The Hypostatic Union
- Pastor Michael Heil
- Jan 10, 2018
- 2 min read
In Hebrews 2:14 and Hebrews 2:17, (twice) it is stressed that Jesus totally took on the nature of humanity. It is vital to understand Jesus did not come only as a spirit being, or a hallucination, or even God, but rather he was made like humanity in every way. This may seem like too much "splitting theological hairs," but it isn't. It is vital to our redemption, our salvation, and knowing the love of God in our life.
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil..."
-Hebrews 2:14
"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."
-Hebrews 2:17
After Jesus' resurrection, Satan started to attack and destroy the church. First, he tried physical persecution, but the saints prospered as God gave them strength, and as they knew this was a one-way ticket to be with their Lord in heaven. So, Satan turned to false teaching - distorting the truth of the gospel of Jesus. Think of it this way, if the ingredients of a cake are only a little off from truth (like instead of sugar, the cake uses heroin) it would completely destroy the person who consumed it.
Satan put in the mind of some saints false thinking about Jesus. He said Jesus was God, but not in the flesh, rather Jesus just appeared as a human, sort of like a hallucination. It was called Gnosticism, and distorted the humanity of Jesus.
But Jesus was not only fully God; He was fully human as Hebrews 2:14 and Hebrews 2:17 state. He was born an actual human baby; He did live an actual human childhood; He did have actual human limitations like sleep and the need of food. So by being totally human he could suffer death and redeem mankind from Satan, and by being totally human he could become the eternal high Priest, interceding on our behalf before our father God.
This truth about Jesus is called "the hypostatic union," the perfect 100% joining of the nature of God and nature of man in one person, our Lord Jesus Christ.
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