Relationships(4): Concluding Thoughts

The overlapping lenses of “Homoousion – sameness of essence and nature” and “inter-relational dynamics of joint and several”, have enabled us to understand, with a little more clarity, the Triune Being and inner-relations of and in the One God. At the same time, other attributes of God are brought to focus.
 
One of them, I dare say, is that God is able to have new, authentic and experiential actualities. An explanation is warranted here.
 
Creation, contingent on God, will always be and remain only creation.[1] God was never a man before he became a man.[2] It would be proper then to say, that in becoming a man, a human, a creature of creation, a created being, God had become something that he was not. Becoming man can be considered to be a new, authentic and experiential actuality for God.
 
As such, God with us, in God becoming man, has immense and momentous implications.
 
For God, it means that within the actual Being of Triune God, there is now also a man, a created being, in whom the fullness of the Godhead (Deity) dwells, fully occupies and lives, inhabits bodily[3].
 
Where there were only Three, now it can, properly, also be said that with, in and through the one person of Christ Jesus, being  “homoousion – sameness of essence and nature” with God according to Divinity and “homoousion – sameness of essence and nature” with us according to  humanity, there is now a man, human nature, in the actual Being of God.
 
“Christ crucified” is pregnant with this meaning. No wonder, to the Jews it was a stumbling block[4]. They could not conceive and accept that Christ Jesus, the man, that they crucified[5], could, at the same time, also, be God. For the Greeks, who honoured and pursued wisdom, this is foolishness as what is divine is divine and what is human is human. They could conceive in their mythology demigods, entities that resulted from the union of gods and humans. But God becoming human, becoming this man Jesus who was crucified, this they could not comprehend. Hence, complete and utter foolishness as far as they were concerned.
 
Both Jews and Greeks distinguished between divinity and humanity and rightly so. This several approach could only have provided an either/or lens through which to relate and view Christ Jesus. If only they had applied the joint and several lens, they would have caught a glimpse of Christ in actuality, being the power and wisdom of God.[6]
 
A revelation of God in the Son becoming man would be that God also grows experientially, for until the Son became a man, God did not know what it was to be a man.


[1] Acts 17:28

[2] Numbers 23:19  The prophet Balaam in Numbers 23:19  also asserted this understanding  of God not being a man “God is not a man that He should lie.” Note that this was before God became flesh, a man, in the person of Christ Jesus.

[3] Colossians 2:9

[4] 1 Corinthians 1:23

[5] Matthew 20:19, Mark 15:13, Luke 23:21, John 19:6

[6] 1 Corinthians 1:24

​God being able to have new, authentic and experiential actualities, what a mind blowing thought. For, until experiencing these new, authentic actualities, God has not known and does not know them experientially. Son becoming human reveals a God who can grow, at least experientially. Following through with regards to God vis a vis human relationships, it indicates that God’s relationship with us is authentic and real experientially. Both grow in knowing dynamic relationship with the other through real choices being made. And when there is impasse as to where the relationship is to progress to, parties can always avail themselves to mediation. For there is one God, and one Mediator, between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus.[1]
 
This is one inference, arising from the “homoousion – sameness of essence” two natures - one person in the Creed of Chalcedon, that inevitably, must be arrived at, if truly, in the Person of Christ Jesus, the Divine and human natures are in union, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man[2].
Using the joint and several inter-relational distinctions, we can also state that though humanity and Divinity is jointly one (One Person) in Christ Jesus, and, with, through, in and into Him, one with Divinity in a relational sense, the distinction of the “ousia- essence and nature” remains, in that human “ousia” remains human “ousia” and Divine ousia remains Divine “ousia”. As such, humanity though one with God, is not God as God is.
 
The same, however, does not apply to God. My take, is that, in becoming man, God did not ceased to be God but continued to remain God. In becoming man, human “ousia”, the “seed” of woman, through Mary, was introduced, embraced and united with God in such a joint and several union, that in the one Person (joint) of Christ Jesus, the Divine and human natures (the several two), are in union (two becoming one flesh), so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.
 
The descriptive imagery of man’s creation in Genesis is instructive here.
 
In the creation of man, “Then the Lord God formed (framed) the man from the dry earth of the earth and blew (breathed) the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.’[3] There were three distinct occurrences - God framing a man out of dust, God blowing the breath of life into the nostrils of this frame and man becoming a created living being (soul), contingent on and yet independent from God, at the same moment.
 
In the Son becoming man, there are also basically three occurrences – There was “seed” out of woman ( “something that is of our humanity”, out of Mary’s being- )[4], Holy Spirit coming upon Mary and the power of the Highest overshadowing her[5] and the Word became flesh,[6] for the holy-begotten (of you) shall be called Son of God.
“Seed” in normal usage in the scriptures refers to the natural progeny or offspring of a person, having a part of both parents’ genetic make up. Until artificial insemination and surrogacy became possible in the last century, this was the accepted understanding.
 
