The Nature of Incarnation with W Thomson

The Nature Of Incarnation  

by Thomson W

The incarnation of Christ is a profound mystery. As rightly written by the apostle Paul, "Great is the mystery of god­liness: that God was manifest in the flesh" (1Thimoty 3:16).

Human reasoning, human philosophy, can never solve the deep mystery of the incarnation of Christ. God only knows it’s secret, as wren by Moses “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29). However, in the Bible and in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, the Lord has given us information that throws light on certain aspects of this stupendous prob­lem. It is of vital importance that we do a careful and diligent study on this subject of ‘The Nature of Incarnation’ of Christ. It concerns our eternal salvation. But the investi­gation of this sacred subject must be en­tered upon with reverence and godly fear. We must undertake it in a spirit of great humility, and with sincere prayer.

On speaking about the Nature of Incarnation the question majorly rests upon which human nature of Adam did Christ incarnate while He was on this Earth? was is it the pre-fallen nature of Adam (Adam before sin) or was it the post-fallen nature of Adam (Adam after sin). This intriguing question has been a fascinating study not only among the theologians even among the common church members.

The Seventh-day Adventist theology presents two common school of interpretation on the human nature of Jesus Christ:

1. Christ took on a ‘sinful’ human nature (nature of Adam after fall) because He had a sinful mother like the rest of us.

2. He had a ‘sinless’ human nature (nature of Adam before the fall) because, unlike the rest of us, He had God for His Father.

However, both the views in some point of degree involve a controversy for ex: if Christ had incarnated the pre-fallen nature of Adam, then how can He be tempted like we are (Heb 4:15) and how can Christ be a perfect example for us in keeping God’s commandment, how can He empathise with the being who have the fallen sinful nature. If Christ had incarnated the post-fallen nature of Adam, then can He be a saviour of this fallen humanity? If He is being born with sinful, a nature He himself will be in need of a Saviour as He is being born with “Original Sin” (sinner at birth).

Some try to bridge the two by saying Jesus had a sinful physical nature but His human birth was like our new birth born of the Spirit. They say that Jesus began in Bethlehem, where we begin when born again. Others suggest that the parallel breaks down under investigation. They believe that Jesus was both sinful and sinless in human nature, sinful only in that He took sin-weakened physical nature but sinless in that He never became sin in birth.

Does it really matter which view we choose? Or is it just another theological discussion? we must understand Christ's human nature to really appreciate what He endured, how He alone can be our Saviour and at the same time how He can be our example, our utter most need to empathise with Us. This Article will seek best to analysis both the views and arrive at a conclusion as to what could be a better interpretation of this subject.

Pre-Fallen Nature of Adam:

Did Christ take on the pre-fallen nature of Adam? this subject needs to be carefully studied to arrive at clear conclusion. Following are some quotation from the spirit of prophecy regarding this subject. “Be careful, exceedingly careful, as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propen­sities of sin. He is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon Him; he was in the image of God. He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing. Be­cause of sin his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Him­self human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. He was assailed with temptations in the wilderness, as Adam was as­sailed with temptations in Eden.”—The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, on John 1:1-3, 14, p. 1128.

There are several thoughts in the above quotation that stand out in bold relief:

1. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him.

2. Because of Adam's sin, his posterity is born into the world with inherent pro­pensities of disobedience.

3. Jesus Christ—the only-begotten Son of God, and the second Adam—came into the world, as did the first Adam, without an evil propensity. "Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin."

From the above statements of Ellen White, it seems that Christ had taken a pre-fallen nature of Adam but this leaves us with many conflicting questions:

1.    Can He really understand us, then? Or, in other words, is He a remote extra-terrestrial being who had an unfair advantage over us?

2.    Was He really tempted in all points as we are?

3.     Can He really be a sympathetic high priest?

4.    Did not Christ as being come into this world with pre-fallen nature of Adam have advantage over temptation?

5.    Then can Christ be a fair example for us to forsake our sins?

Post-Fallen Nature of Adam:

Paul explicitly state that Christ took on sinful nature of man. “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3). Further on from the writings of Ellen White we can see the same expression used. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity (DA 48.6).

This statement of Ellen White seems to also agree with the expression of Paul given in Romans 8:3. To conclude that Christ took on the post-fallen nature of Adam also will lead to conflicting questions. Every human, is born a sinner. David said, "Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Ps. 51:5). So to say that Christ was to be incarnated in post-fallen nature of Adam, then the Saviour Himself will be in need of a saviour because of the “Original Sin.”

Original Sin:

The tendency to evil supposedly innate in all human beings, held to be inherited from Adam in consequence of the fall is known as Original Sin. In simple terms Original sin simply means all the humans are naturally bent towards sin as a result of fall. The Biblical fact that sin is passed on from Adam to each baby born (not Adam's guilt, but death, the result of his sin) means that sin cannot be defined merely as "act." That is too superficial a definition. Though sin includes wrong choices, and therefore acts, and even thoughts (see Matt. 5:28), it also includes nature. 22 If we were not born sinners, then we would not need a Saviour until our first act or thought of sin. Such an idea does terrible disservice to the tragic consequences of sin and to the mission of Christ, as the only Saviour for every human (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). We need Jesus as substitute for all of our life, and not just from the first time we knowingly rebel.

Christ Incarnating a Unique Nature:

With analysing the two views on “Nature of Incarnation” of Christ it is evident that both of the views have some conflicting issues, what then can the possible conclusion be. Jesus was unlike other humans. No other human lived before his birth and made a decision to be born to please the Father. Christ's consciousness was always Godward. He came to do His Father's will (Heb. 10:9), glorified Him throughout life, and finished the work He gave Him to do (John 17:4). No other baby, child, or adult has lived in such utter selflessness for God and man. Both His sinless acts and sinless spiritual nature issued out of His unbroken Godward orientation. His union with God determined the extent of His union with man.

The Greek word monogenes, translated "only begotten" in the King James Version, actually means "one of a kind." Monogenes comes from monos, "one," andgenos, "kind" or "type." Monogenes must not be confused with monogennoo, which derives from monos, "one," and gennao, "begotten." Monogennao means "only begotten." He was one of a kind in that He was the only man who was also God. He was the only man who was born by the Spirit, without a human father. He was the only man who existed eternally as God before becoming also man, and thus was uniquely independent of parents for life. And He was the only man who was similar but not the same as other humans.

Conclusion:

With all the analysis done the only proper conclusion could be that Christ indeed took on the sinful nature of Adam that is to say that nature bent or depraved by sin for four thousand years after Adam. And it also seems to fit that Jesus did take on the sinless nature of Adam that is to say that though being in depraved flesh Jesus was yet sinless, as stated by Paul “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We see both the natures being reflected in Christ’s incarnation.

Though He had no taint of sin upon His character, yet He condescended to connect our fallen human nature with His divinity. By thus taking humanity, He honored humanity. Having taken our fallen nature, He showed what it might become, by accepting the ample provision He has made for it, and by becoming partaker of the divine nature. (Letter 81, 1896). From the statement of Ellen White we notice that Christ was sinless and yet he still did had taken on a fallen nature of Adam.

Hence, it is safe to conclude that Jesus is unique both in His human and divine nature. He was born sinless because He was born without a human father He was conceived by the Spirit. And yet he could sympathise with our sinful nature because he was born in the depraved flesh after four thousand years of fall. In this sense Christ indeed take on a “Unique nature.”

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