For those of you who haven't been here,
Introduction
we've been looking at some studies in Christology, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the person and the work of Christ. Who is He and what has He done? We've looked at a number of things the last time we were together. We looked at the deity of Christ, His true and perfect deity from the scriptures, going through a number of things, a number of testimonies, a number of obvious witnesses to that blessed truth that Jesus Christ is God Most High.
We come now to the study of the incarnation of Christ and His true humanity. So we want to look at Philippians 2, 5 to 11. It's more of a starting verse, but we're going to have occasion to come back to it time and again throughout the study this evening. So this is Philippians 2, 5 to 11.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. Well, hopefully you see there, just by a reading of those verses, that this passage is rich with Christ.
It's when we come to a study of Christ, eventually and often, Philippians 2, 5 to 11, must be an address of Holy Scripture that we go to. And notice it has his deity there. It has his humanity and incarnation there. It has his work. and it has his exaltation and honor and glory clearly there in the text.
It is rich with Christological data, and I don't mean that to sound low and mundane. I mean that to sound rich. There is much Christology, much glorious Christ to be availed of in only those six verses. Seven verses, I guess.
And so, What we want to look at this evening is the true or the incarnation of Christ and his true humanity. I just want to read a couple quotes from creeds throughout the years of Christendom. The importance of the Incarnation and the true humanity of Christ is clear from the Bible to be sure, and we're going to get there and stay there for most of this evening, but church history demonstrates the importance of Christians affirming, confessing, and glorying in the Incarnation of Christ and His true humanity. First, the Nicene Creed in 325, that is the year 325.
Reads this way, speaking of Christ, who for us men and for our salvation came down and was incarnate and was made man. It was important that the church confess the incarnation and the true humanity of Christ. Why? Because for us men and for our salvation he came down and was incarnate and was made man. the incarnation of Christ is absolutely vital, of course, for the salvation of sinners.
The Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 reads this way, rehearsing the Nicene Confession, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. You see it's very close and affirms the same truth and yet adds a little bit of more information with regards to the role of the Holy Spirit and of course the Virgin Mary. The Chalcedonian Creed of 451 reads this way, We then, following the Holy Fathers, the Nicene and the Constantinopolitan Fathers and those sorts of things, 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, coessential, that means of the same substance, consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial, that is again of the same substance, 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." Again, that's the Chalcedonian Creed of 451. And then lastly, the Athanasian Creed, of the late 5th century.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he, that is the Christian, also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds, and man of substance of his mother, born in the world. perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting, equal to the Father as touching His Godhead and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood." So very simply, the Christian Church recognized that we must affirm as Christians the Bible discloses concerning the true and perfect deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the true and perfect manhood. of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then our confession of faith, it must be noted here, before we move on to some biblical testimony, it must be noted that our confession of faith, which comes 1,300 years after these confessions, They are rehearsing and appropriating and echoing these confessions that we already just stated in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Our confession reads, The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, did take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, with the Holy Spirit coming down upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowing her. And so was made of a woman of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham, and David according to the scriptures. So all of that to simply highlight the necessity, the absolute necessity that Christians affirm and confess with great joy the incarnation of Christ and his true humanity. We've already noted last time that we likewise affirm his true and perfect deity, but this evening we're focusing on his humanity.
And we're going to go to a number of places in scriptures other than Philippians 2, but Philippians 2 included, that speak to these two wonderful truths of His incarnation and His true humanity. In fact, in the Bible, Those creedal declarations are reflections, no doubt, of the biblical testimony to the importance of the Incarnation and the true humanity of Christ. If we think of passages of Scripture, like 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. It's a beautiful statement.
It's a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance, I think sometimes we sort of move on to what the saying is, that Christ came into this world, sinners to save. But consider that introductory statement for a moment. It is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. It brings to the fore the importance of the doctrine of the Incarnation. and the true humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is unto the end of our salvation.
We think of a passage such as 1 Timothy 3.16. There we read the language, and it's introduced by the language of, by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. There is, by common confession, a doctrine that is professed by the minds and the hearts and the mouths of Christians, and it is this, that God was manifested in the flesh, seen by angels, justified in the Spirit, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
We have that wonderful statement here in Philippians 2, 5 to 11, specifically the stuff of beginning in verse 7, made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. This is the stuff that is to melt the Christian heart to the point of adoration and worship of the one who would give himself for guilty sinners. Truly God and truly man, yet one Christ. And so
The Incarnation of the Son of God
we want to look first off at the incarnation of the Son of God then. The incarnation of the Son of God. What is meant by the incarnation? In fact, I think we have probably a very simple and a very clear definition given to us by the Apostle John in his gospel, don't we?
