EXPLAINING THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF GOD- JESUS (PART 2)
By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi
Psalm 40:5-7 KJV “
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou
wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do
thy will, O God. (Heb 10:5-7)
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from October 8 to November 1, AD 451 concluded that , Christ is one person with
two distinct natures, human and divine , in one person . The biblical doctrine
of incarnation demands that the natures of God are not fragmented but treated
as a whole in one person.This is best appreciated when we take an in-depth
study of psalm 40:6-8 . The phrase ‘thou
prepared me’ is the Hebrew word ‘Katartizo’
and it means: to complete thoroughly , repair , adjust . This word is derived
from two words , the first ‘kata’ which means , ‘when they were’ and ‘artios’
which means complete. From these words we can deduce that the process of the incarnation
of God was necessary and an adjustment needed to repair the relationship
between man and God in which case before
Christ was conceived by Mary , He existed in the father as a complete man-God
entity.
This is similar to Adam’s incarnation in
Eden, the scripture says “Let us make
man in our own image “ (Gen.1:26) not ‘create man’. You make a thing out of an already
existing material like a car from metals and plastic etc. Creation requires
bringing into existence from non-existent materials. The blue print for Adam’s
body already existed likewise that of Jesus . The difference between the two is
that while Adam was bound by law (symbolized by the tree of good and evil)
Jesus on the other hand was not bound by any law. He is the Spirit of
liberty.
The renowned modern philosopher Dr. William
Craig’s view on Jesus’ incarnation is as
follows “… the incarnation is a matter of addition—of God’s taking on in
addition to the divine nature He already had another, distinct nature as well,
a human nature, so that in the incarnation God the Son came to have two
natures, one divine, which he had always had from eternity, and one human,
which began at the moment of its conception in Mary’s womb. Thus, he had all the properties of divinity
and all the properties of humanity.” …. Since God doesn’t have a body, He does
not have an animal nature. But God is
the ultimate rational mind. Therefore
God the Son already possessed prior to his incarnation rationality and personhood. Therefore, in taking on a human body God the
Son brought to the physical body of Christ precisely those properties which
would elevate it from a mere animal nature to a complete human nature, composed
of body and rational soul” He also said that “the divine aspects of Jesus’
personality were largely subliminal during his earthly life.”
His birth (incarnation) through a virgin was part of
God’s reparation strategy for women who were hitherto considered inferior after the
fall in Eden , so if Satan could come through a woman, God can also do likewise
thus balancing the equation and restoring the dignity of womanhood. One may ask
, what was the state of the universe while this was ongoing ? There was absolutely,
no difference, since God’s influence over space and time is infinite. God can be doing an infinite number of things at the same time and yet emerge as a
human through a woman.
As you receive Jesus Christ as your lord and
savior and read this now, receive grace for an undeniable experience of God’s
goodness in Jesus name.
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