However, with artificial insemination and surrogacy, it is only valid to re-look at the incarnation and consider anew, whether Mary was natural or surrogate mother of Jesus.
 
This is because the Word can become flesh, totally new and apart from any link to Mary’s humanity, our humanity. If so, he would be a totally new human being, a new creation, with no genetic link to our humanity, except that Mary was his surrogate mother.
 
Scripture references, however, does not support this position. Scripture is specific and adamant that this “seed” that is[7], of and out of Mary[8], out of the seed of David[9] and Abraham’s seed[10], and through Abraham to Adam[11].
 
As such, Scripture asserts that Mary is truly and properly the natural mother of Jesus, the man. Mary is not surrogate mother of Jesus the man. If Mary is natural mother, then, the human that the Son became, is a human that has genealogical and genetic links to our humanity[12]. Only through this can he sit on the throne of his father David.[13]If there is no genealogical and genetic link, Jesus would be disqualified to sit on the throne of David.In Revelation, Jesus affirms and testifies that his humanity is our fallen humanity, our humanity after Adam’s fall: “ I am the root and offspring of David”, of David’s stock or race, of David’s gene. David’s stock, race or gene can only be that of our fallen humanity, through and out of Mary. (Revelation 22:16 Young’s Literal Translation, ‘the word offspring is translated from the Greek word γένος genos meaning stock, race, from where we get the English word for gene Strong’s NT 1085)

 
From what I can glean and understand, whatever that Mary contributed out of her humanity to make her the natural mother of this man, Jesus, is the framework of and for this man. The Holy Spirit, Power of the Highest, came upon Mary and overshadowed her and, in particular, the “seed” within and out of her, and in that moment, the Son became human. As to what would be considered humanity that Mary contributed, a gamete[14] or cell[15] f or something else from Mary, Scripture is silent. However, Scripture is specific and adamant that “What is”, of[16] and out of Mary[17], and traceable to David[18] and Abraham[19], and through Abraham to Adam,[20] is our humanity. Anything less and this so called man that the Son has become is an alien to us.
 
In the creation of man, God, through a framework of dry earth from the ground, breathed to life a living human being. In the Incarnation, the Spirit of God, came upon and overshadowed the framework of humanity contributed by Mary and Son became a living human being.
 
In the creation of woman, Adam contributed a side(rib)[21]. When Son became a human being, a man, the woman contributed her humanity. I note with interest the imagery being conjured.  In the creation of humankind, through God, from the man, a woman became. In the Incarnation, through God, from a woman, the Son became a man.
 
The Son has become this man Jesus. This person Jesus is truly and properly God and truly and properly man at the same time (Two natures – One person; two becoming one). Being, truly and properly man, this man, as man, is not God, as the divine and human natures remain distinct and identifiable in the one person. That is why it is written of this man; “And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.  “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father[22].”  
 
The man Son became was being exalted. Son as God has no need for God to exalt, to the extent that every knee shall bow before him or for all things to be put under his feet[23]. As God, this is a given. The first instance the phrase “put all things under his feet” was a reference to God putting all things under the feet of man. Note that God has exalted this man.
 
Being truly and properly God, as God, this person Jesus as God, who has become human, is God, as the divine and human natures remain distinct and identifiable in the one person. That is why we can also find it written concerning him: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross[24].”
 
The difficulty is for us to accept and embrace this Person Christ Jesus as God and at the same moment not God (in being truly and properly a human being), and as a human being (in being truly and properly a human being), and at the same moment not a human being (in being truly and properly God), contingent on our point of first approach and relating to this person, as God or as a man.
 
The alternative, which we tend to do, is to subsume divinity and humanity into one, without distinction, such that ultimately, God is me and I am God. To me, this signifies that inter-relationships, values, meanings, actions, good and evil have no significance. For, if, God is me and I am God, every thought and act is Who I am and who God is ultimately, God and me being the same ultimate reality. There is no place for real authentic relationships and growth, which requires having one and more beings.
 
This is foreign to the revelation of Who God is, in the person of Christ Jesus. He is the authenticator and mediator of the Way, the Truth and Life towards an authentic union and communion between God and humanity, where both, God and humanity, may ever-grow and ever-experience the ever changing and unchanging Who of the other. This is what eternal life is[25].
 
One way in which that this eternal life of union and communion, for both God and humanity, may be experienced in the moment of the here and now, is in the celebration of Communion.
 
As early as John Chapter 6, it is recorded that, to his audience, who did not believe he was who he claimed to be, but instead goaded him to prove that God’s work was to enable them to believe[26] into[27] him (Jesus), Jesus challenged, “eat of my flesh” and ‘drink of my blood”[28].
 
To his disciples, who were growing from only believing in him to believing into or knowing him, he left an observance to partake “in remembrance of me”[29].
 