This was actually part of the text that we read last time when we were looking at the deity of Christ. But notice what we have in John 1.14. We have, in essence, a definition of what the incarnation means. John has already written in verse 1 of John 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, His deity.
His true and essential deity, coessential with the Father. He is of the same essence as the Father, truly God. But now notice in John 1, 14, and the Word became flesh. That is a definition of the incarnation, and the Word became flesh.
The incarnation simply means the enfleshment, to come in the flesh. And so we have the doctrine that this One who is, yes, distinct from the Father, the Word, nevertheless is coessential with the Father and the Spirit, having true and full and essential deity, He, in the fullness of the times, became flesh, the text says, and dwelt among us. That is what the incarnation is, the Son of God becoming flesh. Again, if you turn, we already referred to it, but you can turn there now to 1 Timothy.
We have some of the same language there. by the Apostle Paul now, the Apostle Paul rehearsing the same blessed doctrine in 1 Timothy 3 at verse 16. That verse, or the text that says here, at least in the New King James, and without controversy, James Renahan has noted, and I believe it's in another translation, that it can be translated by common confession, but we have in 1 Timothy 3.16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. We have here, in essence, an early Christian creed, if you will, brought to the fore by the Apostle Paul in order to highlight this blessed truth and this blessed mystery.
The incarnation of Christ unto the salvation of sinners, God was manifested in the flesh. And so, that is essentially what it means, the Word became flesh. That's what we mean when we speak of the incarnation. This is Birkhoff.
When we are told that the Word became flesh, this does not mean that the Logos ceased to be what he was before. As to his essential being, when he says the Logos, he's talking about that which we read in John 1, the Word. The Word became flesh. another term speaking of the Word of God as it is Christ Jesus the Lord. As to his essential being, the Logos was exactly the same before and after the Incarnation.
He acquired an additional form without in any way changing his original nature. So that's what we need to highlight when we say the Word became flesh. We are saying that the word became flesh, but we're not saying that the word changed into flesh. We're saying that he took to himself man's nature.
And that's what Berkhoff is getting at there. He acquired an additional form without in any way changing His original nature. So the Word became flesh, is what we mean by the incarnation. And in so doing, He acquired an additional form.
He didn't change His existing one. The Word remained the Word, yet He took man's nature to Himself. And we'll hopefully open up this a little bit more and clarify things as we move along. If you want to make a note, if anything comes to your mind as we work through this, if anything's not clear, if you have questions afterwards, by all means feel free to ask away.
Very briefly, when we talk about the Incarnation, we must note that Jesus is not the Father incarnated. Jesus is not the Spirit incarnated, and Jesus is not the Trinity incarnated. Jesus is the Word who became flesh, the Son of God. We have, remember, how many persons are there in the Godhead?
There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and in glory. So the Son, the second of the blessed triune God, the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person comes in time and in history, taking to Himself man's nature with all the properties and infirmities thereof, yet without sin. So it is the Son of God who is incarnate, as John clearly brings out in his gospel.
Now, we could say that the incarnation is seen or contains three Three things to consider, and we'll go to the Bible to see these things. And the first one is this,
Assumption of Human Nature
it is assumption. That simply means that Christ assumed, Christ took to Himself man's nature. We see this in the book of Hebrews. You can turn there to Hebrews chapter 4.
In the incarnation, we have the reality that Christ assumed man's nature. He took to himself man's nature. Excuse me, I think the text I wanted was actually Hebrews 2. I always get Hebrews 2, 14 to 17, and Hebrews 4, 14 to 16 confused.
This is Hebrews 2, beginning in verse 14. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Now notice, for indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
That really is our study tonight in a nutshell. the incarnation of Christ taking to himself man's nature for our salvation. Whenever we study something like this, remember, when we study the person of Christ, it is not an exercise in cold speculation or examination of data. It is a worshipful and doxological exercise, because we're studying the stuff of the Son of God coming down from heaven, to take man's nature to save guilty sinners like us. It's truly, hopefully, a blessing.
