The Necessity of the Mediator's Dual Nature
The doctrine of Christ's hypostatic union, His coexistence as fully God and fully human, is a cornerstone of Christian faith. This seemingly paradoxical concept, however, is not merely a theological abstraction; it unveils the profound logic and precision of God's redemptive plan for humanity. Let us delve into the theological imperatives that necessitate Christ's unique dual nature.
The following is adopted and adapted from Thomas Ridgley’s A Body of Divinity and Joe Morecraft’s Authentic Christianity.
First, His divinity. Why was it required that the Mediator should be God? - Larger Catechism Question #38
His divine nature prevented His humanity from succumbing to oblivion beneath the overwhelming and boundless wrath of God and the grip of death, as stated in Acts 2:24 and following. “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” The intensity of God's wrath carries such an infinite magnitude that any ordinary human, relying on their own strength, would be incapable of enduring it. However, when human nature is united with the divine nature, as seen in the case of Jesus, it does not collapse under the weight of such wrath.
His divine nature bestowed infinite worth and everlasting efficacy upon His redemptive work on our behalf as a human. Acts 20:28, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Hebrews 9:14, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” If the Mediator were solely human, even if sinless and despite perfect actions and sufferings, being a finite creation, nothing He accomplished would possess the infinite value demanded by God's justice. The price paid for the redemption of God's people from sin and to secure God's favor must be of such a magnitude that it guarantees the preservation of the glory of God's justice, a feat achievable only through an infinite price. The Mediator must fulfill all the requirements of God's Law in a manner that fully honors it; hence, the demanded obedience must not only be sinless but also of infinite worth. The same principle applies to His intercession on our behalf.
In His divine capacity, Jesus had the ability to bestow His Holy Spirit upon His people. If Christ, as the eternal Son of God, did not possess a nature equivalent to the deity of the Third Person of the Trinity, He would have been incapable of sending the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit exclusively obeys God. Only God could declare regarding the Spirit: "If I depart, I will send Him unto you" (John 16:7).
Only in the form of Almighty God incarnate could our Mediator triumph over all our adversaries, eliminating anything that obstructs his name, interests, and glory. These adversaries include sin, Satan, the world, and death. Sin, in opposition to the holiness of God, is the source of all opposition against Him, whether on earth or in hell. It seeks to diminish His glory, challenge His sovereignty, and tarnish all His perfections. Christ must subdue sin, and since victories over sin, Satan, the world, and death demand boundless power, it is imperative that the conqueror is a divine Person.
For Christ to lead His chosen people to eternal salvation, it is essential that He is God. They need to be prepared for heaven, guided to heaven, and ultimately welcomed into heaven. This is why Jesus is referred to as "the Author and Finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2). Since this entire process is genuinely divine in nature, the one who accomplishes it must be a divine Person.
It is crucial that our Mediator, Jesus Christ, is God because the eternal joy of His people hinges on their communion with Him. Jesus not only initiates our everlasting joy but is its very essence. Our perpetual joy is not just a result of His actions but is found in Him and in His presence. As the source of blessedness, it is necessary for Him to be both God and Man.
Jesus, our Mediator, needed to be God in order to live, even in death, and to bestow life upon those who were deceased. No ordinary human has the capacity to willingly surrender their life in death and then reclaim it. Christ, in His sovereignty, made the conscious choice to be "obedient unto death." He explicitly declared, "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." (John 10:17f).
Our Mediator must be fully God if we are to be reconciled to God. But while maintaining His full divinity, possessing all the attributes that define God, Jesus simultaneously exists as a genuine man, possessing all the characteristics that define humanity. The Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451 asserted that the two natures within Christ—His deity and humanity—are joined together "indivisibly and inseparably," without implying that one transformed into the other or became confused with it. Even though these two natures coexist in one person, each maintains its distinct properties and perfections.
When we affirm that the divine nature of Jesus is of “one substance” with God and His human nature is of one substance with man, we are asserting that from the moment of His conception, Jesus was genuinely and authentically a human being. He possessed all the characteristics of humanity, making Him entirely human. Simultaneously, He possessed all the perfections of God, as God's perfections define Him, rendering Jesus truly and completely God. Every attribute applicable to God can be ascribed to Jesus, and likewise, every characteristic of humanity can be attributed to Him, with the sole exception that He was and remains sinless.
