Skip to main content

On Christ: Perfect God and Perfect Man


Definition of the Union of the Divine and Human Natures in the Person of Christ

Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D., Act V

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance (homoousios) with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer (Theotokos); one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us.  (Referenced in the Book of Common Prayer, page 864)

You may wonder why this matters at all.  “I believe in Christ, so why bother with this God and Man stuff?”  It turns out that it matters a great deal.  In a previous post I established how true love exists within the Trinity.  That amongst the three persons, yet in the oneness of God, there exists love and affirmation and affection, constantly being given and received throughout all of eternity.  Only God can participate in such a wonderful thing, and yet, God desires to draw such lowly creatures as us into this love.  God is not content to love us from a distance, but desires to have a loving relationship, whereby perfect love is given and received.  How can this happen?

It is safe to say that perfect love such as this rarely, if ever exists within our world.  So we need a bridge.  We need some way of connecting our broken and sinful world to the perfect live and love within the Trinity.  The great mystery of our faith is that in Jesus Christ, God the Son took up humanity itself, and united it to him.  He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became every bit as human as you or I.  At the same time he remained God, with all of the Trinitarian love that goes along with it.

The true miracle of Christ’s incarnation is that it put God in a position to draw all of humanity into the life and love of the Trinity.  If we are made in the image of God it should be our natural sate, but sin has corrupted and defiled that image.  So we look for someone to bridge the gap, to set things right.  Because of Christ, God is both imminently close to us, and still transcends our ordinary existence.  By having both, we can approach God in this world, and at the same time be drawn up to the next.

One of the lesser known legends of St. Nicholas a.k.a. Santa Claus, is that during the Council of Nicea in 325 he slapped a heretic right then and there.  The issue in question was this very duel nature of Christ.  The heretic wanted to deny the Church the complete connection.  He couldn’t wrap his mind around so great a mystery and thus sought to make God less.  Modern day heresies try to do the same thing.  They either deny Christ’s divinity, thus making Him unable to lift us out of our mess, or they deny or diminish His humanity, making Him unrelatable.  The true Christian belief is that Christ is both – perfect God and perfect man, and it’s only through Him that we are able to be drawn up into the wonder fellowship of the Trinitarian life and love.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Setbacks, Disappointments, and New Opportunities

Yesterday I received a phone call I had been waiting anxiously for. It was about a job I had put in for - and I didn’t get it. The person delivering the news was kind, and even encouraged me to apply for another position that, in her opinion, was a better fit for me. It is a different kind of job, would require a decent commute, and I’m not sure I have it in me to enter another process right now.  This morning I got myself showered and dressed and put on my clericals. Even though I was home all day I wanted to shoot a video and hence the outfit. Somehow just dressing up had me feeling less dejected - like I still could do something I was proud of. I remember years ago when my dad was looking for work. Each day he put on a shirt and tie before filling out job applications.  After the video I scheduled some more content, opened up my notebook, and started working on my plan. The ideas began to flow, time seemed to flow by, and before I knew it I had a pretty great outline for a ...
1 comment
Read more

Advent Challenge - Luke Chapters 8 and 9

Weekends can be a busy thing around the holidays.  Ironically Advent invites us to slow down while the world around us is speeding up with decorating, parties, shopping, etc.  That's why a challenge like reading a chapter of Luke every day is important - it refocusses you. Chapter 8 starts out with a parable about a farmer sowing seeds.  Most of the seed ends up useless, while the seed that fell on good soil yielded a massive harvest.  When the disciples asked what the parable is about, Jesus described it in terms of the Word of God, often falling on hearts that are either unwilling or unready, and it doesn't take hold.  But for some, it lands on a heart that's willing and ready, and bears much fruit. This sets the stage for two miracles that come next - the calming of the sea and the healing of a demoniac.  Jesus and the disciples went out on a boat, and a big storm came upon them.  While everyone else was panicking, Jesus was fast asleep in the stern...
Post a Comment
Read more

Advent Challenge - Luke Chapters 1 and 2

It's been a long time since I published here - about 10 months.  My life has taken some twists and turns.  As I went along I reflected on last year's journey, and my plan to launch Parish Development Ministries.  When I look back at everything I intended to do, I do think I had a decent road map.  But I didn't do a lot of it.  As it turns out, my heart really is in parish ministry, and I'm really glad to be back in that role. Last summer I accepted a call to St. Mary's Church in Wayne, PA.  So we moved again, and I'm settling into this new and wonderful place.  Since it is a year of new things, I decided to launch an Advent Challenge for the new year.  Things worked out nicely.  There are 24 days of Advent this year, and it's Year C, when we'll be reading the Gospel of Luke.  Since Luke has 24 chapters, it just makes sense to read one chapter a day this month, and be prepared for Christmas. Luke is an interesting Gospel.  He has one...
Post a Comment
Read more