The Two Natures in the One Person. Notes from Louis Berkhof : The Summary of Christian Doctrine. and Myer Pearlman: Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible.
Memorize :Luk 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Mar 2:10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to pardon sins" --He turned to the paralytic, and said, Rise take up your bed and go home....
He actually suffered hunger Mat 4:2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterwards hungry.
2Co_5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Christ has a human nature but He is not just a human person. The person of the Mediator is the unchangeable Son of God.
We have looked at the Person of the Son of God and His Divine Nature.
Now we will look at His Human Nature.
Son of man (Humanity)
- Relationship and Participation Notes from Myer Pearlman.
According to the Hebrew Usage, “son of” denotes relationship and participation. Eg., “Children of the Kingdom”, Matt 8:12 are those who are to share in the truths and Blessings of the Kingdom of God.
“Children of the Resurrection”, Luke 2:36 are those who partake in Resurrection life; a “son of Perdition” John 17:12 os one who is destined to taste of doom and ruin.
Therefore,
“Son of Man” means primarily “One who shares Human nature and Human Qualities. It becomes an Emphatic designation for man in his characteristic attributes of weakness and helplessness. It is a title used about 80 times in Ezekiel as a reminder of hsi weakness and mortality.
Applied to Christ, “Son of man” designates Him as sharing Human nature and qualities and subject to Human Infirmities. Yet at the same time, this very title implies His Deity. On the Lips of Jesus this title means “a heavenly One who had definitely identified Himself with Humanity as a Representative and Saviour.”
b. This usual Title Jesus uses, is Identified with Jesus’ earthly life.
Mar 2:10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to pardon sins" --He turned to the paralytic, and said,
Mar 2:27 And Jesus said to them: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath;
Mar 2:28 so that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Mat 8:20 "Foxes have holes," replied Jesus, "and birds have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Luk 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
c. The Title “SON OF MAN”, is also linked with His Sufferings on behalf of Humanity.
Mar 8:31 And now for the first time He told them, "The Son of Man must endure much suffering, and be rejected by the Elders and the High Priests and the Scribes, and be put to death, and after two days rise to life."
And with His Exaltation and His Rule over Humanity.
Mat 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then will He sit upon His glorious throne,
Mat 26:24 The Son of Man is indeed going as is written concerning Him; but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It had been a happy thing for that man if he had never been born."
compare: Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.
Dan 7:14 And dominion and glory was given Him, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Jesus when referring to Himself as the “Son of Man”, He conveys the Following: “I, the Son of God, am Man, in weakness, in suffering and even unto death. Yet I am still in touch with heaven from where I came and hold such a relationship to the Divine that i can forgive sins. Matt 9:6 and am superior to all religious regulations which are but temporary and of national significance. Matthew 12 : 8 This manhood shall not cease when I have passed through those last stages of suffering and death, which I must endure for the Salvation of mankind and to finish My Work….. I shall return to rule and reign over those whose nature I have assumed.
e. His Humanity was real and not make-believe.
He actually suffered hunger Mat 4:2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterwards hungry.
He was thirsty. Joh_19:28 After this, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, I thirst.
He was weary.Joh 4:6 And Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus upon the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Joh 4:7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me to drink.
’He wept with grief at Lazarus’ tomb; Joh 11:35 Jesus wept.
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f. He was subjected to the all the infirmities of human nature yet without sin.
2Co_5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Barnes Notes: For he hath made him to be sin for us - The Greek here is, ‘for him who knew no sin, he hath made sin, or a sin-offering for us.’ The design of this very important verse is, to urge the strongest possible reason for being reconciled to God. This is implied in the word (γὰρ gar) “for.” Paul might have urged other arguments, and presented other strong considerations. But he chooses to present this fact, that Christ has been made sin for us, as embodying and concentrating all. It is the most affecting of all arguments; it is the one that is likely to prove most effectual. It is not indeed improper to urge on people every other consideration to induce them to be reconciled to God.
John Gill “ Christ was made of a woman, took flesh of a sinful woman; though the flesh he took of her was not sinful, being sanctified by the Spirit of God, the former of Christ's human nature: however, he appeared "in the likeness of sinful flesh"; being attended with infirmities, the effects of sin, though sinless; and he was traduced by men as a sinner, and treated as such. Moreover, he was made a sacrifice for sin, in order to make expiation and atonement for it; so the Hebrew word חטאה signifies both sin and a sin offering; see Psa_40:6 Psa 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not asked.
and so αμαρτια, sin in Rom_8:3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh;
But besides all this, he was made sin itself by imputation; the sins of all his people were transferred unto him, laid upon him, and placed to his account; he sustained their persons, and bore their sins; and having them upon him, and being chargeable with, and answerable for them, he was treated by the justice of God as if he had been not only a sinner, but a mass of sin; for to be made sin, is a stronger expression than to be made a sinner: but now that this may appear to be only by imputation, and that none may conclude from hence.
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G266
sin ἁμαρτία hamartia Thayer Definition:
1) equivalent to 264
1a) to be without a share in
1b) to miss the mark
1c) to err, be mistaken
1d) to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour,to do or go wrong
1e) to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. The person sending is God, who gave the law weakened by the flesh, against whom we have sinned: and who is righteous, pure, and holy: which considerations enhance his grace and goodness, in the mission of Christ. This must be understood of God the Father, who is here manifestly distinguished from the Son; and who is God, but not solely, or to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit; and who sent Christ, though not singly, for the "Lord God and his Spirit sent" him, Isa_48:16; though as it is most agreeable for a father to send his son, this is generally ascribed to him; and he being the first person in the Godhead, is the first in order of working, and so in redemption. John Gill
Next we will look at “How Jesus took upon Himself the Human Nature in the Incarnation.
