The Eternal Son Becomes a Human

I find that I am beginning to look more and more like my dad.  In some ways this disturbs me, but it is the natural order of things.  Children become like their parents.

Jesus however, has dual parentage.  As to his divine nature, he is the eternal Son of the Father and bears and has borne every facet of the image of His Father for all eternity.  He is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.  The Holy Spirit bears this same image.  It is not a visible image but a spiritual one.  They are the supreme being of the universe, the universe’s Creator and Sustainer.

But Jesus also took on human nature in our own history, born around 5 or 6 B.C.  The eternal Father chose a woman in Israel, Mary, to be the mother of Jesus’ human nature.  The Father, we may suppose, created the equivalent of a male sperm to fertilize the ovum of Mary.  Thus, the Son of God became the Son of Man.  His human nature was without the curse placed on Adam’s descendants so that He came into the world without a sin nature.  But his biological lineage was in every other sense derived from Adam, Abraham and David (see the genealogies of Matthew and Luke).

This miraculous birth created a unique situation for God the Son.  His consciousness limited itself to what could be experienced in His human nature.  That means that just like us, as a baby he was entirely dependent on his parents for sustenance and protection.  He had to learn how to walk and talk and control his bodily eliminations.  He had to eat and exercise in order to grow strong.  He had to learn the Scriptures and the wisdom and the skills his parents taught him.  In every way he had to develop just like we did.

Why take such an approach?

It is crucial that Jesus go through everything we have to go through and pass every test, demonstrating obedience and trust in God through every situation.  Unlike our forbear, Adam, He must pass the test with flying colors if he is to be the head of a new humanity of the redeemed.  Paul makes clear in Romans 5:12-21 that Jesus did pass.  And we can see for ourselves in the Gospels the horrendous temptations and trials he went through without ever losing focus on God and His will for him.

What a Savior we have!  The writer to the Hebrews tells us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15,16).  Have you stumbled in sin?  You have a sympathetic high priest who knows what it is to experience temptation and is ready to represent the repentant heart before His Father.  If you want help to overcome sin in your life, He is there to procure it for you.

Related Articles

• How Do You Explain the Trinity? (askthepastors.wordpress.com)
• https://thimblefulloftheology.com/?s=trinity