It's a blessing shrouded and veiled and limited by the limitations of the instructor and the one preaching. But nevertheless, hopefully, a study in Christ is for you a study that brings yourself to sing the praises of the riches and the excellencies of such a Savior, who would take man's nature upon Himself, who would be made like His brethren, like us, that He might make propitiation, that is, that He might be a wrath-bearing sacrifice for guilty sinners. What a glorious truth we have in the Incarnation. of the Son of God. Hopefully you see that there, this language of assumption, taking to himself man's nature.
We see it first off in the language where he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. That could be read as, or understood as, or interpreted as, he does not take on the nature of angels, but he does take on the nature of the seed of Abraham. He didn't take on angelic nature and redeem angels. He took to himself man's nature.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He took to Himself man's nature that He might be made like His brethren so that He might save us from our sins." It's truly a blessed thing. He assumed the assumption. He assumed man's nature in order to redeem us from our sins.
If you go back to Philippians that we started out by reading this evening, you see there the same blessed truth. Philippians, this language of assumption in Philippians 2. It's what we read in that middle portion of the Carmen Christi, the hymn to Christ as to God. Notice verse 7, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.
We see it. Pretty much a three-fold reiteration of that blessed truth. He made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of man. He assumes man's nature. for the purpose of saving man.
This is John Owen, the eternal Word, the Son of God, was not made flesh, not made of a woman, nor of the seed of David by the conversion of his substance or nature into flesh, which implies a contradiction. And besides, is absolutely destructive of the divine nature. You see that if the Son of God changed into flesh, losing that which He was, and putting on something new, then that would be destructive of the divine nature, because the divine nature is immutable. He could no otherwise therefore be made flesh or made of a woman, but in that our nature was made his by his assuming of it to be his own.
The same person who before was not flesh, was not man, was made flesh as man, in that He took our human nature to be His own. And therein we should see the height of condescension. Calvin said, he descended from so great a height to come into our lower shame and ignominy in order to give himself for guilty sinners. Gil on Philippians 2 says, take these two things, the form of God and the form of a servant, and admire the amazing stoop.
A stoop, a condescension. Christ in taking to himself man's nature engages in the highest act of condescension. A true act and a perfect act of condescension. The second thing that we would need to note at the point of the incarnation, besides assumption, Christ taking to himself man's nature, is the virgin birth.
The Virgin Birth
The virgin birth. Notice in Matthew 1. Turn there with me. So we have the reality of Christ taking to himself man's nature.
And then we have something of the manner in which this is brought to bear, if you will, by the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary and the virgin birth. Notice in Matthew 1, In verse 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows, after his Mary mother was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. See, this is stressing the virgin birth. This is stressing the reality that before they came together, she was found with child, and this child was of the Holy Spirit.
Notice the language is when we get to verse 22, "...so all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us." is the blessing of Christians everywhere. God with us. The truth of the Incarnation. He truly did come as promised.
Remember that Isaiah 9, 6 promised that we sang before we began our study. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
What a wonderful thing that we have with regards to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God with us. He is God with us. He took to Himself man's nature.
We have the virgin birth brought forth that this child was of the Holy Spirit. And if we turn to the book of Luke, we have some additional information There, supporting information, but additional information with regards to what's going on with the infant Christ, who is truly God and truly man. Notice Luke 1.35. Actually, we can back up to...
Well, we'll back up to Luke 1, 26. Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you.
Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. wonderful language there. I mean, time does not allow us to explore the blessed connections there to Old Testament promise and revelation, the Davidic covenant, and all these wonderful things that we have in there. But notice what we have with regards to the virgin birth and the incarnation. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you.
Bavink writes this with regards to what that means, having a child conceived of the Holy Spirit. Scripture attributes the conception of Jesus to the Holy Spirit, or to the power of the Most High. The Holy Spirit, the author all physical, psychic, and pneumatic life, is the efficient cause of the conception. The activity of the Holy Spirit with respect to this conception did not consist in the infusion of any heavenly or divine substance in Mary, but in a demonstration of power that made her womb fertile in the act of overshadowing.
