Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/94

Contributor - John H. Muller

Title - God Becomes Man

Topic - Belgic Confession

The very centre, the very heart of our BELGIC CONFESSION - like that of the Bible - is to be found in Jesus Christ. His coming into the world is what we speak of as the incarnation (into the flesh). This is very basic Christian truth, which the believer must speak of with certainty. ARTICLES 18 and 19 deal with the Incarnation. They tell us how the second person of the Trinity assumed our human flesh. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1: 14). The promise of Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled. Our gracious God sends His Son "born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4).

ARTICLE I 0 clearly stated the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and ARTICLE 13 equally emphasized that He was a real man. Then ARTICLE 19 proceeds to discuss the combination of the full deity and the full humanity in Jesus Christ.

"We confess that God fulfilled the promise which He had made to the early fathers by the mouth of His holy prophets when He sent His only and eternal Son into the world at the time set by Him." (ARTICLE 18A) Then it goes on to explain that He took on a real human nature except for sin.

This incarnation, this story of God taking on flesh, is the tremendous fact of our Christian faith which causes us to be "lost in wonder, love, and praise." Sometimes it seems almost too wonderful to be true. Apart from it, the church has no real message, and life does not have an ultimate meaning.

Paul recognized that the resurrection proved that He was the Son of God. (Romans 1:4) In I Corinthians 15:19 Paul states that if Christ be not risen, we are of all men to be most pitied. But in the very next breath he says that "now is Christ risen from the dead." Those who had been with Jesus were compelled to believe that He Was the Christ of God.

So we today are aware of the importance of our belief concerning Jesus Christ. Despite attacks from outside the church, Christ is our head, as the CONFESSION concludes ARTICLE 18 with "He is truly our Immanuel" - that is: "God with us." ARTICLE 19 steadfastly maintains that Jesus had the two natures, the human and the divine. Christ, the Son of God, became the Son of Man for us men and for our salvation. God became man; the Creator stooped to share the life of His creation by uniting Himself with our nature.

This truth is generally accepted by the church today, but it was debated in earlier years. It was an issue at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., at the Council of Constantinople in 3 8 1, and was settled at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. Apollinaris, Nestorius, and Eutychus all took variant positions in regard to the natures of Christ, which were rejected at Chalcedon. There it was declared that Jesus Christ is "truly God and truly man - to be acknowledged in two natures inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably - the property of each nature being preserved in one Person."

The CONFESSION follows with a similar conclusion: "The person of the Son has been inseparably united and joined together with human nature, in such a way that there are not two Sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in a single person, with each nature retaining its own distinct properties. We confess Him to be true God and true man - true God in order to conquer death by His power, and true man that He might die for us in the weakness of His flesh."

The mystery of the Incarnation remains - that one Person was very God and very man. It is a theological mystery. Even more is the mystery of His wonderful love which caused the divine Son of God to die for us.

Christians have always celebrated with joy the advent of Christ at Christmas time. At the Lord's Supper we are reminded that He gave up His flesh and blood for us. Our loving Father was not bent on destroying a sinful human race, but was pleased to come to earth, take on our human nature, make the one perfect sacrifice, and redeem us to Himself There is abundant grace in the Incarnation.

"Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift."

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