In His humanity, Christ possesses a tangible, physical body. He shared meals with his disciples (Luke 24:43), invited them to touch his resurrected body (John 20:27), and even emphasized his physical form, stating, "a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see Me have" (Luke 24:39). This physicality is further confirmed by the Apostle John's words in 1 John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—"
Jesus also possesses a rational, human soul, capable of deep emotions and intellectual growth. He was and is authentically and wholly man, both externally and internally. This is evident in his expressions of sorrow, such as in Matthew 26:38, where he declares, "My soul is sorrowful." And on the cross, he entrusts his spirit to the Father, saying, "Father, into your hands, I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46).
Furthermore, Jesus' life on earth was not one of detachment or emotional stoicism. He exuded warmth and compassion, readily connecting with people on a personal level. Yet, he also displayed a remarkable ability to control his emotions, never allowing them to dictate his actions. This emotional control is not to be confused with a lack of emotion. In fact, the Gospels showcase the full spectrum of human emotions experienced by Jesus. He felt empathy and "felt compassion" (Matthew 20:34) for those in need. He expressed righteous anger at injustice, as seen in his cleansing of the Temple (John 2:13-16). He even experienced grief and mourning, as when he wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35).
This range of emotions underscores the genuineness of Jesus' humanity. He is truly one of us, "made like his brothers in every respect" (Hebrews 2:17). This shared humanity allowed him to understand our struggles and temptations firsthand, making him a "merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17).
Larger Catechism Q#39 gives us reasons for why the Mediator must be man. Let’s now consider those:
It was essential for the Mediator to be human in order to “advance our nature." The highest honor and dignity to which human nature could be elevated is to be united inseparably with the Second Person in the Holy Trinity.
It was essential for the Mediator to be human in order to “perform obedience to the Law" (Gal. 4:4). This obedience was absolutely required to meet the obligations of God's law concerning the sinners whom Christ represented. The Law not only required punishment for sin but also insisted on perfect obedience from humanity. Hence, the obedience of the Mediator had to be carried out by a human.
It was crucial for the Mediator to be human in order to “make intercession for us in our nature" (Heb. 2:14; 7:24, 25). God does not engage in intercession, as it involves worship and implies dependence, which is incompatible with God's self-sufficiency and independence. Intercession involves prayer, and only humans pray. Hence, Christ's ability to intercede for us is made possible by and is the necessary outcome of His incarnation.
It was necessary for the Mediator to be human in order to “have a fellow-feeling of our infirmities." "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses" (Heb. 4:15). While being the omniscient God, the Mediator possesses perfect knowledge of our weaknesses, but not an "experiential knowledge" of them. Only a human being can truly experience weaknesses in their life, including passions and emotions. Therefore, if the Mediator had not been a human being with the capacity to undergo such experiences, He would not have been able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses.
It was essential for the Mediator to be human so “that we might receive the adoption of sons, and have comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace." Galatians 4:4–5 emphasizes that the Son of God took on human form to redeem His people, granting them the privilege of "receiving the adoption of sons." Hebrews 4:16 further instructs us that due to Christ's humanity, we can "boldly come to the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy."
And as it was man who had transgressed against God, it was imperative for man to endure the spiritual and physical consequences of that sin. The necessity for the Mediator to be human was rooted in the requirement to undergo death—specifically, a human death, the kind demanded by the transgressor. The Mediator had to possess flesh and blood to offer his life on the sacrificial altar, satisfying divine justice and averting God's wrath. Throughout the Old Testament era, the places of worship dedicated to God were marked by the shedding of blood, symbolized by the typical blood of bulls and goats. The Mediator's humanity was crucial to provide the blood demanded by outraged justice and violated law. Ultimately, the Mediator needed to be human to undergo the act of dying.
All of this was required by a Mediator if we were to ever be reconciled to God, and yet how amazing it is that all of this comes together in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Colossians 1.13-23 : He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 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. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.