So that's what it means when we come to Luke 1, 35, and we read, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. It's not that there's some sort of divine material infused into the womb of Mary, but rather it is simply and majestically this, that it is in a demonstration of power that her womb is made fertile in the act of overshadowing. And so, the assumption of human nature, the virgin birth, and then thirdly,
Union of Two Natures in One Person
the union of the two natures in the one person of Christ is in view with regards to the incarnation. Christ is always, Jesus Christ our Lord, is always fully God and fully man, yet one blessed and saving Christ. Now,
Condescension of the Incarnation
we want to note something with regards to the incarnation, lest we not give it enough attention, and that is simply the condescension of the Incarnation, we've already noted that, but what a blessed condescension. That simply means, you've heard that word before hopefully, condescension, sometimes it's used negatively like, oh, don't you be so condescending. But with regards to the Incarnation, the doctrine or the phrase condescension means so much and it is absolutely so glorious. The Son of God, taking man's nature, coming in the form of a bondservant and giving himself for guilty sinners.
Hopefully you see the condescension in that. You can turn to a passage in 2 Corinthians to see how Paul speaks with regards to the condescending act of Christ in the Incarnation, coming to give himself for guilty sinners. 2 Corinthians 8. Notice what we have there, and specifically in verse 9, See that blessed truth with regards to the incarnation and the condescension, Christ coming from the pinnacle of glory to the lowest ignominy. Ignominy means shame.
So He comes from the pinnacle of glory, the praise of angels, that Isaiah 6 reality where the seraphim fly day and night singing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, and He comes into our lower world, our lower shame, in the form of a bondservant. It is Christ, who was rich, taking on poverty, becoming poor, so that we, through His poverty, might become rich. It's a glorious truth. Thomas Watts, and Jim has read this before to you, It's a quote from Thomas Watson on this very point, and it is rich with the truth of our condescending son of God.
That man should be made in God's image was a wonder, but that God should be made in man's image is a greater wonder. That the ancient of days should be born, that he who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle, that he who rules the stars should suck the breast, that a virgin should conceive, that Christ should be made of a woman, and of that woman which himself made, that the branch should bear the vine, that the mother should be younger than the child she bear, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother, that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God." It's a glorious doctrine that we have in the incarnation of the Son of God. Absolutely glorious. I believe, I think it was Calvin, but he said there are two main doctrines of absolute glorious mystery that we have in the Christian faith.
God in Trinity and the incarnation of the Son of God. Those two doctrines are absolutely glorious and we can know them, but we cannot reach out the hand of comprehension and grasp those truths to full knowledge. They surpass knowledge. We can know the truths and yet we can only adore the God who is incomprehensible.
It's a beautiful thing that we have in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Ryle. It's a wonderful quote. It speaks to the condescension and highlights the humility in that condescension.
This is what he says. He was not born under the roof of his mother's house. but in a strange place and at an inn. When born, he was not laid in a carefully prepared cradle. He was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
We see here the grace and condescension of Christ. Had he come to save mankind with royal majesty, surrounded by his father's angels, it would have been an act of undeserved mercy. Had he chosen to dwell in a palace with power and great authority, we should have had reason enough to wonder. But to become poor as the very poorest of mankind and lowly as the very lowliest, this is a love that passeth knowledge.
You appreciate that blessed truth. You see, if Christ did come in royal majesty, dwelling in a mansion in the hills of Jerusalem, that would still be an act of condescension. That would still be an amazing stoop. But he's God in a feed trough.
He's wrapped in swaddling cloths in a place reserved for livestock to drink water out of and eat seed out of. In His earthly ministry, He's rejected by His own that He came to minister to. The foxes have their holes and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. He comes and He engages in an amazing stoop to redeem guilty sinners from their sins.
And we ought to note, before we move on to His humanity,
Divine Love and the Incarnation
divine love and the incarnation. the Bible clearly brings out that the incarnation of the Son of God is an instance of the surpassing love of God. Hopefully a verse like John 3.16 clearly speaks that to you, doesn't it? Remember what we have in John 3.16 with regards to the love of God and the taking on of flesh of the Son of God. Remember, this follows after all the stuff of John 1.1.
It follows after the stuff of John 1.14. In John 3.16, we have Christ speaking to Nicodemus. He's talking about salvation. He's talking about the kingdom of God coming to men, or the seeing of the kingdom of God by virtue of divine regeneration, bringing dead sinners to life.
You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again. We have that glorious declaration in verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And then we have that flagship verse, if you will, of the saving work of Christ by the love of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." You see, the coming of Christ, His incarnation, His taking to Himself man's nature, is such that it is a demonstration, a paramount demonstration of the love of God.
Notice as well, by that same author in 1 John, Perhaps not a verse that is so well known, and certainly not as John 3.16, but in 1 John 4. At the point of the incarnation and the love of God, we have this glorious statement by the Apostle there. This is 1 John 4. Notice what we have there, beginning in verse 7.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Verse nine, in this, the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. What a beautiful statement.
