a man = turned into a mere human
John 1:14 (ESV) And the Word became esh and
dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of
the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Two natures
One Person
The Son is truly man.
Galatians 4:4 (ESV) But when the fullness of time
had come, God sent forth his Son, born of
woman, born under the law,
Correct view of the 2 natures of Christ.
Diagrams: MICHAEL AGAPITO
T/F Jesus laid aside his divine attributes at the incarnation
and then took them back up after his resurrection.
Fully God
Fully human
False if laid aside his divine attributes = divested Himself of
His divinity and became less than fully God
True if laid aside his divine attributes = choose not to use His
divine attributes unilaterally
Two natures
One Person
T/F As a baby Jesus did not cry (As expressed in the
Christmas carol “Away in the Manger” which says, “The little
Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.”)
Fully God
Fully human
False
Jesus was fully human and cried according to his human
nature.
John 11:35 (ESV) Jesus wept.
Two natures
One Person
T/F Jesus the man was ignorant.
Fully God
Fully human
True
Humans have nite knowledge.
Matthew 24:36 (ESV) “But concerning that day and hour
no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor
the Son, but the Father only.
One Person
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Two natures
T/F Jesus learned facts and abilities while on earth.
Fully God
Fully human
True
Luke 2:52 (ESV) And Jesus increased in wisdom and
in stature and in favor with God and man.
Two natures
One Person
Application: We are Christlike when we increase in
our knowledge of God.
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith, just as
you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
T/F In his humanity, Jesus submitted to God the Father.
Fully God
Fully human
True
Hebrews 10:5, 7 (ESV) Consequently, when Christ
came into the world, he said, “Sacri ces and offerings
you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for
me;. . . 7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your
will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the
book.’ ”
Two natures
One Person
T/F Jesus could have sinned when tempted.
Fully God
Fully human
False
Because 1) sin is committed by an entire person, and
because 2) Jesus’ person includes a divine nature that
cannot sin, Jesus—the GodMan—with 2 natures could not
have sinned.
Two natures
One Person
T/F Jesus could have sinned when tempted.
“W. G. T. Shedd (1820–1894) distinguish[ed] between
temptability, which depends upon ‘constitutional susceptibility’
to sin, and impeccability, which depends upon the absolute
indefectibility of Christ’s human willing. To say that his
temptability requires his peccability is not true any
more than it would be correct to say that because an
army cannot be conquered, it cannot be attacked.’”
bolding mine; Jonathan Warren P. (Pagán), “Jesus’ Impeccability,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark Ward
et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).
T/F For our salvation, Christ's divinity is more important
than his humanity.
Fully God
Fully human
Two natures
One Person
False
1 Timothy 2:5–6 (ESV) For there is one God, and there is
one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all,
which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Athanasian Creed on Christ
But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one
faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. (27)
Matt. 1:23, John 1:14, 3:18, 6:40, Acts 13:38, Gal. 4:4, Phil. 2:6-8, 1 Tim.
2:5-6, 3:16.
T/F Jesus had faith.
Fully God
Fully human
True
Hebrews 2:13 (ESV)And again, “I [Christ] will put my
trust in him [the Father].” And again, “Behold, I and
the children God has given me.”
Two natures
One Person
T/F Jesus appeared to have human esh, but it was
spiritual which meant he could not suffer physical pain.
Fully God
Fully human
False
Acts 3:18 (ESV) But what God foretold by the mouth of
all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus
ful lled.
fi
Two natures
One Person
The Son is truly man.
Hebrews 2:14 (ESV) 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.
T/F Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit, not his divine
nature, during his life on earth.
Fully God
Fully human
True
Matthew 12:28 (ESV) But if it is by the Spirit of God
that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has
come upon you.
Acts 10:38 (ESV) how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He
went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed
by the devil, for God was with him. One Person
Two natures
T/F It is wrong to speak of the “blood of God” and God
dying on the cross.
Fully God
Fully human
Two natures
One Person
False
The Westminster Confession of Faith says: “Christ, in the
work of mediation, acts according to both natures, by each
nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet, by reason
of the unity of the person, that which is proper to
one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed
to the person denominated by the other nature.”
T/F It is wrong to speak of the “blood of God” and God
dying on the cross.
fl
Acts 20:28 (ESV) Pay careful attention to yourselves and to
all the ock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to care for the church of God, which he
obtained with his own blood.
T/F Jesus’s human nature is omnipresent (present everywhere).
Fully God
Fully human
False
Two natures
One Person
Faulty view of Christ’s two natures
“Without change”: Against Kenoticism
Diagrams: MICHAEL AGAPITO
Faulty views of Christ’s 2 natures
“Without confusion”: Against Eutychianism
Diagrams: MICHAEL AGAPITO
T/F Now that he is in heaven, Jesus no longer has a
human nature.
Fully God
Fully human
False
Two natures
One Person
What happened to Jesus’ body when He ascended to
heaven? Did he keep it?
Yes. He will return in His glorified, post-resurrection human
body.
Acts 1:8–11 (ESV) And when he had said these things, as they
were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of
their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he
went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11and
said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?
This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come
in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
What is the importance of Jesus retaining His
resurrection body?
Our resurrection and our resurrection bodies are directly
connected to Jesus’ resurrected body.
1 Corinthians 15:48–49 (ESV) As was the man of dust, so
also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of
heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we
have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear
the image of the man of heaven.
What is the importance of Jesus retaining His resurrection
body?
Our glorified body will be like his.
Philippians 3:20–21 (ESV) But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who
will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body,
by the power that enables him even to subject all things to
himself.
Application
Our experience of heaven is directly connected to Jesus’
humanity. If Jesus’ post-resurrection body is imaginary or has
disappeared now that Jesus is back in heaven, we will have
only a spiritual, bodiless existence in heaven. I.e., we will
have no capacity to enjoy with our 5 senses the material
wonders of heaven presented in the scriptures.
The material aspects of heaven
Revelation 21:1–2 (ESV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 22:1–2, 4 (ESV) Then the angel showed me the river
of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of
God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the
city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve
kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations.
The material aspects of heaven
If Jesus doesn’t have a body, how will we see His face?
Revelation 22:3–4 (ESV) No longer will there be anything
accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,
and his servants will worship him. 4They will see his face,
and his name will be on their foreheads.
Will we have foreheads if we don’t have bodies?
The material aspects of heaven
If there are no bodies in heaven, how will the Apostles sit and
judge on thrones? Or receive houses and lands for giving up
theirs in this life to follow Jesus?
Matthew 19:28–30 (ESV) Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to
you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his
glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And
everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father
or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will
receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
The material experience of heaven
If there are no bodies in heaven, how will people eat and
drink with Jesus in heaven?
Matthew 26:28–29 (ESV) for this is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I
tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that
day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”