CHRISTOLOGY

Summary Statement: I believe Christ who is preexistent and eternal. He was virgin born into his incarnate state, thereby being both perfectly God and perfectly man. In this state he emptied Himself of his rights as God and become humbled. Because of his impeccability, he was able to be our vicarious atonement and will return to rule the world.

1. Preexistent: Christ existed before the foundation of the world as part of the Godhead (The Trinity was discussed under Theology Proper). Scripture also exerts the fact that Christ was in existence before the worlds were made. John 1:1 refers to Christ as the Word and states that the Word was with God, was God, and that He as the preexistent God was active in creation.

2. Eternal: Not only did Christ exist before the world, but He has an eternal existence. Christ is eternal. This is seen in both John 1:1 and Hebrews 1:3, both of these verses express that Christ was God, and had the essence of God. That fact that he is God makes Him have the same attributes and therefore is eternal.

3. Virgin Born: Isaiah 7:14 states that the Messiah will be born of a virgin. This is necessary for Christ to be able to be both God and Man. In the New Testament it is seen the filling of this prophecy when the virgin Mary conceives Christ by the Holy Spirit while yet being a virgin

4. Incarnate: John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” For Christ to sympathize with mankind He must become part of mankind. This was done through his incarnation.

5. Hypostatic-Union: Christ was both perfectly God and Perfectly man. This is a hard concept to grasp and to explain. Ryie quotes the Chalcedonian Creed which states that this union of God and man was without mixture, without change, without division, and without separation. He was all of both, yet distinctly each.

6. Emptied and Humbled: This doctrine is best seen in Philippians 2. This idea of Christ emptying and humbling Himself is not that He gave up Deity, but rather that He emptied Himself of His Glory and took the form of a man. He did not lose any of His Deity, but rather he added humanity so that He could die for the rest of humanity.

7. Impeccability: As God, Christ is unable to sin, this is the impeccability of Christ. This is why He is our Savior, because He is without sin. This sheds light on the “temptation” of Christ, in that He was unable to sin, therefore the testing was not to see if Christ would sin, but was to prove that he would not.

8. Vicarious Atonement: Christ’s death on the cross was in place of the sinners punishment for his sins. Christ took out place of punishment. This is seen in the Greek preposition anti which means instead of. The use of this is seen in Mark 10:45 as well as other places in the New Testament.

9. Return: In Revelation is seen the return of Christ as KING of kings. He is coming back to rule the world as the Jew wished. This ruling in not for the purpose of liberating the Jews (though it will), but for the purpose of showing the world that even in a perfect atmosphere their hearts are evil and He will judge them for that.