As, within the occasion of the Passover meal, these words were spoken by Jesus, a couple of observations are warranted.
 
The Passover meal has always been a celebration of life for the Jews, a celebration of the relationship that Yahweh God had with them and they with Him. In the meal, all the senses of the participants are engaged in remembering and relating to God.
 
 
In the last Passover meal he celebrated with his disciples, Jesus did something new. In the middle of the meal, He took a piece of matzah (unleavened bread), and gave b’rakhah (the blessing). Traditionally, for the Hamotzi: The Blessing on Bread, the spoken blessing is: "Barukh attah, Adonai Eloheynu, Melekh-ha'olam, haMotzi lechem min ha'aretz" ("Praised be you, Adonai our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth")[30].
 
Then, he broke the bread, gave it to them and said, “This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.”
 
For the Jews, Passover is an occasion of communal remembrance and participation in words and actions, as if they were there with their forefathers in Egypt during the first Passover. As such it is much more than just a mental remembrance.
 
Similarly the breaking and eating of bread and the sharing in drinking of the fruit of the vine in remembrance of him is more than just our giving a mental assent to him being a historical person.
The two natures one person of Chalcedon, and the overlapping lenses of “ousia” and joint and several enables us to view, understand and experience  “in remembrance of me” within the paradigm of union and communion.
 
I would suggest that even as the elements of bread and wine are in themselves only and severally bread and wine, in the joint, one in union with him, they are his flesh and blood, not in a representative manner but in a joint union fashion. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross[31]. For God so loved the world[32], not only just humanity, that He gave his only begotten Son.
This suggests that in becoming man God not only joined God’s ThreeOne nature to us but also though this one man, all creation is joined through our humanity to God. In this fashion bread becomes and is his flesh in the joint and wine becomes and is his blood in the joint.
 
In the several, we are eating these elements as elements. In the joint it is proper to say that we are eating his flesh and drinking his blood and in that moment and occasion are abiding in him and he in us[33]. Our physical senses of taste, smell, sight, hearing and feeling are all engaged in the celebration of eating and drinking the elements of bread and fruit of the vine, in remembrance, in abiding in him and he in us.
 
There is union and communion between us, and him, as truly and properly man, jointly and severally. At the same moment, there is union and communion between him, as truly and properly God, and God, jointly and severally. Finally, in and through this person of Christ Jesus, who is truly and properly man and truly and properly God, God and us can have authentic union and communion jointly and severally, precisely because distinctions are preserved at the same moment. This is what eternal life is in the present[34].
 
To all who do not believe in him and all who are believing into him, a way has been established for all to really experience and know and authenticate Who Christ Jesus is, and in and through him to be known by and know Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit.
 
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come[35].
 
Taste and see that the Lord is good[36].
 


[1] 1 Timothy 2:5

[2] See Salvation Army Doctrine 4 where instead of the word union, the word united is used. I personally prefer the word union as it embodies the two becoming one union where two remain two and yet are one at the same time and in the one the respective distinctions or severalness of the two are identifiable and preserved.

[3] Genesis 2:7

[4] Galatians 4:4

[5] Luke 1:35

[6] John 1:14, Luke 1:35 - therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God

[7] Luke 1:35

[8] Galatians 4:4 Greek ἐκ-ek literal meaning: out of

[9] Romans 1:1-4

[10] Hebrews 2:16

[11] Luke 3:23-38, Matthew 1:1-16

[12] Hebrews 2:17

[13] Luke 1:32, Acts 2:25-36

[14] A gamete is the male or female reproductive cell that contains half the genetic material of the organism. When two human gametes meet — that is, a sperm cell and an ovum — you get a zygote, a fertilized egg. Dictionary Definition. Vocabulary.com

[15] The basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals. Dictionary Definition. Vocabulary.com

[16] Luke 1:35

[17] Galatians 4:4 Greek ἐκ-ek literal meaning: out of

[18] Romans 1:1-4

[19] Hebrews 2:16

[20] Luke 3:23-38, Matthew 1:1-16

[21] Genesis 2:22.

[22] Philippians 2:8-11

[23] Psalm 8:6, 1Corinthians 15:27, Ephesians 1:22

[24] Colossians 1:12-20

[25] John 17:3 read with John 17:21-26

[26] Believe is a relational word. I believe that. Believe links the ‘I ‘to ‘that’ relationally.

[27] Greek εἰς-eis Strong’s Definition : εἰς eis, ice; a primary preposition; to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time,

[28] John 6:53-57 “53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.”

[29] Luke 22:19,20 “19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

[30] Jewish practice  Chabad.org

[31] Colossians 1:19,20

[32] John 3:16 Greek- κόσμος Kosmos

[33] John 6:56 “he who eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood abides in me and I in him”

[34] John 17:3, John 17:20-26” 20 “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. 26 I made known to them

[35] Revelation 22:17

[36] Psalm 34:8