After two January episodes with Patrick Szalapski, he returns to do another “Essential” with us this month. This time it is the Doctrine of the Incarnation.
We discussed this more briefly in episode 9 (January 2009) for the episode that covered seven “Essentials of the Christian Faith.”
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Patrick's presentation notes, if you would like to follow along, or for your own materials are as follows:
- Jesus is the eternal God (see John 1:1,14)
- Yet Jesus took on human flesh when he was conceived – Luke 1:30-31: But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ”
- His human life is shown in the gospels—being born, growing, learning, obeying his parents, following human customs, dying. Luke 2:40-52: And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom…Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
- How did this happen? By a miracle of God – Phil. 2:5-7: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing [or emptied himself], taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
- “Emptied himself” (κενω σεν) Sacrifice, humility
- Heb: Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
- So did Jesus lay aside his Deity? No! To lose a single attribute of God would be to become less than God and therefore not God at all. Instead, Jesus generally veiled his glory to accomplish his work on Earth. Many times he used his divinity to…
- accomplish miracles – John 4:48-50: “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.
- forgive sins – Luke 5:20: When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
- teach – John 4:16-19: He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.”
- How did Jesus avoid being born in sin? 2 Cor 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”
- Passed through the father? “man” in above verses (Federal Headship – a man represents all of his descendants)
- Unknown means
- Related topics:
- Immaculate conception: in Catholicism, Mary was conceived sinless and remained so.
- Rom 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”
- Rom 5:18-19 “Therefore, as one trespass led to the condemnation of all men, so one act of rightousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”
- Immaculate conception: in Catholicism, Mary was conceived sinless and remained so.
The three historical heresies Patrick listed toward the end were: Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism.
If you're interested in hearing us discuss a particular essential for next January's episode, please leave a comment below stating the particular essential you'd like to hear next. The ones we have not yet discussed in depth are: The Authority of the Bible, The Triune God, The Resurrection, Salvation and Condemnation, and The Church.
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