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The
Doctrine of Christ, By Bob Koehler, January 5, 2008: This article has been adapted from a
research paper written for one of my college classes. The Doctrine of Christ
or Christology[1]
has two major divisions: the person
and the work of Christ. Under His
person we will examine His eternality and His preincarnate state. We will also look at historical views of
Christ as well certain aspects of His incarnation, His humiliation, His
deity, His humanity and His character.
The works of Christ include such topics as His death, resurrection,
ascension and exaltation.[2] Christ exists from eternity to
eternity. John tells us that “He was in the beginning with God.”[3] The Greek grammar
in this verse stresses His continual existence and face to face relationship
with God.[4] He is also the
second person of the Holy Trinity, both the son of God and God the Son. His sonship “includes equality with God. “[5] He is fully God and fully man at the same
time. He was born of the Virgin Mary,
fulfilled hundreds of Old Testament prophecies, lived a sinless life, but was
humiliated and rejected by the Jews.
He was crucified during the rule of Pontius Pilate, spent three days
in a tomb, was resurrected and appeared to more than 500 witnesses during his
40 post-resurrection days on earth. He
ascended and was exalted to a position at the right hand of God the Father
where he ever lives in His glorified body to make intercession for true
believers.[6] We anticipate that Jesus will return in the
air to gather all believers to Himself and then return visibly and physically
to earth with His saints to “reign with Him a thousand years.”[7] Jesus’ death on the cross served to
pay the penalty for the sins of all who believe in Him and his resurrection
paved the way for every believer to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. He is the central figure of the Bible and
of all history because He is the means to the fulfillment of the grand plan
of God to reconcile all things again unto Himself.[8] There has been a lot of
misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Scripture regarding Christ. One of the main reasons for this is that
the New Testament writers do not speak of Christ’s person as
philosophers. Their focus is
“religious and evangelical. They speak of Christ, not as a metaphysical
problem, but as a divine Saviour; and all that they say about his person is
prompted by their desire to glorify him through exhibiting his work and
vindicating his centrality in the redemptive purpose of God.” [9] We will approach the bulk of this
study primarily from a historical perspective and look at the development of
the Doctrine of Christ during the first 500 years of Church history. As we come to each dissenting group or
viewpoint we will look at the specific doctrinal issues raised and the
solution that was reached. One early heresy was taught by the
Ebionites (a group of Jewish “Christians”).
They viewed Jesus as one who was chosen as Messiah because of his
fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. To them
Jesus became aware of his chosen mission at His baptism at which time He
received the Holy Spirit. To them
“circumcision and the observance of the whole ritual law of Moses are
necessary to salvation for all men.”[10] They denied the pre-existence and
eternality of Christ as well as His deity, the virgin birth and salvation by
grace alone which they viewed as not compatible with Jewish monotheism.[11] The Bible clearly teaches Christ’s
pre-existence, immortality and deity.
The Moody Handbook of Theology tells us that these concepts are
“inseparably linked together. Those
who deny His eternality also deny His deity.
If the deity of Christ is established, there is no problem in
accepting His eternality.”[12] In the Gospel of John we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was
made that was made.”[13] In these verses “the Word” is Jesus Christ
and the language and grammar of this verse equates the “Word” with God and
indicates that “the Word” (Jesus) has been in existence as long as God
has. Jesus’ identity as the Word is
clarified for us in the Book of Revelation where we are told that “His
(Jesus’) name is called The Word of God.”[14] John is making certain that his readers do
not mistake the Word (or Logos) for anything other than God Himself. Early church
fathers spoke of the deity and birth of Christ. In Polycarp’s
letter to the Philippians, he mentions "the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ" and "our Lord and God Jesus Christ."[15] In Ignatius’ letter to the Ephesians (c.
110 A.D.) he states: “For our God,
Jesus the Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God’s plan . . .”[16] The concept of
Christ’s eternality and deity are emphasized by the writer of Hebrews: “But to the Son (Jesus) He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”[17] In this passage God the Father called Jesus
“God.” As Pastor Chuck Smith
remarks: “How much clearer could He
make it.?"[18] Scripture also is
quite emphatic that God became a man through the agency of the Holy Spirit
and the Virgin Mary. In John’s Gospel
we find the statement that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”[19] God became man just as predicted in Genesis
3:15 where God spoke about the “Seed” of Eve and in Isaiah where we
read: “Therefore the Lord Himself will
give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall
call His name Immanuel” (or God-with-us).[20] The terminology used in
Isa. 7:14 “clearly points to the mother as a moral, unmarried woman, hence, a
virgin. Matthew tells us that this prediction found its fulfillment in the
events of Bethlehem.”[21] The Gnostics were another group who
had a vastly different concept of Christ.