That is a statement, again, that ought to cheer the heart of everyone in this room who has been made alive by the power of God. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. We see the incarnation here, His only begotten Son, into the world, sent by God. We have the purpose for that blessed incarnation that we might live through Him.
And we see that it is a demonstration of the surpassing love of God. The love of God was manifest toward us. What a blessed doctrine we have in the incarnation of the Son of God. Well,
The True Humanity of Christ
moving on then now to the humanity of Christ. The humanity of Christ. Obviously, by a study of the Incarnation, we've already noted that that means that He took to Himself man's nature. And so we want to rehearse where the Bible absolutely affirms and demonstrates and argues for the full and perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, save for sin, of course.
So what do we mean when we say the humanity of Christ? Remember, we did this with the deity of Christ, and it's a good exercise in rehearsing what the humanity of Christ first doesn't mean. And so when we say the humanity of Christ, we don't mean that He is man and not God. We've already studied, for those who were here last time, and for those who weren't, if you're a Christian, you know this already to be sure, that Christ is God.
He is the second of the triune God, the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person who upholds all things by the word of His power. Christ is fully God. So when we say the humanity of Christ, we're not saying that He is man and not God. Secondly, we're not saying that he's partially man.
He's not some sort of half-god, half-man, god-man that is the savior for sinners, because such an individual could not be a savior for sinners. He is not partially man. Thirdly, by the humanity of Christ, we're not saying that he came in the semblance of a man, or just in the appearance of a man, but wasn't truly man. Christ wasn't the phantom who feigned humanity, but rather He truly was man.
He took to Himself man's nature. He was, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Lastly, we're not, or actually not lastly, we're not saying by His humanity that He is fully man with no exceptions. In other words, there is one exception, and that is, He is without sin.
Our confession again says that the Son of God took to Himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. And so He is holy, harmless, and undefiled, the perfect, sinless man who came into this world, sinners to save. And lastly, when we talk about the humanity of Christ, we're not saying that He came in the body of a man. We're not saying that it's just God in a flesh suit, as one man has said, where the Son of God animates, if you will, a human body that doesn't truly have a human soul.
Christ takes to himself man's nature, body and soul. with a reasonable soul and body, and human body, the creeds of old said. So what do we mean then? We mean simply what we already rehearsed from the Confession. We're going to get to the Bible testimony in a moment, but the Son of God did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin.
He is, the confession goes on to say, very man and truly man. And so that's what we mean when we talk about the humanity of Christ, body and soul. He is truly man yet without sin. So where do we go in the Bible to see this?
We're going to spend time more in some places than others, but first off we want to note, and this is seven things with regards,
Seven Biblical Proofs of Christ's Humanity
seven biblical proofs for the true and full humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first is this, that
Proof 1: Birth Narratives
the humanity of Christ is proved by the simple accounts of His birth. We have the birth narratives that are in there, recording the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is truly man because we have the birth narratives. He's held by his mother, he's held by others at his birth.
But the genealogy, the pregnancy of Mary, and the birth all argue for the true and full humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, the humanity of Christ is
Proof 2: Explicit Statements
proved by explicit statements of his humanity. explicit statements of His humanity. You can turn first to Acts chapter 2. There are explicit statements of His humanity, and the first, not the first, but the first that we're going to look at is in Acts 2 and verse 22. Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man, attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know." The language there is clear.
His true humanity, men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man. Notice as well in the book of Romans, and this is getting here now to the point where it is a rehearsal of Christ's true humanity as important for man's salvation. If Christ is not truly man, then man is not truly saved by him. The old boys would say something like, if Christ was a phantom, then our salvation is a phantom also.
They would say things like, he assumed the whole me so that the whole me might be healed, that the whole me might be saved. We have here in Romans 5 an explicit statement with regards to his humanity. Verse 15. but the free gift is not like the offense, for if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many." There again, a clear statement with regards to his humanity, referring to Christ, in this case, offsetting Adam, or being compared with Adam. By Adam we're thrust into sin and depravity.
By Adam we're thrust into condemnation for sin, just judgment for violation of the law of God. But by Christ, the second Adam, we are saved by believing in Him. In Christ, all who are in Him shall live while in Adam. all who are in Him will die. But the argument here is that the Bible clearly uses the language of the man, Christ Jesus.
