Friday, April 29, 2011

The Son Of God, the Son Of Man

(a repeat from last year)

In both Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God who is man, and the man who is God. The Divine and the human perfectly unite in Christ without compromising Deity, or unduly elevating the created nature of humanity.

“Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh” (I Timothy 3:16).

Our Lord’s dual but perfectly complementary nature is the reason that one day “every knee should bow to Him, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philippians 2:10). According to His eternal purpose in Christ, God caused something to exist other than Himself. He made a universe of things, angels, and human beings in order to form a creation that exists along with its Creator. The two, the Creator and His creation, forever exist in relationship to one another, but remain distinct and separate.

In one Person, however, one glorious, wondrous, and mysterious Person, the Creator and His creation are one. The Infinite and the finite unite in the Lord Jesus, and thus both Heaven and earth must acknowledge and affirm the Apostle Paul’s declaration of the supremacy of Christ:

“He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

In the ultimate sense, the will of God is never a mystery. He is working all things after the counsel of His own will for the purpose of exalting and revealing the Christ who is the Son of God and the son of man. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. Indeed, when all is said and done, only one will be left standing – on nail-scarred Feet.

The Holy Spirit is presently working in both Heaven and earth to fulfill this eternal purpose.

“Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me” (John 16:13-14).

“When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me” (John 15:26).

There is the Creator, and there is creation. This is all that exists. God’s determination of this reality led to the incarnation of the Lord Jesus as a man who would be required to redeem creation from sin. It also defines His supremacy because no other being spans the seemingly impassable gulf between the Creator and His creation. By Biblical definition, the Divine and the human are so different in being, character, nature, and way that it seems impossible that the two can dwell in a perfect unity of oneness. Nevertheless, in the Lord Jesus, God is man, man is God, and the Creator and creation coexist in the most sublime of all wonders. Yes, in both Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus Christ.

"God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:8-9).

"A body hast Thou prepared Me." (Hebrews 10:5)

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