God gave...His Son, The Word (Part 5)

I interrupted the flow of the Trinity because I wanted to pair the written word and the incarnate Word together.  As we continue, I have included the section of the Nicene Creed that speaks to Christ.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,

begotten of his Father before all worlds

God of God, 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 and for our salvation came down from heaven, 

and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary

and was made man; and was crucified under Pontius Pilot;

he suffered and was buried; 

and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures

and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead;

whose kingdom shall have no end

It would take a significant amount of time and space to plumb the depths of this text.  I hope to hit the essentials as a means by which to affirm the Creed and the deity of Christ from the Scriptures. This way you will at least have some texts from the written word to support the creedal summation of the incarnate Word.

Christ as Begotten, Christ as the Creating Word

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.(John  3:16)

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you Father are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)

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 was not anything made that was made.(John 1:1-3)  He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.(John 1:10)

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.(Genesis 1:1)  And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light.(Genesis 1:3)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.(John 1:14)

Christology

Christology is the understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  As heretical errors in biblical understanding throughout church history go, there is truly nothing knew under the sun.  This is true as it regards understandings of Jesus as well.  Colossians was written in large part as a response by Paul to false teachings that had risen up in Colossae regarding who Christ was and what He did.  These two passages in which Paul fleshes out a true understanding of Christ also serve as terrific biblical support for the understanding of who Christ was in the Nicene Creed.  Here they are.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith."                        (Colossians 1:15-23) 

"For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.  In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without human hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."(Colossians 2:9-15)

Now.  Someone might think,"Why did you have to type it all out?  Why not just give references.  I already know this stuff, why do I need to read about it here?"  To that I would answer, because Paul thought it was important to drive these truths home, at length, in two different chapters of the same letter.  So I thought I would follow his example and we can all stand to be reminded of these awesome truths. Now these passages flesh out the theological effects of what happened courtesy of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.

Incarnation and Crucifixion, and Resurrection

For biblical foundations for the incarnation and virgin birth specifics, go to Matthew 1:18-25 & Luke 1:26-38.  

Regarding Christ's crucifixion: Matthew 27:32-56, Mark 15:21-41, Luke 23:26-46, and John 19  

Regarding Christ's resurrection:  Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20

This is a most rugged and skeleton-style approach to dealing with the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Let it suffice to say that apart from Christ's incarnation (Fully God & Fully Man), perfectly obedient life (active obedience), and sacrificial death (passive obedience), no one would be saved.

My prayer is that as I continue on this journey, scripture will give us many more opportunities to look at the various facets of the trinitarian God of the bible and to be more specific regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Please continue with me on this journey and lets discover who God is and what He has done for us together.  It is a most fantastic voyage.  Next we will look at the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

Sincerely,

Josh