In general the Gnostics came from a Gentile background and taught
dualism: “that God was good while all
matter was evil.”[22] This led them to the conclusion that God
(who was good) could not become flesh (which was evil). Some of the Gnostics taught that Jesus was
just a phantom and believed that He didn’t even leave footprints when He
walked. Others viewed Him as a man
that the Christ came upon at His baptism and departed from at His death. Many of the Gnostic views are reflected in
the teachings of the cult of Christian Science which began in the late 1800s.[23] Scripture strongly refutes these
positions. Jesus was an actual human
being as shown by Paul. He states that
Jesus Christ who was “in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God, but made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant.”[24] In these verses the Greek word morphe is
translated “form” in two separate places.[25] In the first instance it refers to Jesus
and in the second instance it refers to a bondservant. A bondservant is a man and so Jesus must also
be a man. But Jesus is also God as
shown again by Paul who, writing under the guidance and inspiration of the
Holy Spirit tells us: “For in Him
(Jesus Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The word used for fullness here is the Greek
word “pleroma” which means “the whole package.” “Everything that there is to God was in
Jesus Christ in bodily form.”[26] One of the Gnostics’ teachings was
that “aeons” emanated from a “first cause” or God and that these emanations had
different rankings. Some placed “the
Word” first and some placed the “only begotten” first. The Apostle John makes it clear that “the
Word” and “the only begotten” are one and the same.[27] In the fourth Century A.D. a man named
Arius from Alexandria began teaching that Jesus was a created being. Arius thought that even though Jesus might
be called God He was not really God.
His idea was that Christ was created as the “Logos” before the
beginning of time and was involved in the creation of everything else. This “Logos” went into a human body and
replaced the human spirit at the time of Jesus’ birth.[28] This position is not Scriptural and is very
similar to what Jehovah Witnesses believe today. One of the reasons for
this teaching is a misunderstanding of the term “only begotten son” used by
the Apostle John in his writings.
Theologian Paul Enns explains the term “only begotten” as not
suggesting a beginning point or time but instead the meaning is that Jesus
Christ, as the only-begotten Son of God is:
“unique, the only one of its kind, the only example of its
category. Only-begotten is used to
mark out Jesus uniquely above all earthly and heavenly beings.”[29] The concept of “Son” is a functional
relationship within the Godhead and does not mean that Jesus is a created
being and, also, does “not suggest inferiority in any way.” [30] The Arian heresy was
rejected at the Nicean Council in 325 A.D.
The Council declared that Jesus Christ was “very
God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.”[31] The controversy about Christ was far
from settled. Yes, Christ had two
natures but what was their relationship to each other. On one extreme was a teacher named
Apollinarius. His idea was that Jesus
did have a true human body and soul but that He did not have a rational mind
or spirit. He believed that the
“Logos” took the place of Jesus’ human intelligence. The deity of Christ was emphasized but His
full humanity was not recognized. It is clear from Scripture that Jesus
was fully human. He was born and grew
in wisdom and stature; He was thirsty and tired, had a will, was tempted and
wept; He felt forsaken and He died.[32] The Appolinarian teachings were declared to
be heresy by the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. The creed that was formulated at this
meeting stated in part that the Lord Jesus Christ is: “the only-begotten Son
of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (aeons), Light of Light,
very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came
down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and
was made man...”[33] The Nestorian heresy appeared in the
early 5th Century A.D. It was a denial
of the union of Christ’s two natures into one person. Their idea was that the Logos was dwelling
in the human Jesus in somewhat the same way as the Holy Spirit indwells
believers. To them Jesus was not God
who became a man but a man who became like God. These ideas were denounced at the Council
of Ephesus in 431 A.D.[34] Later at the Council of Chalcedon (451
A.D.) the church countered both the Nestorian idea that Jesus was two
personalities—the Son of God and a man—under one skin, and the Eutychian idea
that Jesus’ divinity had swallowed up his humanity. Both were rejected. It was affirmed there that Jesus is one
divine-human person in two natures.
This means that He has “two sets of capacities for experience,
expression, reaction, and action … the two natures are united in his personal
being without mixture, confusion, separation, or division … each nature
retained its own attributes.”[35] Every quality and power that is in each
human being, as well as all of God’s attributes are present in the person of
Jesus. The council confirmed both His
complete humanity as well as His full deity. Controversy about Jesus has continued
right up to the present times. Very
recently the book and movie “The DaVinci Code” reintroduced the false idea
that leaders of the early Church did not believe in Jesus’ divinity. However, Ignatius of Antioch, who lived
around 110 A.D., spoke of “Jesus Christ our God.”[36] In addition, Clement of Alexandria wrote
about the Word (Christ): “He
alone being … both God and man.”[37] Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and exaltation are
considered works because they resulted from a definite choice by Him. His death was foretold in the Old
Testament, prominently spoken of in the New Testament and was the primary
purpose of the Incarnation. Jesus
literal, physical death in time and space on the cross at Calvary is the
fundamental theme of the Gospel. His
vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice was the act that paid in full the ransom
for all of our sins and it is essential to Christian salvation.[38] The resurrection of Christ in a physical body was
attested to by many witnesses and is another essential and fundamental event
for Christianity. In 1 Corinthians
Paul makes certain we know that everything about our salvation “stands or
falls with Christ’s bodily resurrection.”[39] One of the main reasons is that it attests
to His deity. Others have been raised
from the dead but they were resuscitated and later died a natural death. Jesus’ situation is unique as the first to
be permanently resurrected with an incorruptible body.[40] There is no doubt that early Church leaders believed in His
death and resurrection. Irenaeus (c.
