Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
October 28, 2018
The Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union
Point 1. The Definition.
The Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union began at the moment of the virgin birth and it is also classified as the First Advent of Christ.
The phrase the Second Coming or the Second Advent refers to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world.
Religion is man-made and religion it is a system that man tries to use to get points with God as it were.
JAM 1:1 James, a bond‑servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings.
Religion is man-made whereas a relationship has to do with your PMA of Bible doctrine.
First Advent - began somewhere on earth from 5 B.C. to 30 A.D., was for the purpose of living a perfect life then dying as the perfect sacrifice for sin in order that man might live forever.
Right after our Lord ascended to heaven around May 18 in 30 A.D., two angels declared that Jesus Christ will return to earth in the same way that He left.
It is this return to earth that is commonly referred to as the Second Coming or the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ; Act 1:1-11.
Isaiah -- building yourself up under the principle of line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; ISA 28:9-13.
There are Two Advents, the First Advent happened at the Virgin Birth when our Lord was born into this world as a member of the human race.
The Second Advent that will happen when our Lord comes back a second time to set up His Millennial kingdom for a thousand years; Rev 20:1-3.
The virgin birth which resulted in the Hypostatic Union was also one of the very first prophecies given in the Bible; Gen 3:15.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed (OSN) and her seed (the divine nature); He [the seed of Satan] shall bruise you on the head, And you [with the divine nature] shall bruise him on the heel."
1PE 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, {that is,} through the living and abiding word of God.
One seed refers to the sin nature, the other refers to our Lord and Savior.
Ever since our Lord became human Our Lord will never ever be pure deity alone again but He will always be the Unique One of the universe, the God-man -- Undiminished Deity and True Humanity.
His human nature always remains the human nature and His divine nature always remains the divine nature.
It is impossible to transfer an attribute of one nature to the other nature without destroying that nature.
This simply means that our Lord is not half-God or half man and He never will become the mixture of both natures.
Since the incarnation, Jesus Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one unique person forever.
He is God with all the attributes of God.
All the attributes of deity adhere to His deity and never cross over and become humanity.
All the attributes of humanity adhere to the humanity of Christ and never become deity.
Even though our Lord claimed to be God and Man that does not mean
He is any less God or anymore than man.
There were times when He operated as God-deity, He operated as man or humanity, and times when He would operate in the Hypostatic Union with both natures; divine and human being used.
Heb 5:8 says Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
In eternity past, Jesus Christ had the same exact essence as the Father and Spirit.
In time, He still had the same functions of deity, but He also became true humanity.
He is now different than the Father and the Holy Spirit because He is also true humanity.
Even though the Lord Jesus Christ is God, you can begin by pointing out that in GEN 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Who created the Heavens and the earth?
God did!
COL 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities‑‑ all things have been created by Him and for Him.
JOH 1:3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Our Lord is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, Col 1:15 And He [Jesus Christ] keeps on being the exact image of the invisible God, the privileged first‑born with reference to all creation.
Prototokos refers to the first-born of a new creation where TLJC is the firstborn and the humanity of Christ was born as taught in ISA 7:14.
ISA 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."
The deity or Christ always existed as taught in Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
First-born not only indicates the first-born of a new creation but also "special privileged One."
- The privilege of rulership.
2. The privilege of Priesthood.
3. The privilege of Heirship.
Col 1:18 the Lord Jesus Christ is the ruler of the church.
Our Lord is also the Heir of all things, HEB 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Mic 5:2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, {Too} little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."
In Mic 5:2, notice the phrase His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."
This same Hebrew word for eternity (olam) is used to affirm the eternal existence of the Father in many passages, Gen 21:33; Psa 41:13; 90:2; 103:17; Isa 40:28.
"I am" means I had always existed.
EXO 3:13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them,
'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"
Exo 3:14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
"I am" in the Greek is "ego eimi" and it cannot be correctly rendered as anything except "I am."
Our Lord used the same terminology that the Father used to describe Himself in Exo 3:14 (Septuagint Version) - "ego eimi" - "I am."
The Jews understood His use of "ego eimi" to be the same as when used by the Father, as evidenced by the fact that they sought to kill him when He said it.
Jehovah is the traditional translation of the Hebrew consonants JHWH - the special name for the one true God.
They replaced it by a variety of names - such as "Lord" or "the Name."
Exo 3:14 -- JHWH was derived from the verb "to be" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you."
(1) JOH 6:35 Jesus said "I am the bread of life;"
(2) In JOH 6:41 "I am the bread that came down out of heaven."
(3) JOH 6:51 "I am the living bread"
(4) JOH 8:12 "I am the light of the world"
(5) JOH 8:18 "I am He who bears witness of Myself"
(6) JOH 10:7 "I am the door of the sheep."
(7) JOH 10:14 "I am the good shepherd"
(8) JOH 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life;"
(9) JOH 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life;"
(10) JOH 15:1 "I am the true vine"
The ten "I am's" of the Gospel of John -- ten represents the number of completion of the divine order and TLJC was completely identifying Himself as the great I am!
The violent reaction from the high priest can only be explained if this was a claim to deity.
He was beginning to teach that the "unity" of God involved a true uniting of three "persons" in the Godhead or in the divine nature; and he was claiming to be one of them.
Col 2:9 "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form."
TIT 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;
It was Paul who said "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord [Jehovah], and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Question: Who is omnipotent (all powerful)?
The answer according to the Scriptures; God, 1CH 29:11.
In PHI 3:21 Jesus Christ is all powerful, "He exerts the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself."
Who is omniscient (all knowing)?
1JO 3:20 God knows all things.
In Col 2:2-3, Jesus Christ has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Who is Lord of Sabbath? Gen 2:3, God is!
MAT 12:8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Who is the great "I am"" Exo 3:14, God is!
Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."
Who is the only creator? ISA 44:24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone,"
Who is the only Savior? ISA 43:11 "I, even I, am the Lord; And there is no Savior besides Me."
ACT 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."
Who will judge mankind? Jehovah! ISA 3:13 The Lord arises to contend, And stands to judge the people.
In 2CO 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
Who will judge between the sheep and goats? EZE 34:17 "And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats."
In Mat 25:31-34, TLJC will judge between the sheep and goats.