As well, if you turn to 1 Timothy 2, you can note there, and then we won't turn to some of the other passages, we'll just make a note of them, but we want to note there in 1 Timothy 2.5, the language there is with regards to the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ, The language in 1 Timothy 2.5 is that there is one God and that there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And there the language is stressing his full humanity because of the fact that he comes to give himself as a substitute for guilty sinners. For man to be saved, for men who have all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, man's nature with sin, we need the one who took upon that same nature yet without sin in order to save us from our sins and the curse of Adam. Some other passages that speak to that, Hebrews 2, 14-17, Hebrews 4, 14-16, and we've already noted, of course, Philippians 2, 5-11.
Now, thirdly, the humanity of Christ is
Proof 3: Growth in Wisdom and Obedience
proved by the fact that He grew in wisdom, understanding, and obedience. You can turn to Luke 2 for a moment. While you're turning there, I'll just... Let's reread that point.
The humanity of Christ is proved by the fact that He grew in wisdom, understanding, and obedience. Notice what we have in Luke chapter 2, and specifically in verse 40. And the child, speaking of Jesus, grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Notice as well in verse 52, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.
It's a proof of his humanity because deity need not grow in wisdom. A deity needs no help in moving from some place where there is lack to some place where there is now gain. Jesus Christ in his divinity, in his deity, is perfect. He is absolute.
He is immutable. So here we have this narrative concerning the person Christ Jesus at the point of His humanity and the languages that He grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. And then maybe even with more clarity or more to that point, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Another verse that would speak to this is in Hebrews 5, 8, where Christ learned obedience.
It's not that Christ was ever disobedient, but as He grew in His life and in His ministry, He grew in wisdom by the Spirit, and He grew in His life of obedience unto death upon the cross of Calvary. And so a proof of His humanity is that He grew in wisdom, understanding, and obedience. Deity need not do that. Humanity, of course, does grow in those things.
Turretin writes, we acknowledge that Christ as God was indeed omniscient, but as man we hold that he was endowed with knowledge, great indeed beyond all other creatures, but yet finite and created, to which something could be added and really was added. He grew in wisdom. Therefore, these propositions can be true at the same time. A proposition is simply a truth statement.
A proposition would be, Jesus Christ is God. Another proposition would be, Jesus Christ is truly man. So, again, Turretin. Therefore, these propositions, truth statements, can be true at the same time, but in different respects.
Christ was ignorant of the day of judgment, and Christ was not ignorant of the day of judgment. And so a proof of his humanity is again that he grew in wisdom and understanding and obedience. Fourthly, the humanity of Christ is
Proof 4: The Spirit Given to Him
proved by the fact that the Spirit is given to him. The Spirit is given to him. Remember we said that the humanity of Christ is not seen in that the Son of God just was inside a human body with no soul or with no mind, but rather that Christ is reasonable soul and body in his humanity. He took to himself man's nature with all the essential properties thereof, yet without sin.
And so the humanity of Christ is proved by the fact that the Spirit is given to him. In his earthly ministry, as the God-man, the Spirit is given to him. We see this in passages such as John 3. You can turn there.
In fact, just after the portion that we read, his engagement there, engaging Nicodemus and discussing the reality, the realities of salvation, specifically salvation by him. We see after that in John 3, Beginning in verse 33, John the Baptist, or John speaking, excuse me, the Apostle John speaking concerning Christ here. He who has received his testimony has certified that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the spirit by measure.
And Christ goes about and He speaks the words of God by the Spirit given to Him by measure. There's an interesting passage in Luke 4, interesting, but to this point in Luke chapter 4. And this is important because it is a fulfillment of Isaianic prophecy regarding the Savior of men, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would have the Spirit upon Him. to bring about the salvation of sinners and good to men. Notice in Luke 4 beginning in verse 16, He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." You see, Jesus is standing up, and He's speaking in their midst, this place in Isaiah that is written concerning Him.
And we see here, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him, because God has anointed Him with that Spirit. We ask the question, does Jesus as God need the Spirit? Well, no, of course not. But Jesus, according to His humanity, to go about the world, to do good among men, and to go about the business of giving His life for guilty sinners, requires the Holy Spirit to be given to Him from on high in order to go about that particular task.