200 A.D.) spoke of “the Son of God,
who became incarnate for our salvation …and the resurrection from the dead,
and ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our
Lord…”[41] Augustine (c. 400 A.D.) wrote: “The world has come to the belief that the
earthly body of Christ was received up into heaven. Already both the learned and the unlearned
have believed in the resurrection of the flesh.[42] Of
course there have been many false theories about Jesus death and
resurrection. One contention is that
He just swooned, another is that those who saw Him after his death were
hallucinating, another is that the apostles and the women went to the wrong
tomb and yet another is that His body was stolen by believers in order to
fake his resurrection. All of these
ideas have been amply refuted primarily in Scripture.[43] Regarding his actual death we have the
testimony of John who tells us that in order to verify that Jesus was
actually dead “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out.”[44] Luke tells us clearly that Jesus was
resurrected in a real material body when he quotes the Lord saying: “Behold
My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”[45] The
ascension and second coming have also been questioned by some, but if you can
believe the first verse of Genesis is true then belief in the rest of the
Bible is easy. In Acts Luke tells us
that Jesus was talking with His disciples and that “…while they watched, He
was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked … two men stood by
them in white apparel, who also said … This same Jesus, who was taken up
from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into
heaven.”[46] This speaks of a physical, literal
ascension and return of Jesus. As
Christians we are secure in our salvation and have confidence that Jesus is
actively involved in each of our lives on a continual basis. The Bible tells us: “…He is also able to
save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always
lives to make intercession for them.”[47] Here
is an interesting poem written by Saint Melito of Sardis in the 2nd Century
A.D. which sums up he Doctrine of Christ rather nicely: Born as a son, led forth as a lamb, sacrificed
as a sheep, buried as a man, Knowing
more about the details of the Doctrine of Christ will enable me to more
clearly present the Gospel to others and to know where to go for answers so
that I can “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks
(me) a reason for the hope that is in (me).”[49] In addition I will be more effective as I
teach in the basic classes my church offers for new Christians and in adult
Sunday School. I
know more now about how Jesus can fully relate to me because He experienced
real huger, thirst, fatigue, pain and grief.
He was not always accepted and many times people did not agree with
what He told them or what He did. I
think that this will help me feel closer to Him. I believe that I am now more comfortable
pouring my heart out to God because I know he fully understands my feelings
of rejection, pain and suffering. I
think that the most important application of the Doctrine of Christ to my
life is the greater realization that Jesus really did humble Himself, submit
to the Father’s will and perform what He was called upon to do. I need to “go and do likewise.”[50] I need to carefully examine Jesus’ life and
then emulate His example each moment through the power of the Holy
Spirit. I need to be certain that I am
yielding myself to the Lord. This
includes relying on prayer to receive God’s instructions for me and moving
forward in obedience to His commands. Bibliography: “Basic Facts of the
Faith,” http://www.tftw2.org/BFOTF/jesusthechrist.html. “Christian Science
Church,” http://www.allaboutcults.org. Clarke,
Adam: Commentary on the New Testament. Cedar Rapids: Parsons Tech, 1999. D’Ambrosio,
M.: “Evidence from the Early Church,” crossroadsinitiative.com. Elwell, Walter A.;
Comfort, Philip Wesley: Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (Tyndale
Reference Library). Enns, Paul P.: The
Moody Handbook of Theology.
Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997. Evans, William; Coder,
S. Maxwell: The Great Doctrines of the Bible. Enl. ed. Chicago : Moody Press, 1998, c1974. Hodge, Charles: Systematic
Theology. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Sys., 1997. Jones, Robert: “Heresies
& Schisms in the Early Church,” sundayschoolcourses.com. Karleen, Paul S.: The
Handbook to Bible Study: With a Guide to the Scofield Study System. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1987. Lewis, Robin: “Systematic Theology Class Notes,” Calvary
Chapel Bible College. Packer, J. I.: Concise
Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs. Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1995, c1993. Schaff,
Philip; Schaff, David Schley: History of the Christian Church. Oak Harbor, WA:
Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997. Shelley,
Bruce L.: Church History in Plain
Language. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1995. Smith,
Chuck: The Word for Today Bible.
(NKJV) Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005. Strong,
J.: Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
Cedar Rapids: Parsons Tech., 2003. Thiessen,
H.C.: Lectures in Systematic Theology.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979. Willmington, H. L.: Wilmington’s
Bible Handbook. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1997. Wood, D. R. W.: New Bible Dictionary.
InterVarsity Press, 1996, c1982, c1962. |
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Author:
Bob Koehler
- Contact Email: bobjeank@ca.rr.com “Be
diligent to present yourself approved
to God, a worker who does not
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
(NKJV) |
