{first posted December 24, 2007}
“[Christ's] body was for Him not a limitation, but an instrument, so that He was both in it and in all things, and outside all things, resting in the Father alone. At one and the same time — this is the wonder — as Man He was living a human life, and as Word He was sustaining the life of the universe, and as Son He was in constant union with the Father. Not even His birth from a virgin, therefore, changed Him in any way, nor was He defiled by being in the body. Rather, He sanctified the body by being in it.” (On the Incarnation, St. Athanasius)
“Here is something marvelous: the Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, he willed to be borne in the virgin’s womb, to go about the earth, and to hang upon the cross; yet he continuously filled the world even as he had done from the beginning!” (The Institutes by John Calvin)
“The union of Christ’s deity and humanity in one Person makes it such that we have all that we need in the same Savior. Because Jesus is God, He is all-powerful and He cannot be defeated. Because He is God, He is the only adequate Savior. Because He is God, believers are safe and can never perish; we have security. Because He is God, we can have confidence that He will empower us for the task that He commands us for. And because He is God, all people will be accountable to Him when He returns to judge the world.
Because Jesus is man, He has experienced the same things that we do. Because He is man, He can identify with us more intimately. Because He is man, He can come to our aid as our sympathetic High Priest when we reach the limits of our human weaknesses. Because He is man, we can relate to Him–He is not far off and uninvolved. Because He is man, we cannot complain that God does not know what we are going through. He experienced it first-hand.” (John Piper)
The Christ is our elder brother, the prototype, the first to become that which each can become, if that is what one desires to become, as one with The Father.
Therefore, let us not seek The true Christ outside of ourselves, as there He can not be found, yet He awaits patiently to be awakened in each, as each returns to The Father, to become as one with He who was first to become.
The Pistol fires back: I respectfully disagree. Jesus of Nazareth was, is, and always will be the Christ – the Eternal One of God.
thanks for the post, Pistol Pete. Our pastor used an earlier post you did on Despair as a Sin (Lewis quote) in his Sunday sermon–I couldn’t be there but saw his notes.
I appreciate your honest wrestling with your struggles.
Do you have an email contact?
blessings-
Doug