This is Sinclair Ferguson on this particular point. He writes, As Jesus' obedience to the Father grew in harmony with his developing capacities as a man and the demands of his ministry as the Messiah, so he received the power of the Spirit's anointing for each step of the way. Why are we going through this exercise? Well, hopefully it's to glory in the incarnation of Christ and His true humanity, but we need to grasp to the reality of Christ's true humanity and all of its blessed facets because Christ truly did become man.
He really was man in order to save guilty sinners. And we need to appreciate the full breadth and the full weight of that. Christ didn't feign humanity when He was going about the earth doing good. He actually did grow in wisdom.
He actually did become weary and tired. He wasn't feigning that and faking it as some of old vainly have imagined. That's what the old boys would say. Some of old vainly imagined such and such.
Well, some of old vainly imagined that Christ was faking His growing in wisdom. He was just doing that in order to satisfy the inquiries and the gazes of men. He wasn't just feigning those things, he really did become man. He took upon him man's nature.
The full appreciation of that by the Christian student, and by that I mean every Christian, is to be unto the joy of glorying in our salvation and praising the God of heaven and earth. So again, Humanity of Christ is proved by the fact that the Spirit is given to Him. And our confession takes this up and rehearses some interesting language from the Bible that sometimes we might ascribe to Christ and His deity. but is ascribed to His humanity and He being given the Spirit. And that is given in chapter 8 of our confession, the language bringing out some language of John 3 and Colossians 2 and other things, but notice what the confession says at this point, that a proof of the humanity of Christ is again the Spirit given to Him.
In chapter 8, in paragraph 3, this is what we read, and this is rich with Bible. The Lord Jesus, in his human nature, thus united to the divine, in the person of the Son, note, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure, having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, to the end that being holy, harmless, undefiled, full of grace and truth, he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of mediator and surety. You see the importance of these two doctrines, the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this understanding that the Spirit is given to him for, as the Confession says, his office as mediator and surety. It is by the Spirit that Christ has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hid in him.
It is by the Spirit that He has in Him all the fullness dwelling, the Father anointing Him with the Spirit unto that end. And it is by the Spirit that He is holy, harmless, and undefiled, and full of grace and truth. The Spirit is given to Christ in order so that He might, as man, make salvation, make propitiation for the sins of His people, and perfect His office of coming into this world, sinners to save. So again, the humanity of Christ is proved by the fact that the Spirit is given to Him.
One other passage that we could see here is Acts 13, excuse me, Acts chapter 10, where we see Christ going about and doing good by virtue of the Spirit being given to Him unto that end. In Acts 10, this is what we read in verse 38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. The Confession says that God the Father anointed Christ with the Spirit unto the end that He would be holy, harmless, and undefiled. We see that Christ is given the Spirit, or the reality of God the Father anointing Jesus Christ with the Spirit is unto the end of the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is most certainly sinless as God, but His sinlessness as man, remember, to be the substitute for guilty sinners, His sinlessness as man is by virtue of the Holy Spirit, making Him holy at the outset of His conception and, of course, unto glorification. From cradle to grave, I think Gil says, the Holy Spirit was working upon the humanity of Christ, making him holy for every step of the way. So we have the humanity of Christ then next proved, and this is something that I admit I haven't emphasized enough until Don Lindblad's sermon the other night. The
Proof 5: The Burial of Christ
humanity of Christ is proved by his burial. I confess a lack of emphasis on the burial of Christ. Very often when we talk about the saving work of Christ, we talk about life, death, resurrection. Not that we don't know that He was truly buried, and that He truly was buried, but nevertheless, that is a proof, Luke 23, of His humanity.
In other places as well that speak to His burial, 1 Corinthians 15, but the humanity of Christ is proved by His burial. Next, the humanity of Christ is
Proof 6: Post-Resurrection Appearances
proved by His post-resurrection appearances. And I'm always blown away, and hopefully you are too, by this one. By all of them, hopefully. But the humanity of Christ proved by His post-resurrection appearances.
I absolutely love that scene in Luke 24. Don't you? Where Christ appears post-resurrection. He's been crucified upon Calvary's tree.
His disciples are in dismay because, you know, unhelped yet by that full Bible study that Christ would give them on Luke 24. They're in sorrow and they're lamenting over the fact that their Savior has died upon Calvary's tree and he's been placed in this tomb. Well, the one who is victoriously marched forth from that tomb comes first to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus and he shows them himself. And he teaches them from the scriptures that this was promised to take place.
Then we move to the scene after that. And I absolutely love the condescension and the mercy and the kindness of Christ in that instance. And this is, to be sure, a proof of his humanity. They doubt it, remember.
