Doctrines Concerning

God, The Son

B. The incarnation of Jesus Christ

1. That Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and became
God incarnate.

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Personal Opinion:

Must we concern ourselves with when Jesus received the complete attributes of God?

Probably it is a point on which we have not enough information to form an opinion.  Then again the Bible is quite clear that Jesus developed, he "waxed".  (The first time I heard the word "waxed" used with the meaning "grew" was in Sunday School)  Clearly he developed physically and mentally just like any other normal young human being. 

Why not?  He was all human and all God. He could obey time just as we humans while at the same time time had no meaning to his "God Side".

2. That Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was totally man and totally God. He possessed two natures in perfect union.

Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

 

Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

 

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

 

1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Personal Opinion:

Not much can be said on this topic; more questions than answers.

The time of Abraham was about two thousand years before the time of Christ.  Here we are at about two thousand years after Christ.  The Jews are moving back into the land promised to Abraham.  Any significance?  Who knows?

Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Does that mean she supplied the egg and God the Spirit supplied the sperm?  Or did the Spirit implant a fertilized egg?  Unfortunately we get from God such information on a need to know basis.

3. That the virgin birth preserved Christ's human nature from human depravity. Jesus Christ lived a perfect, sinless life on earth.

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Personal Opinion:

So that means the sin nature is not passed down through the egg, it is passed down through the sperm - the male side not the female.

This leads me to speculate about cloning and artificial insemination.  No doubt, children born through artificial insemination would receive a sin nature no more no less than those born through the natural method.

My guess is cloned babies, produced by replicating natural cells would have the nature of those cells, a sin nature.

All of which goes to show there will be no substitute for Jesus.

4. That Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and died the only acceptable substitutionary death for all mankind on the cross.

Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 

Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

 

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

 

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Personal Opinion:

There can be no doubt about it.  It is not just the opinion of John versus the very dubious opinion of some anonymous writer of the so-called Gospel of Thomas that Jesus was God Himself.  The opinion, that is, that John came out with his Gospel in reaction to the eyewitness account of Thomas, that the message of Jesus was that we all should look within and we would find, much to our surprise, lo and behold we have God within.

Nowhere in the Old Testament, Gospels or letters do I see anything resembling that position.