Consider the mystery of Christ’s nature. Theologians refer to the hypostatic union of His divine and human nature. Hypostatic is a fancy word composed of “hypo”, underneath, and “stasis”, position. It means what is underneath all else, essential, or foundational, and by extension, unchanging.
I remind you that a catechism is an abbreviation of the a confession, just as a confession is an abbreviation and condensation of the essential truths of the Scriptures. In chapter 8.2 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession it says, “that two whole, perfect and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person.” How mysterious and wonderful it is that eternal, divine nature eternally takes on a second human nature, now equally essential to the divine. By this act, Jesus has exalted redeemed mankind far above all other created things, angels included. He cares about us more than we can imagine.
In this description of Christ’s human nature, the writer of the catechism included the following explanation: “Christ, the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul.” This explanation was added to refute heresy that claimed Christ only appeared to have a body (1). “A true body” is not ethereal or substance of a spirit; it is flesh and bone. “A reasonable soul” means He had normal reasoning abilities of the mental, emotional capacity of His being.
So, being Spirit conceived and virgin born are not mere niceties for telling the story of Christ’s arrival. They are essential doctrines for our salvation. By reason of Spirit conception, He is divine without having Adam’s sin nature passed down through an earthly father. His divine nature enabled Him to bear the wrath of God on our behalf. By reason of His virgin birth, again the lack of sin nature, but also gave Him the judicial right to pay the penalty for our sins in our place.
Our security rests in the very double nature of our Savior. The grace of our loving Lord is all sufficient because He was and is all sufficient for the task of saving and sustaining all those He bought and brought to Himself. Praise be to the God-man, Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Question 26: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
Answer: Christ, the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was born of her, yet without sin.
Hebrew 2:14, 4:14, 7:26; Matthew 26:38; Luke 2:52; John 1:14, 12:27; Luke 1:31,35; Colossians 2:9
- This heresy is called Docetism which many Gnostics held to.
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