They think him to be a specter, a phantom there in Luke 24. What does he do? But he shows them, he says, look at my wounds and see that it is I. He shows them the wounds that are in His hands, this glorified, resurrected Christ, still bearing the wounds of His victorious crucifixion.
And He says, touch them, handle Me, and see that it is I. What a wonderful and merciful instance of Christ there proving that he is the God-man, the one who took to himself man's nature, yes, died upon a cross, but rose again in power and victory for the salvation of sinners. He doesn't stop there, though, does he? He goes on and he eats broiled fish and honeycomb for them.
I've always marveled at, time and again, the Savior comes up against their doubts. And it even says in the text, for joy, they still did not believe. They were just rejoicing so much that they demanded more proofs of the fact that this truly was Christ, resurrected from the dead. And so he eats broiled fish and honeycomb for them.
And they worship Christ. It's a beautiful, beautiful picture. Those post-resurrection appearances, you can add to that list John 20, that whole section through to John 20, 31, where Thomas lays his hand on the resurrected Christ and casts his eyes upon the blessed Savior and sees that it is truly God and truly man, yet one Christ who stands before him with the wounds of the crucifixion, the blessed Savior. Lastly, under the humanity of Christ then, we see that the humanity of Christ is
Proof 7: Apostolic Testimony
proved by apostolic reflection upon being with Christ. So the apostles thinking back upon their time with the Savior, remembering his glorious deeds before them and before even unbelieving men. And one of those passages that we have of apostolic reflection upon being with Christ, and it's glorious, is in 1 John 1. The apostle a beloved apostle reflecting upon his time with the Savior.
Remember, this is the one that is written, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Notice the wonderful language of 1 John 1. speaking about seeing, speaking about handling, speaking about the glorious Christ who is truly God and yet also truly man. Notice 1 John 1.1, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life.
The life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. And you see, the reason John is writing this is because some in their midst were affecting them.
Why did he write those words to these recipients? Because there were those who were anti-Christ, who were coming to them denying that Christ had come in the flesh, stealing their joy from them. He writes that their joy may be full, because our joy as Christians is seen in the fact that the Son of God came and truly did take to Himself man's nature. The Word did become flesh.
And so for anyone to deny that blessed truth of the Incarnation and the true humanity of Christ, that's to steal joy away. from believers and so he says, we have seen, we have looked upon, our hands have handled, we have seen, we have heard the one who became flesh and dwelt among us and saved us from our sins. What a glorious truth. Well, hopefully what this does in only an hour, is it stresses the importance of the humanity of Christ with regards to our confession as Christians. We believe in one who is truly God and truly man, yet one Christ, but nevertheless truly God and truly man.
If we cast off the humanity of Christ, we cast off our salvation, we cast off the fullness of joy and the salvation that that God-man afforded for us. We hold with great joy that the Son of God truly did become man, because in that blessed Christian truth, we have the salvation of our sins. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that one later in his life gave his life for guilty sinners and rose again in glorious victory. Brethren, that blessed truth that He took on the form of a bondservant, coming in the likeness of men, and was found in obedience unto death upon Calvary's tree, hopefully is the stuff of solemn and joyful reflection as you go about your Christian sojourn.
This is the stuff of Christology that we should fill our minds with. Not heavy and incomprehensible words and nine-syllable words necessarily, but the reality that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was made man for our sakes. The rich became poor so that we who are poor might become rich. Glorious incarnation and the glorious truth. of the true humanity of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this truth. We read from the Holy Scriptures. We rejoice that the humanity of our Christ wasn't feigned or faked or simply something that He came and appeared to be man, but that He truly was man, that He did take to Himself our nature with all our essential properties and common infirmities, yet without sin, that He died upon Calvary's tree, that He rose again on the third day in great power and great victory. And we pray, Lord God, that You would help us by Your Spirit and Word to be found so often reflecting upon the glorious truths of Christ.
And we pray that You would go with us now, help us to live in light of the gospel, to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of it, that we might on this upcoming Lord's Day all come together. in this place as a church to sing your praises, to rejoice in Christ, and to rehearse the blessed riches and excellencies of the gospel of our Savior. And we do pray that you'd go with us now and that everything that we do on the Lord's Day, this upcoming, would be done unto the praise of your Most High Name. And it's in Christ's name that we bring these things to you in prayer. Amen.