Study of First Peter Chapter 2 Lesson 37

Review: Quote from C. H. Macintosh

"Christ is there for us,— there to show us how to meet the enemy in all his varied temptations, there to show us how to live. We must not suppose for a moment that our Lord met the adversary as God, as deity. True, He was and is true God, but if it were only as such that He stood in the conflict, it could not afford any example for us.

Besides, it would be needless to tell us that God was able to vanquish and put to flight a creature which His own hand had formed. But to see One who was, in every respect, a man, and in all the circumstances of humanity, yet without sin,—to see Him there in weakness, in hunger, standing amid the consequences of man's fall, and to find Him triumphing completely over the every foe, it is this which is so full of comfort, consolation, strength, and encouragement for us.

And just how did He triumph? This is the grand and all-important question for us,—a question demanding the most profound attention of every believer—a question the magnitude and importance of which it would be utterly impossible to overstate. How, then, did the Man Christ Jesus vanquish Satan in the wilderness? Simply by applying the Word of God.

He overcame not as the almighty God, but as the humble, dependent, self-emptied, and obedient Man. We have before us the magnificent spectacle of a Man standing in the presence of the devil and utterly confounding him with no other weapon whatsoever save the Word of God. It was not by the display of divine power, for that could be no model for us; it was simply with the Word of God, in His thinking and in His mouth, that the Second Man confounded the terrible enemy of God and man.

And let us carefully note that our blessed Lord does not reason with Satan. He does not appeal to any facts connected with Himself—facts with which the enemy was well acquainted. He does not say, I know I am the Son of God; the opened heavens, the descending Spirit, the Father's voice, have all borne witness to the fact of My being the Son of God. No; this would not do; it would not and could not be an example for us. The one special point for us to seize and learn from is, that our great Exemplar, when meeting all the temptations of the enemy, used only the weapon which we have in our possession, namely, the simple, precious, written, Word of God."

Meaning of Hypostatic Union - definition

The hypostatic union may be defined as “the second person, the preincarnate Christ came and took to Himself a human nature and remains forever undiminished Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.”

When Christ came, a Person came, not just a nature; He took on an additional nature, a human nature—He did not simply dwell in a human person. The result of the union of the two natures is the theanthropic Person (the God-man).

An Explanation of Hypostatic Union {what does it all mean}

The two natures of Christ are inseparably united without mixture or loss of separate identity. He remains forever the God-man, fully God and fully man, two distinct natures in one Person forever.

Even though it is evident that there were two natures in Christ, He is never to be considered a dual personality.”

In summarizing the hypostatic union, three facts are noted:

(1) Christ has two distinct natures: humanity and deity;

(2) there is no mixture or intermingling of the two natures;

(3) although He has two natures, Christ is one Person.

Next we need to expand on the doctrine of Kenosis, the setting aside of the independent use of His deity while in the incarnation.

When we consider the humanity of Christ as we have it revealed here in 1 Peter for the purpose of setting an example for us as believers to follow in our daily lives one thing that doesn't often come into the picture for us is that of sanctification of Jesus Christ.

What does sanctification mean? It means to be set apart to God for a purpose. In the incarnation Christ was clearly set apart for a purpose by God therefore sanctification is connected with Him in His humanity.

The author of the epistle to the Hebrews put it this way:

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect (teleio,w) the author of their salvation through sufferings.” (Heb. 2:10).

Sanctification points to the training of the soul to live in obedience to God’s will in every area. It follows, therefore, that even a sinless human (like Christ) would have to experience sanctification to accomplish His mission as a man.

What this points out to us is that God's provision for us through the Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit will indeed work every time it is used in your life.

Just as it did for Christ in His humanity during the incarnation.

Some passages that illustrate the need to understand the doctrine of the hypostatic union and kenosis.

We noted last week that the word kenosis comes from the Greek verb “to empty” (kjv = made himself of no reputation), in Philippians 2:7.

The Bible, however, insists that Christ did set aside the independent use of His divine nature while He lived on earth under the conditions of trials and pressures during the incarnation.

Some examples:

Several passages concern Christ’s divine attribute of omniscience.

Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32

While several other texts (e.g., Mark 5:9; 6:38; 9:21; John 6:5-6) indicate Jesus genuinely asked for information from people without searching their hearts with His omniscience.

Obviously on other occasions in the NT Jesus clearly manifested or revealed His omniscience (John 1:48; 2:24-25; 16:30; 21:17).

In Matthew 4:1-4 Christ refused to show His omnipotence to answer Satan’s challenge to make stones into bread.

Matthew 12:28 says Christ cast demons out, not by His omnipotence, but by God’s Spirit dwelling in His as a man.

Luke 4:14,18 likewise proclaims that Christ did His wonderful works by the indwelling Spirit rather than by His own omnipotence.

Nevertheless, other passages appear to demonstrate that Christ occasionally used His omnipotence (Matt. 8:26-27; John 2:7-11).

The biblical data, then, presents a somewhat ambiguous picture. Sometimes Christ shows His divine nature, but on most occasions He does not.

Paul in Philippians 2:5-11 explains this situation as some sort of “emptying” or kenosis. Jesus Himself refers to the problem as being without His eternal glory (John 17:5).

The Doctrine of Kenosis Stated.

The debate among theologians has been concerned with stating the doctrine of kenosis and not in any way dilute the divine nature of Christ on one hand, yet to give due weight to the restricted use of this divine nature during Christ’s trials on the other hand.

The problem:

If His divine nature is diluted, then the hypostatic union is denied. If His divine nature is not restricted, then Christ cannot be a model for believers in sanctification since His would have an advantage not shared by any other man.

The best definition, however, is that kenosis refers to the giving up of the independent use of the divine attributes.

Christ’s kenosis, therefore, is a result of His willing submission to the Father’s will. He subordinated Himself to the Father by giving up the independent use of His divine nature.

Of what practical use is the doctrine of kenosis in the Christian life?

Paul, at least, thought it must have had some application as he revealed it in Philippians 2 as did Peter in 1 Pet 2 both of which are clearly contexts dealing with the practical issues of living life and having an impact because your using the resources available to you.